Why Mow it When You Can Eat it?

I hate it when bloggers apologize for not blogging for a while.  I personally have stayed away because I thought that blogging about gardening would hinder the arrival of spring.  However, it may have done just the opposite.  We have completely thawed now and all of the snow is gone.  But that wasn't  before we got a little shot of snow on May day.  Blah!!!!!!

I have been in the garden this past week.  I've been constructing raised beds and filling them with compost, peat moss, and vermiculite.  I finally found some vermiculite at Levi Reunions Garden Center outside of Sabin.  They will be ordering more next year because it has been so popular.  

Its really still too early to do much planting in the garden.  However, sugar peas and lettuce are cold weather plants so they have been entrusted to the raised beds.  I am trying a new trellis system this year.  It may look kinda funny but I'm hoping it does the trick.  I have also been constructing support structures for pole beans, Christmas beans, luffa and tomato.  Yeah, my neighbor thinks I'm crazy but it will be fun to experiment.

Bean Trellis

I'm including pics of some of the structures I've made this week.  You may notice that most of my backyard is now consumed by the garden.  My goal is to eliminate the need for much  mowing back there.  I figure the more time I spend mowing, the less time I have for gardening.  Plus I cant feed my neighbors with grass, but I can feed them with tomatoes, carrots, onions, peas....  They deserve a share of this gardens bounty after having to look at these structures for the summer.