Gardening season has officially begun here at Fairydiddle Farm! Technically, it started with the planning and seed ordering of last month, but putting the first seeds in soil and spending the first hours back in the garden solidify this new beginning, this new revolution of the cycle.
Last week, I began preparing beds for spring planting, using a simple no-till method called occultation. The process involves using sheets of black plastic to encourage the germination of weed seeds and then smother and decompose them. If you would like to learn more, I recently wrote a step-by-step post about occultation for locally-owned garden website Backyard Garden Lover, which you can read here.
The first seeds to hit soil this year were Ishikura onions, a traditional Japanese heirloom variety of bunching onions, or green onions. Germination takes up to two weeks, so I’m still waiting for the exciting event of those first tender sprouts appearing. In the meantime, they’ll continue to sit on my dining room table until all have sprouted and are ready for the grow lights.
While out shopping last week, I spotted my crocheted scrubbies and Swiffer covers on the shelves at Great.Full Goods in downtown Harrisonburg. It’s both strange and exciting to see something you made at one of your favorite stores! If you haven’t been to Great.Full Goods yet, I highly recommend visiting. As for the Fairydiddle Farm products, the scrubbies make excellent reusable alternatives for kitchen sponges, and the Swiffer covers are great at picking up pet hair. Both are hand-crocheted with 100% cotton and are machine washable.
We have plenty more frosty nights (and days!) ahead of us yet, but I’ll be starting more and more seeds in the weeks to come and eagerly anticipating the time when I can dig my hands into crumbly garden dirt again and put some plants in the ground.