Its been a wild few weeks. Covid 19, the coronavirus has taken over the world. Its affected social media, news, business, the economy, pretty much everything. Businesses have closed, the economy is down, we are now into social distancing (staying at least 6 feet away from each other), schools are closed, and we don’t know how long this will last. Restaurants are not allowed to serve people in the place, they are allowed to either delivery or have pick up service. Hotels have closed, though a few are open. Schools have closed from elementary to colleges. School is out for summer, just a couple of months early. Many of them closed late last month, hoping to have students to do lessons online, but were not prepared for what it would take.
So what does this have to do with my garden? Well, gardening has kind of become quarantine gardens. Think victory gardens for times of quarantine. Here in Austin we have been in quarantine for a while, as in weeks and its due to last a few weeks more. Getting some items in the grocery store is getting hard. Toilet paper, paper towels, some fresh veggies, and cleaning supplies are hard to find. Some of the fresh fruits and veggies get sold out as soon as they get into the grocery store – its called hoarding.
Its strange to go to the grocery store and find no onions or potatoes. But that’s how it is right now. So my poor little garden is becoming important for me.
I have begun raised garden beds, two of them. I ordered side brackets, like braces for the wood. The braces allow 2×8 pieces of wood to be held together. This gives you a good 15″ tall bed. You can easily raise carrots in these beds. Unfortunately due to other problems, I haven’t been able to get them filled. I’m working on that. I hope to fill them most of the way, then put what I have in my pots into the beds. I will need to add one more bed for permanent items, such as the asparagus. Since asparagus come back year after year, and last 12-15 years I understand, I want a more permanent place for them.
But the beds are coming along. As for the weather, its been all over the place. Last week we actually had a freeze warning for our area. It lasted two nights. And yet now we’ve been in the high 80’s, low 90’s. And yet tomorrow we are due for 90’s and thunderstorms. At least we need the rain, its always helpful. The lakes are full so the rain is appreciated.