Who has started inside sowing yet?

When I am finished completely with it ( I am currently laying chicken wire and sealing it to the ground I will post some pix.

I see no where that lasagne gardens need 1 year to age. They are ready to go when done.

Besides, I have so much compost/leaf mold, that's gonna be most of the mess for the first filling.

¡Que bueno!
Raised beds are wonderful - I have LOTS of them. Soil warms up faster, drains well, I don't have to risk injury to my back.......

The cloches work well with them, too. While they are available to buy, they can be made inexpensively with hardware cloth & heavy visqine (4 mil plastic sheeting).
PLUS - no Rabbits may enter, which may not be an issue for you, but if it was.....

Untreated lumber = good South side = good I do not understand the use of the chicken wire? I look forward to the photos.

Do make sure your layers 'mix' well, then you will be able to take advantage of the increase in temp in the rotting process. Take a look at this article on making a 'hot bed' the old fashioned way (before the invention of lasagna gardening, I guess)
http://www.holon.se/garden/howto/hotbed_en.shtml

One would have to have access to horse manure.

Depends on what you're adding to the mix.
Rob, if you have access to Alfalfa pellets, get a 50# sack & incorporate into the Lasagna. It will help speed up the breakdown of materials. You won't be planting Tomatoes out for at least several+ weeks - it shpould be good to go by mid april.

So true! I use alfalfa pellets around the roses. Feed store stuff. Have also used them to raise the temp of my regular compost pile.

I was just showing how they've been doing this for centuries, really, although that article was certainly modern. Rob will have good veggies this summer! Then he will be interested in his wife's gardening!

Well, Analog, I won't argue with you, since you're certain what you're doing.

Keep your wife happy about the garden and then she may overlook that extra nursery trip at the end of the summer.

Its all good, excellent link Pixy. The chicken wire 1" is to prevent moles from getting in, I have a few in the area, and don't need them in the veges. I will add some alfalfa pellets soon as I start filling probably this weekend.

Very wise, I must say. Voles more of a problem than moles, but the voles will use the moles' tunnels, so good idea.

I will post pictures and such tomorrow as I work on finishing it up. And for the interested, the idea came from http://www.eartheasy.com/grow_raised_beds.htm .

i was very thankful to have my FIL there to catch a mistake before i make it. Keep the wood level, and fill the down side as necessary from the inside.

But I do that tomorrow and then place the chicken wire, then the cardboard and the rest of the lasagne?

Thank goodness for FILs who look over your shoulder..... LOL!! What a good sport you are, Analog!

OH, and hammering the posts, makes a good need for cover boards. I will photo one of my better oops tomorrow, before its covered.

With this sunny weather, I am looking to move my seed house outside and cover it with the vinyl cover than sow my sunflowers and rudbeckia in pots.

Am I nuts, I have a buddy that is sowing peas in the ground planning to cover them when cold comes.

Your buddy is about on track. I have always heard that you "plant your peas with mittens on." President's Day was also traditional.

Your buddy is right.

I plant peas when the frogs start their chorus. Still not in full voice up here, just a lone peeper here and there.

I like that idea. Kind of like I prune the roses when the forsythia blooms.

Mine are soaking as we speak! I couldn't believe that our peepers in the valley were in full chorus last week, but when we looked at Mom's "garden log", they are only a week or so earlier than normal.

I also keep an 'earth log' of sorts -- my first robin was definitely early, but the alder catkins are about on time, and sounds like the frogs will be also. So who knows? I do like to time plantings to what's going on in the outside world rather than a rigid calendar schedule, and I like to stick with what the native flora/fauna are doing because I think they are wiser. A flock of red winged blackbirds converged yesterday - maybe that is a sign to do something?

The frogs are busy at my house, although last night's cold silenced them somewhat. The birds are going crazy and the Indian Plum is in full swing. I passed by a beautiful Forsythia (thought of you, Laurie) on my way to work. It is a single plant, has been pruned very nicely and sits in sun, so it's makes a fine show. The flowering plums that sit in the sun are out now in Redmond, as well.

A friend of mine in Spanaway had a flock of redwinged blackbirds at her lake. My forsythia is beginning to bloom (sorry Laurie). But how about this for early:
This photo was taken March 21, 2009. Those iris and narcissus are in bloom right now. All this week as I've been out in the garden, I've had this uncanny feeling that it is 'later than I think' so I went back through last year's photos to see what was blooming when. Wish I had recorded more. I'm taking more photos this year. My first hyacinth started blooming today.

This hyacinth bloomed today. This photo was taken April 14 last year. Looking through my photos from last year, there are many, many plants that think it is early april already. I want to say SLOW DOWN! At this rate, everything will be bloomed out by June!

Wow. Very interesting hyacinth, Melissa.

Hyacinth 'Raphael' from Brent and Becky's bulbs. It's said to be 'very different' from other hyacinths. And they were right!

It's quite a conversation piece - does it smell like a hyacinth?

I knew you were going to ask me that :) I have no idea. I would have to lie on the ground to find out. Maybe tomorrow...
I did cut some violets today. The entire kitchen smells like them. I cannot believe the scent they give out!

I don't think I've ever actually smelled a violet!! Huh!

I tell you what, they are marvelous! Viola odorata. I use small scissors to snip them into a small bouquet and the fragrance just fills the entire room. It's fabulous!

That's fantastic!

Ooohh... Now I am going to have to smell my violets too! Don't think I have ever gotten my nose down there...

Pix, I agree... your hyacinth is really cool!

I will add another must have as we are talking about boquets. I have loved Pieris japonica from the time I moved to Washington state. It is so early, smells so wonderful, the bees and hummers love it, and it is just plain lovely. I have a boquet of pieris and daphne odora in my kitchen, and a cheery boquet of corylopsis on the end table. Guess I will have to add some violets too!

Another MUST HAVE for me in the garden IS in fact the camera. I have been doing some comparisons like Pixy is, and it is interesting to see the difference in dates. My favorite helebore is in full swing now, and the pictures I was taking of it last year were mid March. It is invaluable to have a photo record of your gardens.

Unpack your seeds and soak your peat, when Puxatawny Phil feels the heat. That was my "new" planting guide. I started some Caroline (or whatever) sunflower seeds and they are already 8" tall and have to be planted in soil. My delphs, and foxgloves are also beginning their rise to splendor. And here in Montana the soil may not want to thaw for another month. I shall need a lot of 1 gallon pots and move my furniture out of my sun room. LOL
Just a shot out of my temporary home here in Maui.

Julie, I've been told that Pieris is one of the best plants to have around for the solitary mason bees - it blooms at the same time in early spring that they are out. Of course, this year they'd better wake up early.

Soferdig, I would give a tooth (well, maybe a back tooth) to be able to grow that vine here. Is that Chalice Vine? It's just lovely.
Guess you better look at investing in a greenhouse.

Now that's interesting, Kathy. I've been considering making sure I have mason bees. I put in a couple of different Pieris last year. I have an old cultivar out front that is no great shakes. The only reason I leave it is because it's probably 30 years old and I feel guilty about taking it out. I'll probably just prune it up a little more this year to get the nice underplanted look. But now that I know mason bees like them, I have another reason to leave it.

The bees are all over my lonicera fragrantissima which is blooming all out just now. I was outside weeding near it and was surprised to hear the sound of happily humming bees, a sound I associate with summertime, not mid February. It is a rather gawky shrub, but the flowers have a lemony aroma, very refreshing this time of year.

Bees! How about that! I have thought about putting one of those in for the blooms this time of year. I saw hoverflies today. They were at the hummingbird feeder.

I like the smaller Pieris.

I found a new one today - it's supposed to be an improvement over Valley Valentine, which I have wanted, but don't yet have. It's small and has a nice, compact growth habit.

http://www.guardiangardencentre.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.standard&continueaction=category.newitems&producttype_id=50069

That's a nice one. One of the ones I got this year is called 'Little heath'. I can't remember what the other one is. I have a garden program where I am supposed to store all of this information, but I have to put the data into the program for it to be stored....

When I was working in the yard last weekend, I was stunned to hear the buzzing of a bee. Like you Holly, I associate that sound with summer, and know that there have been several years that our fruit crops have been poor because the blooms came out before the bees were around to polinate.

I was thrilled to see this guy in my rhody....thrilled enough to take a picture.

I was just thinking that - I got a nice little one at Heidi's last year and can't for the life of me remember what it is right now. Sundowners, I think. Tomorrow morning it'll come right to me.

So any tips on the feeding and care of pieris? Mine don't bloom as much as I'd like.