Whoa, look at this worm, it's huge!

Ryan at work.

Tuesday, Ryan and I planted the crops we bought at the Topeka Farmers Market.

First, we had to uproot the spinach and mesclun mix to clear a spot for our new tomatoes and squash.  We used these hoes a friend of ours made for us, he likes to use metal to make things, including decorations. He goes by the name The Iron Florist. Here's an article I wrote about him, if you want to know more.  After pulling up the roots, we threw them into a pile a few feet away from the beds. Once they die we will add them to the compost bin.

Big worm

Ryan also bought a tool at the hardware store that can be used to shallowly till soil by hand. He used it to loosen up the soil and kind of mix it together, which helped rip up some of the weeds that were growing, too. Hopefully those won't come back. Weeds are hard to keep up on. At first I was getting all of them, then, slowly over time I slacked off. Then, there were a whole bunch of them and it took me a long time to get most of them, so I can see how it would be easy to let weeds take over your garden.

While tilling, we found a lot of worms. BIG worms! I was hoeing up some of the spinach when one flipped out of the soil and flew two feet, then scrambled to get back underground. It startled me and gave me a laugh at the same time! Then, Ryan found another one, pictured here. At least we know we have good soil thanks to these guys!

We added alfalfa mulch

We then planted our crops. We did three more tomato plants in the north bed -- where the other tomato plants and pepper plants are. Then, in the south bed we put the other three tomato plants, the squash along the southernmost side, and the greens on the northernmost side. We had a reason for our madness. The squash plants will yield 2-3 squash, so we figured this meant we will be picking those plants the least, so we placed those at the back where it's harder to reach. The tomato plants, however, will be picked frequently and better access will be appreciated. The greens are in the front since they are low to the ground and you need to be close to them to cut them. We tried to think ahead.

After planting, we added compost and mulch to each plant. Some of the plants we bought were already planted in compost, but we figured a little more wouldn't hurt. Here in a couple weeks, I'll add some plant food.

There is a blank space in our garden. The reason for the blank space is that we were scared to take on too much for our first garden. I've read all over the place that the biggest mistake new gardeners make is taking on too much. We decided to give it a week or two, then decide if we can take on more. I think we should just do what we have so far, and start planning a fall garden. It's been so fun so far, I wouldn't want to overwhelm myself, so I'll probably just carry on with what I have.

If you have any comments, tips or advice, please comment below. I'd love to hear your experiences!