Prepping the raised vegetable beds

Yesterday we had a rainstorm and tomorrow another one is predicted to arrive, so today is a good day to work out in the garden. Our raised beds and 15-gallon containers are looking neglected and bedraggled with tomato, green onion and herb plants past their prime. This is a perfect opportunity to pull out the old plants and weeds, amend the beds and containers, plan out the spaces and make a shopping list of necessary gardening supplies so that come spring, I will be ready to plant all the warm weather veggies that are due to arrive: the new-to-the-home gardener grafted tomatoes and eggplants, my favorite Tomaccio tomato (wonderful in salads or dried like raisins), squash, melons and specialty herbs. Check out www.GardenLife.com to see some of the irresistible and exciting veggies I will be planting this spring and to make sure your vegetable garden has an excellent head start, here's my short shopping list for gardening supplies:

1. More vegetable WaterRounds to surround my tomatoes and squash (they were so convenient to use when watering and fertilizing last spring, I need to purchase more!)

2. Denali Gold (it's the richest source of humus and I like to incorporate it in the soil and also use it as a surface mulch)

3. An organic fertilizer such as Milorganite (an all-purpose, eco-friendly, organic nitrogen fertilizer that I don't have to water in)