Last Sunday, Mark and I picked up a "greenhouse" kit to start some seeds. After reading Kingsolver's book (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) I definitely don't want to buy seeds from Home Depot forever, but for this year, they will do the trick while I learn. We picked up carrots, bush beans, pumpkins, gourds, butternut squash, sweet corn and two flower varieties and went straight home to try it out.
We got a Jiffy self watering kit so you just put the pods in and 10 cups of water and wait for them to expand. Once wet, you just put 2-3 seeds in each pod and wait. It's easier done on some seeds (pumpkin) that are large and really, really hard for small seeds like carrots. I couldn't tell if any went in there or if 10 did. I just proceeded anyway and hoped for the best.
I was shocked when by Wednesday, some seeds had already grown so high that they knocked the top off of the bin! I guess it wasn't totally shocking since they were mostly all the beans (which I know grow fast) but three days was impressive. I removed all of the tall ones and put them in a bin in the shade and am still waiting for the others to grow. No activity at this point, which I hope is normal.
I was able to build mounds and put the pumpkin seeds in the ground this weekend. I hope I made them deep enough but if not, I'll learn for next year. I also built mounds for the gourds but when I went to plant them, I couldn't remember which plants they were - ha! Hopefully the others that are still marked will grow so I have a comparison but, if not, I can hopefully find a plant picture on the internet.
Mark has spent all weekend building a raised bed for these seeds. I'll have two next year (with the second one containing a large trellis area for climbing plants) but since most of those are potted this year, he just finished the one. It looks great! It's 3x24 feet and will probably grow 2-3 rows of plants. We're getting the dirt this week and then I have about 6 sweet corn, 10 bean, 3 winter squash and 6 carrots to plant. Hopefully the rest of the seeds will sprout in the next week. I also have some okra that I completed planted wrong. I put them in a container with the tomatoes to replace where the romaine lettuce was earlier in th year. Some friends of ours, Matt and Libby, came over last night and told me that okra will grow to about hip height...definitely too big for a container! I'll try my best to transplant when the garden is complete.
I also started some cauliflower, kohlrabi, swiss chard and more carrots this weekend. Typically these are cool weather plants but from what I've read, you can also plant them in June-July for an early fall crop. I hope to plant a bunch of things for a fall harvest so I can start freezing them to have "fresh" food in the winter. In August, I will plant some turnips, beets and radishes for an even later fall crop.
It feels so good to have a place (other than containers) to put all of it! I'm glad we have our CSA to tie us over until some of our crops bloom. When we eat at home now, it's mostly salads - since that it what is in season - and it's great how much better we both feel about eating fresh. It's just nice to go to your fridge and have an abundance of PRODUCE to eat! Probably next week we'll have tomatoes and yellow squash that's ready for our consumption. It helps that it was warm enough to plant them early.
Yesterday when Mark was working, it got up to 104 degrees! My plants are really thirsty so a rain barrel is next on the priority list, along with a compost bin. Personally, I love the heat because I've always been a summer girl but gardening has made me appreciate what the earth provides every season. I can't believe how much I am LOVING eating in season and how spiritually fulfilling it is for me.
Mark just looked over and said "this bed isn't going anywhere" as he was drilling through all 5 layers of landscaping wood. I hope whomever purchases our house next appreciates a garden!
