seed starting.

Last year, almost all the gardening I did was from plants. I knew this year I wanted to try starting most of my garden from seeds and if that didn't work, use plants as a last resort. Not only are seeds cheaper, they are obviously the most natural way to start a garden with your own effort. And they are, not so obvious to my ambitious side, really hard when you are a beginner.

Last month I read The Seed Starter's Handbook. Honestly, I wish I would have picked it up a week or two sooner because I felt a little behind when I started my seeds. It's a great guidebook for what to start when and basic information on how the process works. I still have a million questions and will probably re-read this book every year.

I purchased a shelf unit and some clamp on grow lights from Home Depot and set up shop in the spare bedroom. It gives me lots of room - three shelves worth! - to start plants and when it's nice outside, I just let them sit in the sunshine for the day. I started kale, kohl rabi and turnips first and I need to do some research on what I did wrong. I ended up with some plants that I could put in the ground but they are pretty leggy and have weak root systems. I'm not sure if it's over/under watering, not enough natural sunlight, under/over fertilizing or the soil. I need to read up on it.
I started eggplant, dill, tomatoes and peppers next and those are looking really good as plants...even better than my cold weather plants. I am trying to get them outside and used to the sun as much as possible but it's been so overcast and cold lately that it's been a little difficult. Crazy that in two weeks it will be warm enough that I'll be able to put them in the ground!
I started some herbs (basil, oregano, sage, etc) this weekend and some more tomatoes. I feel a bit behind on my herbs but I'm not sure how quickly anything will grow once it heats up so maybe I am okay. I need to get some cucumbers started this week and hope they hold up with being transplanted...I hear they are a bit finicky with being relocated.

I'm still so new that I'm not sure the timing of everything, what should be transplanted, what should not be transplanted, etc. I'm just trying to go into this with the attitude that I will probably kill some things and that's okay...better luck next year. Maybe. Hopefully.

square foot gardening.

I recently read a book about a method of gardening called Square Foot Gardening. For someone like me, it's EXACTLY what I needed to read. My hyper organized mind was having a hard enough time with all the uncertainty that comes with growing things and with trying to keep up with the timing of everything. This book recommends breaking your garden up into 12"x12" sections. You can fit in more vegetables in each square, are constantly rotating your crops to promote good soil and it's easy to organize! I immediately nerded out and used my graph paper to map everything out - and made an accompanying Excel spreadsheet and calendar - and feel so much more prepared for what to plant when. I would highly recommend it to anyone that needs to take gardening one square at a time.

I purchased some lumber at Home Depot and split my raised bed into 22 sections. Under the cold frame, I started three different kinds of onions, peas, my kale/kohlrabi/turnip transplants, beets, carrots, radishes, spinach and lettuce...and I didn't even use up all the space! When you look at each section individually, it also makes succession planting easier so I don't have a bunch of squares that are full of carrots all coming up at the same time. Now we just have to see what plants actually live.

sour celery.

I planted some rhubarb and asparagus a few weeks ago. Since I am very new onto the gardening scene, I had no idea what these looked like when you planted them.

They both came as a dried root in a bag - 3 to a package for rhubarb and 8 for the asparagus. (I'm down to 7, though, because I lost one while planting) The rhubarb was pretty easy to figure out - there was a shoot/point that I correctly assumed was to go face up. The same on the asparagus - I planted the spindly root pieces face down with the point facing up...I had to call Anthony to get confirmation that I was on the right track.
That, I am learning, is the hardest part of being an amateur gardener. People who have been doing this for years rely almost entirely on instinct. People like me who completely missed the period of their lives (growing up on a farm...sheesh) when they could have learned this stuff hands on, have to rely on books, practice and step-by-step website instructions. I'm sure an experienced gardener would find it humorous to see me outside double checking the instructions on the back of a package to make sure I have every detail correct. I'm still convincing myself I will get to where I'm running on "guts" someday.

Anyway, the rhubarb is starting to turn red at the point. This is a rated 'G' blog but I'm not gonna lie...it is very suggesting seeing a plant poke its way out of the ground. If you think I'm crazy for thinking that, read Michael Pollan's Second Nature. He has a hard time looking at some flowers without seeing lady parts.

It's hard to see from the picture but the small part that is turning red used to be brown two week ago and dried up. It's starting to form some color, which means it has now come to life. Pretty subtle in general but very exciting if you are looking for it. And if you want to eat a LOT of rhubarb this summer.

Some of you have probably only had rhubarb paired with strawberries in dessert and you are missing out. In Iowa, rhubarb grows everywhere - ditches, lawns, along the road, in fields - literally all over the place and it can get HUGE. When we were kids, if we saw rhubarb growing, we would just tear off a stalk and munch as we went along our way. I learned very recently that the leafy part and the roots are extremely toxic so you have to be careful to only eat the stalk.
I knew I wanted to plant rhubarb when I went to the grocery store a few years ago and paid an obscene price for a few stalks. It's a weed! When I go home, my dad has bags of it in the fridge! It's not a delicacy! At the farmer's market last summer, a lady was charging $5 for THREE STALKS! What?!?
Moving on from that tirade...
When I brought some (overpriced) rhubarb home, both Mark and my roommate at the time were really curious since none had tried it before. I took a bite like it was celery and they both followed suit. Except they spit theirs out immediately and looked at me with total disgust. Rhubarb, for others like them that don't know, is REALLY sour. It's like eating a red mulberry, for those that have done that. It's usually made in desserts because the sugar pairs down the extreme sourness of it. I think after that episode the only way I'm going to get people to try and love it is in dessert form. My mom makes the best rhubarb bars and paired with ice cream, they are delicious. They don't have strawberries in them so you can still taste some of the subtle sourness come through. I'll make some this summer for most of you but I'm hoping I can convert at least one person with strong taste buds to become a rhurbarb lover in it's natural state.

(almost) spring

I did a terrible job at keeping up with this after a certain point last year but I figure it all evens out since no one reads this anyway. For the 1-2 people that may be interested, I am sorry. For myself I am the most sorry as this will be the easiest way - I think - of keeping up with all the plant chaos that surrounds me. Didn't think nature was chaotic? Try controlling it.

So much is going on and I hope to update this weekend with pictures, projects, etc.
I'm going to post a few updates on the current state of the backyard...welcome back, plants! It was a very long winter.

watermelon mania.

I'm almost positive I did not space these watermelons out far enough but I was limited with my border. I needed to keep the dogs out a bit and make sure Mark didn't weedeat them away. I planted two plants of three different varieties in a mere 4 ft circle but since they are runners, I'm hoping it will be okay. If not, I'm sure at least one will survive and I will enjoy it fully.

(as you can see Oma loves to be in my pictures)

The metal canister contains the wildflowers from Mark's sister's wedding that I also planted yesterday.