Back from Vacation!

Back from vacation and the garden is going crazy!  Katie and Jake mulched around the beds while I was gone. They also planted all of the veggie starts we got going.  Tomatoes, cabbage, peppers and broccoli.

Here's Katie's experiment in severe pruning.  We had a few extra tomato plants, so we planted them in containers.  This one's pruned to just the main stem.

 Here, I finally got the orange geraniums planted in the back corner and freshened up the mulch.

Here's a side view of the newly planted garden.

Planted a few of the extra geraniums in small pots.  This one's going to Jake's teacher!

Spinach is bolting.  It seems so soon!  I carefully picked off all of the usable leaves and cut the rest of the plant up and composted it.  I got enough to make a small salad out of it.  I'll plant more seeds next time.  This time I used about 16. I'll about double it next time.

The cuttings from the original rosemary plant I bought were a bust.  The few that I transplanted didn't make it in the garden, even though we babied them. And I forgot to tell Katie about the remaining rosemary that I was sprouting in water before I left, so it dried up.  But the original plant is growing - slowly, but it's growing.  This will probably be all that we really need throughout the summer/fall season, anyway.

I took the plastic off of the greenhouse and am using it for gardening supply storage. We're keeping miracle grow soil in the wheelbarrow.  I bought the light, dry kind that has to be reconstituted before it's used. We've built up the soil in the garden a few times with this soil, shoveling dirt in around the plants as it settles. It'll really begin drying up fast, as the plants get bigger, so more of it should help hold the water.  We may mulch the actual garden to help hold the moisture later in the season.

I've had trouble with composting.  I'll have to read up on it again.  Initially, I used one small bag of soil and mixed in maybe 6-8 shovels full of compost to add to the garden and pots.  Evidently, it wasn't ready, because I'm picking TONS of seedlings out of it. Consequently, I'm having trouble telling the weeds from some of the lettuces!  And we're weeding more than we should have to because of the seedlings in the compost. I'll continue composting, but won't plan on using it until next year.

I can't believe the spinach bolted so soon.  Next plantings, I think I'll move the cool-weather plants like spinach into a bit more shade. 

I rearranged the containers on the back patios and added a geranium for color (OK, the color will take a little while).  Here's Katie's side.  I hope she likes it. I wonder if these should be moved into a more shadey area? At least the container on the table might be rabbit-proof because of its height.  I have leftover fencing we can use if we need to for the others.

Here's the corner in the morning sun.  The bleeding heart plants are getting pretty big, but I don't think they last all year.  There's a hosta underneath and between the plants, I know it doesn't need much sun, but I hope it gets enough.

Katie and Jake planted all of the seeds on May 23.  5-6 days later, most have sprouted above the ground, but the cutworms have found several already.  I hate to use it, but it's early, so I sprayed Seven around the seedlings.  I'll get out to replant the missing plants - probably today (5/30).

Here's the garden yesterday.  I put the extra container-tomatoes in the corners of the garden with fencing around them.  They get watered easier that way.  Anyone need a tomato plant? We don't have room in the garden, but I can't just get rid of them! 

Most of the tomato plants are tall enough now to begin weaving through the netting.  On 5/29, I gave the tomatoes a magnesium boost by adding epsom salts to the soil.  Directions called for 1 dry teaspoon in the soil around the plant for each foot of plant every 2 weeks.  I used between 1/2 and 1 tsp. on the plants, depending on their size.  Last year we mixed in water and fed the tomatoes a few times with great results.  This year, I actually read the directions on the epson salts box. Spreading dry was sure easier!

Here's some lettuce coming up.  I don't have trouble telling weeds from lettuce where the lettuce is all the same (like here), but in a mixed-lettuce seed - well, we may be eating weeds along with the lettuce.  :-)  I've got cages set up and ready in case the rabbits get greedy.

This tomato plant was most of the way dead when it was re-planted, probably 2 weeks ago.

The weather has been pretty dry and hot for this time of year, so I've been watering most every day. I set up the sprinkler for 20 minutes in the square foot garden and it hits the whole garden without much waste. I just use a wand on the hose for the patio plants. I should figure a way to automate this, because I don't get up early enough to water in the morning, which is best.  I've been watering as the sun goes down, giving the plants a chance to dry their leaves in the evening.

I've also been checking the SFG plants every day for bugs.  I sprayed 2 of the pepper plants with Seven when I saw evidence of more than a bug or two eating away at the leaves.  I'm hoping using the bug spray early will let me NOT use it later in the season.  I'm following instructions on the label for when and how much to spray, including time needed in between the last spray and harvesting the veggies. I'd like to use this as little as is necessary and leave as much time as possible between the last spray and harvest.

Lastly, I've had a bad history with ants.  Our last house was invaded with the flying variety, just as we put it up on the market!  So, when I noticed lots of ants here, I got a bit worried. (Something I never would have even noticed before that incident.) I bought 8 ant baits, put 1 in each corner of the garden, 1 outside each back door, and 1 each in our front gardens. They are supposed to not only kill the ants that have contact, but the ants take the poison back to the colony and kill the whole colony. It remains to be seen how well they work.

I swear I can look out my back window and see the tomato plants growing!  More later.

Critters around the yard

I'm seeing all kinds of life in my little backyard.  Unlike my sister, I have absolutely no idea what these are!  I'm lousy at bug, bird, spider and other wildlife identification. But they're still neat to watch every now and then.

Cool spider on the wall that separates the double's back patios.  He sat there for a long time!

 

Here are a few pics through the screen of my back door. I brought some cuttings from the flowering tree inside; they smell so good!  And again, I have no idea what type of tree this is to the left of the garden.

I'm sure I'm rushing this, but I saw a single root growing on one of the rosemary starts.  I promptly stuck it in Rootone and planted it.  I doubt it will take, but I couldn't resist trying this so early.  I have seven left in the water to try later--once the root systems are better established. If I do get lucky and this keeps growing, I'll plant the others sooner rather than later.

This is the spinach I planted outside in 2 hanging baskets on 3.30.12. I planted 2 additional baskets today (4.17.12). It looks like every seed sprouted. 16 in each basket; I don't know if that's too much or not enough for the space, but I did the same amount this time. I guess I'll figure it out in a month or so :-). I'm resisting the urge to plant in the garden or in bigger containers yet.  I may check the long term forecast next week to see when we want to risk planting outside.

April 14

It's in the mid-40s today.  The plants slept outside last night.  I took them out of the greenhouse and they're drinking up the light rain showers.

I really don't know much about gardening, but I'm learning.  Last year I cut rosemary from the plants I had and brought them inside and put them in water, thinking they would keep better in the kitchen that way.  To my surprise, the stems started sprouting roots! So, since I'm having trouble getting the rosemary seeds to sprout, I bought one small rosemary plant for $3.48.  I trimmed 8 sturdy stems and put them in water with a bit of Miracle Grow in it.

Then I planted the original plant in one of my hanging baskets. I can move it into the greenhouse on cold nights, if necessary.  Hopefully, I'll have 8 additional plants to put outside when it gets warm enough to plant.  They'll probably go in planters close to the house. Not bad for $3.48!

2nd Week of April

Thought I'd try to provide my garden plan, but had to take pics instead of uploading an excel file.  PDFs don't work here, either. The first pic is one of the 4 x 4s, the second is the whole garden. Red horizontal lines (if you can see them) are where the frames are located. Blank spaces are intentional, since the adjacent plantings take up so much space.

...thought the comparison between the tomato and oregano growth was interesting, but you can barely see the oregano. My photography skills need a bit of work!  There's about 6 plants in the smaller pod; I'm scared they're going to shrivel up and die - from being a little too wet - or a little too dry - or a little too warm - or a little too cool... you get the idea.  They seem so fragile!

Tomato plant stems are getting stronger (04.10.12). Second leaves are mostly out, so you can actually tell the tomato plants from other plants. There are 3 types of tomatoes and peppers above, along with a few cabbages.

Here, I ran through everything growing and compared it to what I was supposed to have.  I replanted some tomatoes, cabbage, oregano and all of the rosemary.  None of it has ever come up yet.  :-(  I'll keep this on a heating pad that I use a few times a day, and keep it covered with the plastic dome.  A few days after each pod sprouts, I transplant to something with a bit more dirt and start to get it used to the greenhouse a little each day. This 2nd replanting is still plenty early; I'm still out 6 weeks out from the usual outside planting time. I've noticed that using these discs isn't foolproof. You have to be careful about over- or under- watering with these...just like with any other planting container.

I've been keeping the plants outside in the greenhouse as much as I can. I bring them in when the temperature dips below about 40 degrees at night.  On days like today (4.11.12), it's in the 40's and they seem to prefer being zipped up in the greenhouse on a cloudy cool day to being inside under the weak lighting I have for them.

Early April

I'm so excited!  Our plants spent their first night outside in the greenhouse.  They seem to be doing fine this morning.

I lost a few plants when I transplanted everything late last week.  I used those little round disks that puff up to plant everything originally and the plants were getting a bit spindly under the lights inside.  So I decided to transplant into bigger containers and I damaged some of the delicate roots.  But we still have time, so I re-planted those and am waiting for them to come up.  In the greenhouse, I closed off the top shelf to keep the seeds that haven't sprouted warm; opened up the bottom shelves during the day to give the baby plants some fresh air. Then just zipped up everything after the sun goes down. The temp didn't get below 50 degrees last night, but I'll bring them in tonight. The forecasted low is 36 degrees.

I should give credit to Mel Bartholomew and his Square Foot Gardening Book. The more closely we follow his instructions, the better we seem to do with the garden. He has a website at www.squarefootgardening.com. You can go there to see how to build raised bed frames and check out his specs for the frames, grid, soil, etc. He even sells kits, if you don't want to make everything from scratch, but it was really easy. My grandson did most of the work.

We're pushing the envelope a bit by using so many vertical frames, but you never know until you try! 

Getting Started - Late March

My daughter Katie and I, with lots of help from my grandson, Jake (9 yrs. old), started a square foot garden last year.  After setting up six 4 ft. x 4 ft. beds, we planted tons of food.  By the middle of the summer, the tomatos and tomatillos weight pulled down the stakes and fencing we used.

This year, we're going vertical!  We still have the six 4 x 4 beds, but we've put together 13 strong vertical frames, made from 1/2 inch electrical conduit, held in place with 1/2 inch rebar. We're using nylon netting and plan on taking everything vertical that will grow up!  That includes tomatoes, cucumbers, sugar snap peas, pole beans,  zucchini, small mellons and cantalopes.

Here's the garden with all of the frames up.  We're still working on getting the netting tied in place.  We're hoping that we can cram a lot of vegetables into the garden if we prune, and grow many of the veggies up instead of out.

I started planting seeds that are recommended for starting inside very early - March 18.  I know that it's way too early, but I'm anxious and am hopeful that I can give these plants a head start.  Between a few florescent lights inside and a small greenhouse out back, I'll try to keep the veggies growing until I decide to plant outside in the Square Foot Garden (SFG).  The normal date for these parts is May 20, but I'll probably plant earlier than that.  Another perk of these small raised beds is that I can easily cover the whole garden with 3 tarps, so we should be able to plant early and cover the veggies if there are any late frosts.

In addition to the SFG, Katie, Jacob and I have a few hanging baskets and 5 or 6 pots each that we're going to use for herbs.  Hopefully, that will give us enough garden space to feed both families with fresh veggies over the summer, can, dry and freeze some of this wonderful food, and have enough to give away to family and friends.

Here's my side of the back of the house...

And here's Katie and Jake's side...

I hope to blog weekly, with lots of pics of how we're progressing.  This should help us keep track of what works and what doesn't.  I'm excited about gardening.  The SFG idea lets us use only about 20% of the space a regular garden would.  And after the initial set up, there is virtually NO weeding.  Just pruning and watering.  I may add a rain barrel to help make this a more environmentally friendly garden.