I haven't written about my garden in a while because I've been so busy working on it! I think I actually spent more time preparing the ground than actually planting anything, but it seems to be paying off so far. Right now, I have one of my plots almost completely planted and will start on my second plot soon. The first plot has onions, radishes, lettuce, beets, carrots, peas, green beans, herbs, and will plant zucchini and cucumbers when it warms up. The second plot will have tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, and 2 types of sweet corn.
By Hand and by Pump
I had reached out to other gardeners via the Facebook group page to see if anyone would be willing to till my plots for a fee. Places like Home Depot did not have any tillers available (I think we all had the same idea), and one gardener said the soil was already worked over and will be fine. Well, it was not. Yes, a tractor came and turned over the soil, but what I found were so many clumps of clay soil and weeds planting would be impossible. I got my workout in tilling by hand, and I think I will plan better ahead next year. My grandparents have kept me supplied with plenty of soil for nutrients and cardboard I used to make walking paths.
The first week of planting was definitely the hardest because apparently, I thought planting during the hottest and driest week of spring was a great idea. There is an old-fashioned water pump a few hundred feet away, so I got my second (and third, and fourth...) workout by carrying water several times each morning. We have gotten lots of rain since, and we are getting a nice thunderstorm as I write this.
One thing I had not considered was visits from deer, groundhogs, and rabbits. I found deer hoofprints 1 day after I started planting! I fixed the deer problem with a rustic "fence" made from stakes and twine enclosing my gardens. Many of my garden neighbors are doing this as well. Can't say it will keep the smaller critters out because I already found a couple of bites out of my radish leaves.
Mini Garden Tour
There's not much to see at the moment because, from afar, it looks like fields of dirt with cardboard pathways. Slowly but surely, many of my plants are starting to peek through the dirt. Weeds are also starting to come up, and I do my best to keep them at bay (with little success because sometimes I think a weed might be a small seedling).
The weed clumps on top obviously look ugly, and I have since covered the edges of the cardboard with dirt but forgot to take an updated picture. I definitely struggled with keeping them in place on windy days!
I cheated and bought my herbs from Home Depot but no one will know. I have parsley, rosemary, dill, thyme, and oregano. I will be getting basil when it finally gets warm out.
Radishes! They're extremely easy to grow, and they've already gotten bigger since I took this picture a few days ago. I started a second row 2 weeks after planting this one to have a continuous supply. I'm planning to make pickled radishes for salads and snacking. Did you know radishes have a similar taste and texture as potatoes if you roast them? It's actually very good!
More lettuce plants are starting to pop up and hopefully I can keep the rabbits out! Same as the radishes, I started a second row a couple weeks after the first one.
Don't mind me, just growing 150 onion bulbs!
I also have beets coming up, but the photos I took make it hard to tell what is a beet vs weed. I'm also trying to be patient on carrots (they can take up to 21 days to germinate), but everything in that section looks like grass, so we will see if I am a good or bad carrot farmer. I have peas and beans that are more recently planted and not sprouted yet.
Something other gardeners overlook (I think) is planting flowers/pollinating plants among the vegetables. They draw in pollinators like bees and butterflies, keep out unwanted bugs/diseases, and they just look pretty. I have planted nasturtium among all my "short" plants and will plant cosmos and sunflowers among the "tall" plants when it gets warmer out. I'm very excited to see how it all looks.
The last time I visited Gram and Pap, I was a bit envious on how tall and strong Gram's tomato and pepper seedlings looked compared to my tiny, skinny ones. Hers were almost ready to plant, and mine just looked frail in comparison. I think the artificial light wasn't doing mine any good anymore, so I've done my best to give mine natural light while avoiding my mischievous cats.
Tomatoes are improving, but there's 4 that aren't doing well. I will likely buy a few plants which will work out just fine.
They have a way to go, but I'm finally seeing more sets of pepper leaves!
This was a bit of a longer post, but there's a lot going on! I will continue to post my progress and mishaps along the way.
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