We Made the Front Page!

On the Washington County Observer dated Thursday, March 24, 2011.  I'm super proud of everyone coming out here and making this happen!

Pictures!

Think of it as a construction site.

Yes, I know. It's messy. This is the stage that the garden is in. Just imagine what it will look like in only a few weeks with our combined efforts! I look out at our garden and, in my mind's eye, I see friendly crops interspersed for optimal companion planting and to attract beneficial insects. I see the tilth in the soil, and I see the first harvests of salad mixes, full of vitality and high in nutrition, going home in bags with you, and our fast-growing varieties of cabbages and broccoli getting well established in their beds, the beet greens growing among them. The summer seedlings ready to transplant from the cold frame in the back yard to the beds in the front.

But, yes, we have digging to do. It will be good exercise, and once it's done, we have excellent soil for our vegetables to thrive in. Sail into the wind, as they say. The only way to get through it is to do it.

Update about our fertilizer: thought I'd share with you what is going into our vegetables. We're using ingredients that, together, make a safe and balanced complete organic fertilizer.

On-site babysitting for the wee gardeners, lettuce seedlings up, pre-sprouted beets and cabbage in!

Okay! That about sums it up. Oh, and today we bought another 55-gallon barrel for collecting rain water (this makes two).

The hail last night wrecked some of the lettuces (well, the hail, plus a vagary or two). So we'll put some more in the ground. They're already working on pre-germinating in a jar.

Some of our first pre-germinated beets and cabbages are in the dirt, too, and I'll be adding some broccoli seedlings to those two beds, and dill (these are all great companion plants) when it's just a little warmer. We made some great progress digging beds this (long, 4-day) weekend, and Tom will probably be setting up the rain barrels tomorrow. Meanwhile, Sarah is researching everything we need to know about irrigation so that, eventually, we don't have to worry about watering and we can use the barrels for growing potatoes.

About babysitting! Well, turns out that a sweet woman who lives in a retirement community is not permitted to have a garden, but LOVES gardening and canning tomatoes. She wants fresh, healthy food to eat, and in exchange for it is willing to babysit our little ones for us while we work! Apparently she has a few fellow sweet-old-lady like-mindeds. They can basically sit and read stories, keep the kids happy drawing and blowing bubbles and so on. Awesome news, yes, fellow parents??? Three cheers for all-ages gardening!!!

Final note, Tom and I watched the movie Dirt! the other night and were truly inspired. This is definitely YRCG movie night film material. We're looking forward to hosting a movie night to feature Dirt! when the busy season has settled down.

Just more good stuff

Today I prepped more beds with manure and fertilizers, torched more Bermuda grass, and sowed more pre-germinated lettuce and spinach seeds. We should be seeing seedlings within half a week, I think. Austin and Tom repaired the damage I'd done earlier, moving stakes and twine around while torching (whoops...I didn't think it would get that confusing...or tangled...), and they finished marking everything in the front area. Austin also did some excellent detail work on the mulched, fabricked paths that were down but not finished. While the ground is wet from this weekend's rains, we won't be able to dig the growing beds, but we will be able to lay down the weed control fabric and the mulch on the walking paths, which is, in itself, fantastic progress. With every walking path we cover, the garden looks better and better - more and more like a garden. I'm thrilled!! And, after the ground finally dries out - it'll take just the right amount of dry weather (maybe six days or more) - we'll be able to start digging the beds and sowing longer-rooting crops (everything but the lettuces). This will actually be a lot more fun than it sounds. I've always enjoyed the digging part. And it automatically gives the plants a huge boost. Their roots can find the nutrients and water that they need, and they just grow and grow. The improved flavor of the plants is another benefit. The difference is amazing.

Our strategy is to prep a bed, sow, and move on; prep another bed, sow, and move on, rather than to finish the entire front and side yards and *then* put seeds into the ground. The only reasonable way to start a garden!

Tom and I already have the wire fencing, and we'll be getting the wooden posts within a week or two. Just in time, we hope, to protect our lettuce seedlings from hungry rabbits.

Final note: with our fast-growing lettuce seeds in the ground, we can expect our first harvest in about 30 days.

Lettuce Seeds, Growing Beds and Walking Paths, Oh, My!

Spring garden update: Steve and I separately hauled in as much mulch as the garden could possibly need for the next week or so. Yesterday, for her shift, Danna and her excellent crew of kids began establishing the walking paths, laying down weed control fabric and mulch on top of that. Austin is coming this evening for his shift, and will continue the process, and within a few shifts we'll have our permanent beds and walking paths in place and can pull up the marker stakes and twine.

Meanwhile, I pre-germinated (chitted) the lettuce and spinach seeds on Tuesday, and they began showing their tiny roots yesterday morning. So I made my cornstarch stew, let it cool, and very gently mixed the seeds and stew together in a plastic freezer bag. Out in the garden, I mounded up an eroded bed of compost. Then I added composted, high-quality horse manure and fertilizer (a mixture of soft rock phosphate, kelp, seed meal, ag lime, worm castings, and a thing or two else that I'm probably forgetting). I cut a very small hole in a bottom corner of the bag and started squeezing out seeds. It was, ultimately, a much more enjoyable way to sow very small seeds, and was much gentler on those proto-roots. The seedlings should be showing up in a couple of days, and the lettuce varieties will probably be randomly distributed.

Over the next week we'll continue to lay down weed control fabric and mulch the walking paths, and to sow more lettuce and spinach seeds. Tomorrow before it rains will be the best time to dig a bed or two, as the soil will probably have had a chance to dry enough, and if so, I'll do that, incorporating compost and the fertilizer mix. This way we can prepare to (or even actually) sow our first bed or two, probably of beet and broccoli (they make good companions).

It's an exciting time!

Liev

Seeds Have Arrived! (Part 1)

We received another shipment from Bountiful Gardens today - a nice big pack of seeds.  In addition to our order from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, we have a nice library of seeds growing.  They're good for both spring and summer harvesting.

Without further ado and in no particular order - the seeds so far.

• Piricicaba Broccoli
• Red Drumhead Cabbage
• Egyptian Spinach Greens
• Cracoviensis, Stem Lettuce
• Bronze Arrow Lettuce
• Marvel of 4 Seasons, Butterhead Lettuce
• Merlot Lettuce
• Winter Destiny Lettice, Romaine
• Monstruex de Virolay Spinach
• French-Sparky Marigold
• Buckwheat
• Bull's Blood Beet
• Early Wonder Beet
• Chantenay Red Core Carrot
• Shin Kuroda 5" Carrot
• Rosa Bianca Eggplant
• Red Wonder Wild Strawberry
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Harris Model Parsip
• Melrose Pepper
• Quadrato D' Asti Giallo Pepper
• Black Futsu Squash
• Musquee De Provence
• Emerald Evergreen Tomato
• Genovese Basil
• Rutgers Tomato
• Tappys Heritage Tomato
• White Queen Tomato
• Yellow Icicle Tomato
• Golden Midget Watermelon
• Demi Long Root Parsley

Whew!  More to come...