Dirt Therapy

I think it's high time we had a garden update.

Awhile back I mentioned that the pots with the young greens had been placed on the porch only to be eaten a few days later. My hope at the time was that some of them would survive but unfortunately that was not to be. The only plant is still alive from that stint is one of the spinach plants, the rest had to be replanted. Unfortunately I mixed the cabbage and lettuce seeds at one point, and was going to have to swap pots, but then we found another large one, so all is well again. The real question is going to be how they they handle multiple hot days in a row. (Minus a couple of hot days, it's been a relatively cool summer so far.)

Meanwhile, the garden itself is growing like mad. Or at least half of it is. The half we planted in spring is becoming full and some of the produce is even ready for harvest. The newer half of the garden is still scraggly and will remain that way until the seeded plants get a bit bigger. In my infinite wisdom I put seeds into the ground and then failed to mark where or what. So now we play the "is that a weed or a seed?" as they slowly grow bigger. My hope is in two more weeks things will have grown in and I'll have a better idea of what might need a third round of planting. 

(I did previously mention the garden got extended right? If I didn't I apologize, Dad basically doubled the length of the drip line and there is now have twice the space to work with!)

To enthusiasts, I'm sorry if my lackadaisical method drives you nuts. While I know there's a science to germinating and planting seeds, in this case I much prefer the learn by doing method. And the good news is, we have a LOT of seeds I can practice with.  

Green Thumb Update

Last Thursday I wrote about the garden saying we'll see if anything else gets planted. Well, without having read my witty writing, after work my sister walks up to me and says "what do you want planted in the garden?" Apparently it was an assignment for her plant science class, but I must say the timing was impeccable. That evening we planted watermelon which, when I last checked were still alive. 

Inspired that two more seedlings found I home, over the weekend I planted all the leafy greens in pots and placed them on the porch. It made sense at the time, the porch has sun in the morning and shade during the hottest part of the day, unlike the garden which is full sun all day. There is also a hose and other plants that get watered regularly, so they wouldn't die from dehydration, a fate all too common with potted plants in my care. I was even an over achiever and carefully labeled each green, so we'd know what was what. Imagine my shock a day or two later when I went to water the plants and found all except the spinach had been eaten! 

The chance of an animal nibbling on our produce is rather high. Living in the country we are surrounded by birds, gophers, rabbits, coyotes, squirrels, skunks, possums, the occasional raccoon, and snakes. So, plants or fruits being devoured by a non human creature isn't unheard of but these were on the house porch. What is the point of having dogs if they can't keep rabbits off the porch!?! So now the pots are back on the picnic table, right next to the dogs nightly haunt, and we wait to see if the plants can recover or if the seeds will need to be planted all over again.

Not So Secret Garden

Bathroom greenhouse

Today's post is about "'leadership'". Just kidding, it's actually about one of our family group projects, gardening. Our gardening exploits so far this spring have come in a variety of phases, from Dad creating herb planters out old cement pipes; to my sister planting the garden with plants Mom got from the hardware store, to my other sister helping me plant some seeds. So far everyone has found some time to play in the dirt.

Cement her planter

The initial surge in gardening was partly boredom, partly because one of my sisters is taking plant science, and partly irritation that grocery stores were running out of food. In other words we were skirting the border that leads too crazy prepper territory. You needn't fear though, since I spearheaded half the effort after the initial surge, the momentum has died down.

Proof the seedlings were once happy

The seeds which started out strong growing in our bathroom (it was cold outside, ok), have started to droop and look pathetic as they hold out hope they will be planted soon. However all is not lost, the corn did get put in the ground recently, as did the beans. The reason the rest of the baby plants haven't made it to the garden is that we do not enough space on the current drip line. Hopefully we'll remedy this soon and plant the tender shoots before they kick the bucket. While I hate seeing work go to waste, (yes, I know it's the reoccurring state of my garden) we have tons of seeds we can replant with. Apparently I have this habit of buying more seeds before using the ones I already had.

I have a problem...

Moving on from my charming quirks, my "plan" is to plant what we have and then see where and what else we might be able to grow. The coming weeks will show how the transplanting went an if any more of our baby plants made it to the garden before giving up the ghost.

The Challenge Continues

The plot thickens

It's my fourth summer gardening, assuming I'm counting right. Summer #1 was The Experiment or The Small Patch; summer #2 The Hose, summer #3 The Weed* Patch, and now summer #4 Legit. Ok not really but I can't give everything away at once.

My first summer I tried a little sprinkler, but it didn't work quite right so I switched to flooding small ditches. It worked alright but took a long time and didn't cover things well.

The next summer I think is when I got a perforated hose from ACE thinking I'd be able to wind it around the plants and it would work great. I don't really remember much of this summer, except this might be the year Leila helped me with some of the cultivating.

Last summer I used the hose again, but this time I decided to a) expand the garden; b) switch up where I planted things, c) plant things I'd never grown before and were completely foreign, d) try to make some sort of rows or mounds or something depending on the plant.

What I learned, broccoli is surprisingly hearty, lettuce grows ok but get's bitter when too big and the arugula or whatever that was grows like a weed. Spreads like a weed to, but boy does that stuff survive. End result up close the garden looked like a patch of weeds. (Aunt Judy maintains it looked good from the road.)

Which brings us to this year. The main problem with past years is my watering techniques left much to be desired. On the other hand, why spend money on a whim that won't be kept up. But this year I decided it was time, it was time to invest and do this gardening thing right. So I headed to Hilmar Lumber (on a free flower Wed of course) and asked how much 120ish feet of drip line would be.

Of course everyone assumed it was for my Dad, but I proudly said, nope it's for my garden. I then spent a long time debating the best way to set things up and connect everything, but in the end settled for a basic drip line, hose, faucet version. (Let's just say my alternate version included pvc and valves. Someday...) The most trying part was making holes and inserting the drippers. Your thumbs get sore after a while. But I endured and with a little help from my sister Heidi, everything got put together.

But that wasn't the only change, oh no. I also decided to expand the garden making it the biggest it's ever been. (In case you didn't notice in first picture.) Meaning, I was back in hardpan with a shovel. But why quit when you're ahead? I also decided to make four long rows so everything could be neat and orderly. And so I could know exactly where everything was.

How does my garden grow

In the past I've tried seed starters in the house. They don't work for me. If plants do grow they tend to be wimpy when I plant them and die anyway. I have more luck going straight to the soil and this year's my best ever for seeds actually growing.

It's amazing how much better a little order and organization can make things. I mean;

1) I know what's where.
2) It's almost impossible to flood the garden washing seeds every which way and creating more weeds.
3) The row's created looser soil even in the hardpan areas. (Although as Aunt Judy pointed out, the carrots may need more sand, we'll see.)

4) The drip is keeping the soil from drying like cement.
5) It's easier to tell a weed from a plant.

Anyway, that's why this year's garden is Legit or The Year of the Drip Line. So far we've done a pretty good job keeping the weeds down too. The dry rows definitely cut down on the "weed carefully" areas which helps A LOT.

Now, the next thing I need to learn is to actually eat what I grow...

To me the garden is an ironic mystery. I have no idea how I've been consistent enough to do this for four years straight. Every year when it's time to shovel I seriously doubt a garden will be planted. And yet somehow, every year it gets done. I wonder how long this strange trend will run. I suppose only time will tell.

If you're in the area, and want some garden fresh something feel free to stop by. If you're unsure which house is mine, just look for the garden out back. At the rate it's growing you can't miss it.

*By weed I mean a plant growing where you don't want it. Not the grass that's not a lawn nonsense.