Welp, she's planted. The seeds are in the ground and now we begin the period of nurturing and patience to see if these little seeds will germinate and grow something good for us to eat.
DAY: 1
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| from furthest row to nearest: turnips, collards, lettuce, kale |
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| from furthest to nearest: (I think!) collards, kale, lettuce, radishes, and a leftover strawberry plant |
Normally I plant a garden both Summer and Fall but with a new baby and it being so overwhelmingly hot, and with Summer gardens being so high maintenance, I opted out... in fact I really totally neglected my garden this Spring and Summer. I just haven't had the money to buy pine straw and mushroom compost and all that... or the energy to pull weeds. But I realized that the compost pile I started a couple years ago and left to finish decomposing was ready, and if I put forth some effort I could get some manure. So I got out there and got to it in time to plant for Fall.
My raised beds were refreshed with my own compost. Then I took a trip to our friends Rob and Kim's house to get into the manure pile behind their barn that had been sitting and aging for over a year. I shoveled seven garbage bags full of PERFECTLY aged manure. Didn't even smell! :) Totally free, except for the use of a little muscle and gas.
Also, I am crossing my fingers about my seeds... they are a year or more old, and I am hoping they will all germinate. I put an extra (or two) in the hole against my better judgment just in case... if they ALL germinate, I will have to thin quickly. Nothing worse than messing all of the seedlings up in the thinning process. That is one of the most fascinating things to me ... the life stored up in just one little seed. We underestimate it... and in doing so we mess up it's chance to really become all it was meant to be. So many spiritual applications!
I "do" my vegetable gardening via the
Square Foot Gardening method which really means I work with the space I have to get the yield I want, in perfect soil, with minimal pest issues as a result, among other benefits. It also means I don't have to use pesticides (which I don't anyway, except
Neem Oil in Summer). By now I should be able to certify organic, but I am not sure that's worth it since I really only have about 40 square feet of gardening space!
Shiloh helped me get everything blended and raked out and even helped me plant. It was a fun experience for her and I can't wait for her to see the results of our efforts!
I will post a daily pic of our growth progress. I hope to harvest in November before our first real freeze. Though my collards and kale can over winter...
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| we started out on Tuesday... Shiloh brought the kitchen sink out into the yard. |
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| one of my raised beds and bags of manure |
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| observe... lol |
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| my sweet one <3... who shortly hereafter bonked his head, and we were done... |
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| and this was our work resumed on Wednesday morning... notice Shiloh wearing her baby and my old madras Kangol cap :) that's my girl :) |
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| the smaller bed... |
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| now we've mixed in the manure... it's all smoothed out now, thanks to Shiloh :) |
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| planting collards, kale, lettuce, turnips, and radishes |
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| reclaiming water that had accumulated in our dump wagon to water the beds |
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| Shiloh made me promise she could have a turn using the big watering can. |
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| my wild growing Lantana (Miss Huff variety is perennial )... |
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| Jack (cat) in the blueberry bushes, Shelby (dog) and some dead azaleas I need to take out |
I'll be posting a photo every day of our progress and hopefully we can do a time lapse! I should do the same for my hair... ha!
Love B
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