garden update!

It's been a square two weeks I believe since I planted my fall vegetable garden and as promised, here's an update on our progress.

We've had some very interesting activity in our beds. When I prepared the soil this year I used manure from a friend's horse barn and my own compost. Of course, compost is the result of decomposed fruits and vegetables, among other organic and biodegradable things, and it's natural to think that maybe seeds from those fruits and vegetables may linger behind, storing up life within themselves and waiting for the right environment so that they may release their energy and grow into food.

Now, I am not sure if the "mysterious" seedlings that have been popping up are from seeds in the compost, or if they were dormant seeds in the beds that came to life because the soil was attended to and amended. I do recognize the seedlings but am not sure of the variety of each plant. The sad part is, this is not the growing season for those fruits, so we may not get the chance of seeing any of the plants bear fruit at all, but it will be fun to watch and see.

I'm also starting a garden time lapse page so you can see our progress cumulatively.

this bed has collards, kale, radishes, strawberries and lettuce, along with other seedlings that have sprouted up that I will point out to you.

this bed has collards, turnips, lettuce and kale and also has some mysterious seedlings

here are the radishes (strawberries far left), and right in the spot where a radish plant should be is some kind of squash plant... at least some kind of vine plant TBD

in this picture you can see a kale seeding (I think... maybe collard) and a tomato seedling

growing up against the edge of the smaller bed are these two plants... not sure what these are but I do think they are vines? I dunno...

The type of gardening that I do is called square foot gardening. The approach involves building raised beds that are a good 10"  to 12" deep (2 2x6s end to end work well), filled with 1/3 vermiculite (for drainage), 1/3 compost and 1/3 manure. This allows you to have perfect soil without having to till up any of your own soil and try to amend it to work best for your plants. Also the nutrients in the soil are dense and contained. Another added benefit is that you can grow more food in less space, with less water, less seed and minimizes your watering needs. I also have only ever had to use neem oil to prevent any insects from affecting my plants, which is totally organic and natural. Because of the diversity of the plants in your raised bed pest problems tend to be minimal and contained to summer months (at least that was my experience).

If you live in an apartment, or in a big house with a lot of land, you can garden this way.

Here are some photos pf my garden over the last few years.

garden update! we have germination...

Well, the waiting is over... and it didn't take too long. The soil is good, so those old seeds came to life in a jiffy.

I promised to post pics of our progress daily, but when the seedlings are oh so small, well, it's a little hard to see 'em from way up high. Now though, the radish seedlings are almost an inch high, so you can barely see them in the pictures, but you can see them nonetheless.

The weather has been great, a little dry, but the forecast calls for some rain tonight, which would be great for my garden.

Day 3 - 9/17/2011 -BOOORRRING...

But WAIT!! What's this!?!?! Some of the radishes and lettuce have sprouted!

 Day 5: 9/19/2011 - I know these are sorta boring, but it'll be more exciting soon!!

Here are some of the collards - I planted three seeds at a time, so I am definitely going to have to thin.

And the radishes. They are the fastest to germinate and grow - they'll be ready for harvest in just two weeks!! I can probably do two rounds of these. 

That's all for now on the garden. I am going to post some other goodies today for your reading pleasure... :)

Much love, friends.

Brooke

and so we grow...

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

from furthest row to nearest: turnips, collards, lettuce, kale

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...

we started out on Tuesday... Shiloh brought the kitchen sink out into the yard.

one of my raised beds and bags of manure

observe... lol

my sweet one <3... who shortly hereafter bonked his head, and we were done...

and this was our work resumed on Wednesday morning... notice Shiloh wearing her baby and my old madras Kangol cap :) that's my girl :)

the smaller bed...

now we've mixed in the manure... it's all smoothed out now, thanks to Shiloh :)

planting collards, kale, lettuce, turnips, and radishes

reclaiming water that had accumulated in our dump wagon to water the beds

Shiloh made me promise she could have a turn using the big watering can. 

my wild growing Lantana (Miss Huff variety is perennial )... 

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