mmm...Radishes!

This weekend we spent a lot of time in Olympia, visiting with family and friends. But that meant spending awhile away from my garden, and seedlings! Funny thing is that I actually missed them. I would think randomly, 'i wonder how the peas are looking?...hopefully the compost bin isn't getting gross...how big are the heads on my broccoli?...wonder if my seed starts are sprouting yet?'.

But we did end up going to the Olympia Farmer's Market on Sunday. The weather was a little iffy, but their market down there is AWESOME! There is a permanent building for the vendors, so you can walk around rain or shine, and stay dry! I was able to speak to a gardener about Clematis, and got some great tips for pruning after it goes dormant. As well as learning about Black Orchard Bees, and Bat boxes.

I was also excited to find Praying Mantis egg cases, and purchased one for the garden! I can't wait until they hatch. I've always like Praying Manti (is that the plural form? lol) and am interested to see if any of them hangout to eat the bad critters of the garden! Here's the packaging, from The Lily Pad, Oly. Wa.

When we got back home, I ran out to the garden to check things out, and most of the radishes are ready to harvest! I picked a few and brought them in, and my hubby promptly munched one down, and enjoyed it!

Such a gratifying experience running out there to pluck something from the ground, that I planted from seed, and then to see my family enjoying it. I'm constantly amazed at how easy it is so far to grow our own veggies, and look forward to every new harvest and planting. And love the feeling of seeing a new sprout popping through the soil. Yes, it may be a little silly/dorky. But it's awesome.

I'm a gardening nerd.

Last day of sun

So today, is supposed to be the last day of sun for awhile, but man, those few beautiful days of sunshine seemed like steroids for my veggies! I also planted 2 squares yesterday, another crop of carrots and radishes! Hopefully they weren't washed out by yesterdays torrential downpours!

Here are photos from today:

Yummy Salad

Went out to the gardens yesterday morning, and watered. Discovered that my Peas are starting to bloom, radishes are almost ready for harvest, and I had an over abundance of Romaine, Spinach, and various types of lettuce!

So ,along with some homemade Gorgonzola Mac n' Cheese, we had a yummy salad consisting of homegrown greens, and store bought...Almonds, Craisins, and Asiago cheese, with a champagne vinaigrette! mmm. mmm. nom nom nom.

Dinner was scrumptious. And growing your own veg is divine!

This morning I checked on my seed starts that I have up in the bay window, and the cucumbers, oregano, and sweet basil have already sprouted! Thats a whopping 5 day germination! Woot Woot! :)

Sunny Day Gardening

Yesterday the weather was beautiful! So me n' Ez went outside and hung out and gardened in the sunshine! I even ended up with a little early season color! :) Ez pretty much just layed around in his pack n' play, while I worked away.

I prepped the new 6" deep bed, took the tarp off that had been warming the soil up, and mixed in 1 trowel of compost/square. Then I transplanted the tomato plant, that I had brought in to nurse back to health, in that garden. Also planted a few potatoes, dark purple and yellow.

Watered the deep bed, and cleaned up the veggies, by pinching off unhealthy leaves and debris. I use a bucket of water that is warmed by the sun, and and old gatorade bottle, this way I'm using the least amount of water necessary, and the water goes straight to the roots, and not all over the garden. (Got the idea from Square Food Gardening by Mel Bartholomew)




I had a few pretty ceramic pots that I wanted to use to transplant an indoor pepper plant, and a few other things. So I got out the powerdrill, and used a small drill bit to drill pilot whole into the over turned pot. Then used a larger bit, progressively, until the hole were the right size. I also poured a little water on the holes as I was drilling to keep it cool. Worked pretty well. Not as hard as I thought it would be.

Then I went inside and transplanted my Mint seedlings to larger yogurt cups, from the egg carton I had started them in.

I chose the strongest looking 6, out of the 12, and tossed the others. Then in the carton I started:

Summer Squash- seedlings in 10-14 days

Pickle bush Cucumber- seedlings in 7-14 days

Oregano- 10-21 days

Parsley- 14-21 days

Cilantro- 14-21 days

Sweet Basil- 7-14 days

and

Cantaloup- (in yogurt cups) Seedlings to transplant in 4 weeks.

2nd Bed, Compost, and Anti-doggie fence

After a few weeks, of a little watering and nurturing, things seemed to be coming along well. But we had quite a bit of soil left, so I wanted to build another bed! This time, I had read "All New Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. So I had realized that I only needed a 6" deep bed to sufficiently grow most veggies!! And also discovered that I didn't need to rip up the previous sod, I could just put down the weed barrier over it, and that would be fine! Whew, I was excited for it to be even easier this time.

So I went and picked up 2"x6" cedar boards. 2-3' pieces, and 2-6' pieces to make a 3'x6'X6" bed. This time I used long wood screws and a power drill, instead of hammer and nails. I found it to be WAY more simple, and a lot more sturdy. This bed I put together by myself, with no help from the Hubby.  Then filled it with the remaining dirt, and also had enough left over to fill a cedar half-barrel for strawberries!

We bought a plastic compost bin, for about $40. I had been looking for one on Craigslist, but couldn't find one that was cheap enough, and what we wanted, close by. That was easy to put together, and I just put the first stuff in there the other day! Dried grass clippings, kitchen scraps, and shredded paper. Can't wait to see it turn into "Black Gold", and also am looking forward to creating less waste as a household, and too saving a little money. We've been recycling most of our waste, and barely fill our small city trash can. So I'm going to call and have them pick it up. And we will just run to the dump every few weeks for the stuff we can't compost, or recycle. (Mostly baby waste)

We bought wire fencing, and metal posts, as well. Which was the least expensive option to keep our stinking dogs out of the gardens! Toad, our female Rot-Pit mix, loves the feeling of moist soil in between her toes. Syrus, our male rednose Pitbull, feels compelled to pee on the corners of the bed everytime we let him outside! So I am happy to have barricaded them out of 'my side of the yard'!

I put in a trellis on the north side of the deep garden for vining plants, and followed directions I found in 'Square Foot Gardening'. Using electric conduit, rebar, and garden netting. It was super easy to put together, and they cut the piping to length right there at Lowe's!

It begins...

So in April, after our road trip to California to visit Tim's family, we decided to build a raised bed to grow our own vegetables. I was inspired to do so from watching the documentary "Food, Inc.". Our son Ezekiel was born in January, and I really want to start him off on delicious and nutritious food, that won't weigh heavy on my conscience. I don't want to fill him with pesticides, and preservatives. He deserves better than that. Then I got to thinking...'Why do I put that stuff in MY body!?'. So it begins...

We ended up scoring a ford ranger bed worth of soil from a buddy, who was giving up his 'horticultural' endeavors! It was great dirt! Very dark, with Vermiculite, and lava rock for drainage. Went to Home Depot to pick up lumber. I wasn't really sure what type of wood I needed, so I asked the guy in the lumber department what would be best for a raised veggie garden. So he pointed me in the direction of the seemingly most expensive option. Pressure treated 2"x12" cedar boards. He said that it would be good because it wouldn't rot, and would be the best option. I trusted his advice, and had him cut 2 boards to 2-3' 2"x12"s, and 2-6' 2"x12"s, to build a 3'x6' 12" deep bed! After buying the wood, I realized it wasn't the right choice, because: 1. Pressure treated wood, was going to leach chemicals into my soil, and potentially contaminate my veggies. And 2. I didn't really need to have 12" of soil to grow my plants.  But since I had already had the boards cut, I figured they wouldn't let me return them. So we went home, and nailed the boards to build the bed, ripped up the sod, lined the bed with weed barrier to completely cover the wood on the inside, and filled the bed. It ended up looking very nice, and took us about a day of work, from going to Home Depot, to finishing the bed. I was surprised at how easy it actually was.

The next day, I went to Lowe's. (Had a bit of a bad taste in my mouth from the bad purchase and advice from Home Depot.) Picked up a bunch of veggie starts, ran home and got to planting! I planted using the Square Foot Gardening method. Even though I hadn't read the book yet. It was the beginning of April and still pretty cold, but planted everything with reckless abandon. Because of this, my Cucumber starts, Basil starts, and one of my tomato plants, did not survive.