Wednesday, March 11, 2009

In The Garden

We have decided to try our hands at gardening again this year. A couple of years ago I bought some tomato and pepper plants and tried to grow them in containers - it was a disaster. I think I may have gotten 3 tiny tomatoes off of the plants and a couple of misshapen peppers and didn't actually eat any of it! My tomatoes got those annoying green worms and the peppers were eaten by the birds and ants.

This time I had Hubby build me a 4x8 raised vegetable bed box and we are "doing it right" in the back yard, in actual garden soil with fertilizer and mulch and the like. I really, really want to do this - not only for the benefit of my grocery bill, but also to give me and the boys an excuse to actually use the mammoth back yard that has been sitting there lonely all these years.

Kiddo used to be a backyard baby. He would wander out there for hours, digging in the dirt and exploring everything. Nowadays I can barely get him out there for more than a few minutes blowing bubbles or running with the dog. The backyard has lost it's luster. Of course, it would probably help if the swing set wasn't broken, but that is another post for another time.

Anyway, the box is built, we just need to prepare the ground it will sit on and steak it all together. Then we need to buy the dirt and mulch and a few bags of fertilizer and/or manure and we should be all set. I bought some seeds yesterday - my intention was to plant them indoors first to sprout and then transplant the little plants a few weeks later. However, apparently you should grow most of these things for 6-8 weeks before transplanting them into the ground. So I have scrapped that and will plant the seeds directly once we are past this latest cold snap. Hopefully I will get something out of this. I will be pretty upset if I can't grow anything again.

So, if we get a break in the rain this weekend we will be shoveling and raking and tilling and whatnot - whee! Oh, how I love physical labor...

I know, I know, it's good for me. ;-)

Until,
D :)

2 comments:

Julia said...

My grandparents and parents are avid organic gardeners who are always pestering me to start my own garden again. They can throw out old tomato, and a new plant will sprout from it. They leave a small section for composting and plant all around it. Then the compost area primes the soil for the next year as does the planting. If you want something easy to grow, if you buy green onions at the grocery store, cut the white stem with the roots intact off. Poke a hole in the dirt with your finger, and plant the white stem part. Voila. Green onion plants!

Julia said...

Oh, and basil is easy to grow too. If you buy any fresh from the store, so long as the stems are strong, you can put the basil into a jar of water, and it'll sprout roots.

I have no patience growing plants from seeds. :-)