Winter Garden Prep

Our summer garden never really turned out, I'm sad to report. We had a sorry excuse for a harvest. But I became hopeful again this past weekend after spending some time with a few master gardeners, learning how to best prepare for a winter veggie garden. The key is not only great soil, but SUN! Even during summer, our little plants were not getting enough of it. I found myself thinking, real estate agents had it right with their mantra about location, location, location!

The speaker at this gardening seminar spoke so highly about growing lettuce and how it's her favorite thing to grow because she eats so much of it, so naturally since I'm also a voracious salad eater, I was inspired to get out and plant lettuce right away. Armed with 5 seed packets of different varieties, I made little rows in my rectangular container, and planted. I also planted: 2 kinds of Swiss chard (neon yellow and red), the lettuces (Bibb, Boston, a reddish hued one, lamb's lettuce otherwise known as Mache, and arugula) as well as radishes. Tonight, I'm going to plant beets and turnips. By the weekend I want to plant beans and peas again but since these require some supports, I want to put those in place before I plant the seeds.

I made sure to put my containers in a location that would receive at least 6-8 hours of sun. After having spent the better part of the day yesterday watching my garden and logging how many hours of sun each area gets, it's no wonder nothing grew. I was able to find a few choice spots that DO get 6-8 hours and this is where the containers are going.

I thought this whole "container veggie garden" idea would appeal to people who, like me, don't have wide expanses of land just sitting there ready for planting or who don't want to rip their exiting gardens up just to try growing veggies. Containers can be easily replanted and moved if needed. They can be placed on shelving for a more vertical garden (like on a baker's rack set on a patio or some other shelving system).  I also like the idea that the care given to each container can vary based on those veggies' needs. For example, some may need more fertilizer, less sun, more water, etc. than the others, so having more control over the growing conditions of each veggie seems very exciting.

I'm going to try this. According to the packets, I should have lettuce in 45-60 days. I'll keep you posted.

Summer Garden Update

Here it is - almost the end of summer. Hard to believe because we haven't had the usual heat we normally do (90 or above). It's been a beautiful 75-80 all this time while the rest of the country is baking in its own juices, so to speak.

And what has my little veggie garden been up to, you ask? Well, despite the glorious weather, a lack of time on our part has caused the garden to be somewhat neglected. Though the cherry tomato plants have been producing their daily quotient of fruit for our salads, the squashes and cucumbers are growing sloooooooooooowly despite the fertilizing and consistent watering. Mmmmmmm......

But the good news is there have been a few new budding squashes to watch. They grow on an almost daily basis, which is a lot of fun. I look forward to making a lot of stuff when these babies mature: stuffed zucchini, tomato and zucchini compote, zucchini muffins, and zucchini relish.

Look at the pretty yellow flowers the cucumber plants put forth! I never knew that they did that. Creamy cool cucumber and yogurt salad awaits them!

What's growing in our garden

After years of growing flowers we grew tired of constantly fussing over them, so last year, my husband decided to start an organic vegetable garden. We don't have much space, but he did his research and heard about "Square Foot Gardening". It made a lot of sense, so he decided to give it a try.

Many things did not do well. We planted them at the wrong times, overwatered them, didn't really know how to care for them (so much for not fussing over the garden!). In this, our second year, we've learned a few things. Honestly, I only do two things with this garden: help decide what to plant, and water it when my husband gets busy with work. My motto has been: "You grow 'em, I'll cook 'em." I do NOT have a green thumb. He, on the other hand, took horticulture in high school, so that makes him the expert between the two of us.

Currently we have onions, which are all that remain of the winter "crop" and the typical summer "crop" veggies: zucchini, tomatoes, and eggplant. Radishes have also been planted. Radishes are the all-time easiest things to grow apparently any time of year. Even if you are only moderately fond of radishes (like me), there is nothing like a fresh one. Talk about flavor! A great addition to any salad or crudite platter.

More tomatoes flank the other side of the lawn, as well as butternut squash and another attempt at green beans (which we haven't gotten the hang of yet. They are always being devoured by something evil like snails or worms of some kind). Four kinds of tomatoes grow: Roma, Yellow Pear, Early Girl, and Red Cherry.

No garden of mine would be complete without herbs. Even when I lived in apartments and had no garden, I grew them in pots and had them near my kitchen window or growing on a balcony. At the moment, we have marjoram, thyme, lemon thyme, parsley, and oregano. Dormant at the moment are tarragon and sage. The only thing I miss is cilantro, which I have found somewhat finicky, but I'll give it another try. And you're probably wondering, "what about basil?", and that would be a good question. I always grow basil indoors, on the kitchen sill, because snails just LOVE it.

So that's what's happening in our garden at the moment. I'll update as things sprout.