Wish I would have taken a “before” picture of it. Picture knee-deep weeds interspersed with taller, dead stalks of who-knows-what. Randy took his new (to him), beloved green tractor and mowed it all down. Then, we hooked up with a local homeschool dad who came with his big ‘ol tiller and turned it into this lovely patch of dirt.
We measured it tonight… 26′ wide x 110′ long. Gracious. The previous owners installed a sprinkler system specifically for the garden…we tested it out tonight. The heads need some tweaking, but Randy will get it working correctly.
Now, the question is…what do we plant? I have a couple of tomato plants already, 1 strawberry plant, and 1 bean plant. They were all started in pots. I’ll admit, other than having a fairly small garden years ago that consisted mainly of tomatoes, I’m a newbie here.
Other questions…how much space does each type of veggie need? What CAN I plant this time of year? What fertilizers (if any) do we use? How do I keep the weeds at bay? (other than lots of hands working to pull them) Do we jump in and fill the whole garden this year, or start small? I feel like googling “basics of veggie gardening” and printing everything I find.
Thankfully, we’re told that the local mom ‘n pop garden center just a mile or so from us will help a TON. I’m hoping they take mercy on us :)
*Diversion* While taking the garden pics, I managed to catch the mama bird flying out of her knot-hole nest. She works hard, flying in and out all day long. Wish we could peek inside to see those little guys! We can sure hear them.
So, any garden experts out there? I’d love your tips and advice on this new venture of ours! I’m excited (and nervous) about getting started…
April 26th, 2012 at 11:51 pm
WOW!
I’m no garden expert, but I could suggest taking advice from folks locally located as to what grows best there. And I would also suggest NOT overplanting squash (yellow or green) even if you love it (though it can be frozen). How about letting each child pick something that’s special to them, and then be “in charge” of “their plants”?
I’ll be watching to see what comes of this adventure!
April 27th, 2012 at 5:09 pm
OH, what a beautiful spot for a garden!
We garden on a very small scale but love fresh tomatoes of different varieties, 4 plants feed our large family. Anaheim peppers are yummy grilled on burgers! Strawberries and cantaloupe are easy to grow. We didn’t have success w/ corn, but did enjoy the fresh green beans too. Good luck, keep us posted on your progress!
April 28th, 2012 at 12:12 am
Garden looks great. Now just to plant it, water it and wait. Do you have deer and/or rabbits around? You may end up needing to put a fence around it if the animals get more out of the garden than you do.
Some things that normally grow on the ground can be trained to grow onto strings/posts… such as cucumbers or running okra .. thus taking up less space. With tomatoes you can plant several different kinds like the small cherry tomatoes or the larger beefsteak types. Make sure to either use the wire “cages” around the larger tomatoes or use the twine/posts with them too. If you need to tie up any of the vegetables, an old nylon pair of hose torn into strips works great as it has “give” in it so that it can expand as the stems get larger. Another tip is to always check the underside of the leaves as that is where a lot of the insects will be that you don’t want. You could plant a row of peas, a row of butterbeans and a row of green beans. I never had much luck with corn though.
I like the idea about letting the kids pick out something they like and letting them be responsible for it. Good luck with your “big” garden project. I may need to bring you a couple of the egg baskets afterall.