It’s been years since we had a garden. Like about 9 years when the big kids weren’t so big. We had a small area beside our house and grew lots of tomatoes, attempted cucumbers (heh), and managed to get a couple of cantalopes.
We’ve super-sized that garden here. The actual tilled up land is 25′ x 110′. Gulp. We decided to try half of that for this first season.
After measuring, we made a trip up to our local garden center and the nice guy there gave us a guide that tells us what we can plant this time of year, how far to space each plant, and how deep to plant. Just the right info we needed! We pulled out the graph paper, did calculations and drew out our garden. Last Saturday, we headed to the dirt…
We decided to be really geeky and actually put up stakes at each row of plants. Then, we strung twine across each so we’d know where to plant.
Beautiful, isn’t it?
Time to get our hands dirty.
The master gardener
Peppers. We planted 5 different kinds. We had a system…Payton dug the holes, and Randy (and Dylan) put the plants in. We were short-handed that day. Marley was with a friend, Ethan was sick, and Abbey was inside getting ready for the prom (see last post!).
Tomatoes. Again, 5 different kinds. We also planted beans and corn by seed (THOSE took forever…), cantaloupe, and watermelon.
Now that it’s all planted, we’re considering whether to put up a fence. We’ve gotten varied advice…you MUST have a fence or you’ll lose all your veggies…take your chances and see what happens. ?? We’ve never seen deer here, but we feel they must be around (woods all around us). We have seen bunnies several times…and we know they love gardens. We’d hate to see all of our work – and food – eaten up by woodland creatures. Randy has crunched the numbers and drawn out the design for the fence he’d prefer to build. We’ll see.
Have I mentioned yet how much we love it out here? Rural life is suiting me just fine.
May 4th, 2012 at 8:32 am
I would kill for a vegetable garden, but it won’t work here. Looking forward to seeing it grow and once again, in a much older post – LOVE the Steeler shirts your guys are wearing!! woot woot
May 4th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Oh wow, the last time I saw a garden that large in our family was when I was growing up and my Uncle Alan & Aunt Nellie had a huge farm in Washington Township area of NJ. Believe it or not, the big “Washington Township High School” is actually built on their farm land!!!! I mentioned this to Uncle Billy & he was surprised…it’s right near where they live.
Tomatoes….yum!!!! Your dad would be more interested in the green bell peppers! “Time to get our hands dirty”…you don’t look too sure of yourself, but hey, you got expert advice from the guy at the garden center!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!! :)
We have hostas in the backyard along with different kinds of lillies…and the deer love the hostas, and then when they’re eaten up, they unfortunately to for the pretty lillies!!! YIKES! I love deer, but I don’t love their appetites!!! Good luck on your country garden…sooo glad to hear how much you guys love it there!!!! :)
May 4th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Don’t forget about squirrels. Several years ago we decided to try planting some tomatoes again. The plants came up so nice and were loaded with tomatoes. We never got to eat one of them. As soon as a tomato would get the least bit of red on it, a squirrel would take a big bite out of it. We gave up and gave the tomato cages away. I think rabbits and deer are going to be a problem where you live and I have no hints on how to keep them away. A fence won’t stop a squirrel. I have seen people use pie tins that have a hole in them and are tied up to something. The movement of the pie tins will keep some animals away.
May 4th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
We have had a huge garden since we moved here, but it was at least 14 years ago. We used the land up on the main road that belonged to Paul’s Mom. We planted a little of everything and didn’t have too much trouble with animals eating stuff. Down here we had a lot of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, but had to put a wire fence up to keep the rabbits out. You have to have the wire go down into the ground so rabbits can’t dig under it. Never had much trouble with squirrels getting it. Deer love my hosta too, but I have started putting hair clippings (after I cut mine or Paul’s hair) around the natural area and they haven’t bothered the hosta in a couple of years.
Paul built a wooden crate that is long and deep w/ holes in the bottom for drainage. We keep it on the deck and grow a few tomato plants, peppers and a couple of cucumbers in it.
I loved to work in the garden and LOVED shelling peas, butterbeans, etc. When Randy and Tony were young, I used to freeze and can vegetables every summer.
Let the kids help make a scarecrow, too. You may want a couple of them. I like the tin pie plate idea too as the noise will help scare away animals. If Randy could run a cord out to the garden and put a “motion light” on it, that might would work for the deer.
Nothing better than a fresh tomato out of your garden and put the slices on fresh bread with mayo and bacon.