I have to admit, I've been a little bit addicted to my seed catalogs lately. They were delivered months ago, but I just can't quit them. Each page is dog earred and a good number of seeds are circled, starred, and marked. One of the best things about owning a home, for me at least, is the chance to really build our garden. We've only had it for one year, but I really think that this year is going to be the best one yet.
Unfortunately, it is still a little early to put most of the seeds out into the ground. We have been tending the soil in the main bed though, and cleaning up our garden area. But there are a few plants that we have been able to start work on.
I planted potatoes for instance. These are just circles of covered chicken wire. The newspaper you see is to help hold the dirt inside the circle. Then I filled them a little ways, maybe 18 inches with soil and planted my seed potato pieces. The left is white potatoes, and the right is red. I've ordered some blue so soon I will add that circle too.
We also started a few seeds inside. This is probably my favorite way to start seeds because I can obsessively scan the soil every few hours for little baby seedlings. Yesterday I was able to spot four baby butter lettuces and two kales. I immediately texted Marco to tell him the good news and he was just as excited as I was.
The onions that started to sprout in the pantry went into their own planter. And I replanted the chives that reseeded themselves. And I spread a few leaf lettuce seeds while I was at it too.
And tonight, finally, I will sit down and make my order for the majority of our seeds and plants. We are trying a few new things this year, like beans and corn that you can grow in planters, blueberries and strawberries, a new kind of cucumber and even soybeans. Add that to last years tomatoes, peppers, egg plants, zuchinni, gourds, watermelon, okra, and all the herbs we can fit- it's going to be a good year.
We have hopes and dreams (well, I do) of growing at least 750 pounds of produce this year. We were able to top over 300 last year so I thing it's possible. We're also expanding our food plants into the front yard to help us reach our goal and to help develop some of the more ignored areas of our yard. Peppers, kale, blue berries and beans are going in the flower beds as edible landscaping. Add them to the two dozen irises, tulips and daffodils that are already coming up and we've got ourselves a pretty nice piece of property. We have a half dozen new rosemary bushes and the mint planters are already showing tiny leaves. I wish we had room for a few more fruit trees, but I think we may have a deal worked out with a neighbor.
Anyone else getting garden ready? If you are looking for inspiration or just a little guidance, these are the places I've been stalking for a few months. 100 Dollars has great growing guides and I've been a subscriber to Mother Earth for years (happy birthday to me!). Good growing to you!
www.100dollarsamonth.com- a family that lives on 100 dollars a month in groceries. I love this site! She is so smart and funny and real. Plus she has chickens which means she's great.
www.MotherEarthNews.com- a gold mine of information about green living, growing, planting, home steading, whatever you can think of when it comes to planting and preserving. Great search tools and constant updates.
www.urbanhomestead.org- my first homesteading experience. I started reading this blog several years ago and that was when I decided I needed to buy a house. I love the two sisters who run the blog, they are wonderfuly inspirational and so fancy.
www.rootsimple.com- I started by reading this couple's books a few years ago and then started following their blog. The blog tends to be a little hit or miss for me, I can't relate to as much of it as I did the books, but they have a great search tool and wonderful resources.
Let's get growing y'all!
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