This year’s garden brought on new and exciting things. Planning for the garden began a few months in advance. I created a layout drawing of the garden area, including measurements and what seeds I would sow. My herb garden was expanded, making room for additional plants. I diversified my choices for the vegetable garden to help create new flavorful vegetarian recipes.
The items I chose to grow this year are listed below. Many of these items were started from seed indoors in April 2009 and then planted outdoors the middle of May 2009.
Make new herbs, but keep the old....one is silver and the other's gold
Seedlings starting to sprout
Newly Planted Garden (started by seed indoors)
Herbs:
- Basil
- Chives
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Garlic
- Lavender
- Mint
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Thyme
Vegetables:
- Banana Pepper
- Beets
- Bell Peppers
- Carrots
- Cayenne Pepper
- Cucumber-seedless
- Eggplant-Ichiban
- Fennel
- Green Beans
- Jalapeno Pepper
- Leek
- Lettuce
- Mixed Greens
- Spinach
- Squash
- Tomatoes-Grape, Better Boy, Heirloom German Queen, Heirloom Pineapple
- Zucchini
We prepared the garden by rototilling the planting area and removing all weeds in early May. Our soil is very sandy, which has been a huge help with the growth of our vegetables and other plants in the past. The garden was planted this past weekend, May 15-17, 2009. We have been receiving many rain showers, which has helped keep the garden watered. On drier days, watering of the garden is a necessity.
Feeding and caring for your garden: Once the seeds begin to sprout and the plants are 1 inch tall, mix organic feed into the top layer of soil around each plant. This could be a good time to sprinkle organic blood meal or red pepper flakes around the plants to keep critters from nibbling on your plants. Even in urban areas, problems with critters eating your plants and vegetables could exist. Make sure you sprinkle additional blood meal or red pepper flakes after a hard rain, as they wash away easily. Planting marigolds around your garden will also help keep bugs afar. Remember to use wire baskets and support stakes for your tomato plants and other large plants (such as bell peppers, eggplant etc.).
I look forward to watching the garden grow and mature.
Composting
Compost Bin
Growing up, our family always composted our vegetable scraps and other items. This created rich soil that was then used for our garden the following year.
My husband and I have begun composting. We are in the planning process of building a wood composting bin. In the meantime, we have created a temporary bin from chicken wire to keep animals away. We keep the mound turned (using a pitch fork) and balanced between veggie scraps, grass clippings, and soil–along with the right amount of sunlight.
Between recycling everything we can, and composting, we are down to one small bag of trash per week. I am excited to use our new vitamin-rich soil for our garden next year.