Houston.....We have lift off!!!!!!!

In the words of the great NASA astronauts, Houston we have lift off. The 2011 England garden is underway. Let’s just hope that we don’t have the same difficulties as Apollo 13!  I am not nearly as resourceful as those folks.

I spent my Easter Monday getting everything in the ground. The old rule of thumb is to only plant after Good Friday to avoid frost. Frost is like kryptonite to your vegetable garden. You can always put your plants in the ground prior to Good Friday but you run the risk of running into a frost, you just have to make sure you cover everything with a sheet or other cloth prior to the frost.  I purchased plants that had already been started from someone who is way better at growing than I am (hint..a local hardware store off of Lakeshore Drive).  I dug holes about 1-2 inches deep for each plant.  You need to keep the root ball for each plant intact when removing the plant.....if possible.  I also like to break up the bottom of the root ball if the roots are pact close together to encourage them to venture into the new soil.  I was also careful to give each plant plent of room to grow.  If you are unsure how large each plant will grow, check online or on the tag that comes with each tray.  With that said, the deed is done.

Prior to planting I had tested my soil PH and found that it was a little high. I tilled in some organic garden sulfur to lower the PH and added the material from my compost pile to increase the nitrogen content and, boom pow, it's perfect now. We should be good to go. 

The official roster consists of some old favorites and some new additions. I planted sweet potatoes (for my Mother-in-law), okra, green bell pepper (for my friend Lauren Taylor), cayenne peppers (for me), tomatoes, potatoes, yellow onion, cucumber (for A.J.), crook neck squash and zucchini. To say the least I have a full house this year. As you can see I have used my old truck tires to plant my potatoes in. All the research I did online said that this was a great way to do it but we will have to wait and see.

As I mentioned in my last post, I am planting all my squash and cucumbers in a separate section. I hope this will allow them to spread their wings and fly so to speak.

I will keep everyone up to date with any changes. Up next……you guessed it…..blankets and newspaper (if this has completely confused you check my post from last year). 

Happy Organic Gardening!!!!!!!!

Part Deux

Well ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I’m back. Please, please hold your applause.

 I know you have been waiting all year so here goes - I’m going to attempt my second year

 at organic gardening. 

Last year went well, we had productive plants and I learned a few things and yes, made some mistakes. Besides having a productive garden, my goal for this year is to find a more effective organic pesticide. I used a store bought organic type last year that just did not hold up to the mutant bugs in my backyard. I’m serious.  These bugs are ferocious! I am also looking to put an end to my mole problem once and for all. The mole in my garden is like the case of hiccups that you can’t get rid of. You try everything and just when you think you have it licked…….hiccup! This season, man vs. mole is to the death.

So let me get you acquainted with the 2011 version of the garden. This past weekend I tilled the garden and worked in the material from the compost pile we started last year (remember?????).

As I said last year, this stuff is pure gold. While in the process of tilling and working in the composted material I have widened the garden by about two feet. This will allow me to double the amount of plants I put in the ground. Between you and I, this way I can make some mistakes, kill some plants accidentally and still have enough for the girls to eat. I am also taking a different approach with the squash, zucchini and cucumbers. They love to spread and grow downhill. Last year they took up a lot of surface area. I have tilled a small area up the hill from the main garden to plant these gourd producing plants so they can run free.

For my next trick, I will grow potatoes in a tire. Yes, you heard me correctly. I got new tires on my Honda Ridgeline (also referred to as the soccer dad truck) and kept the old tires. I used a reciprocating saw to remove the sidewalls. When the new potato plants emerge from the ground, I will place the old tire around them and fill it with sand. The plant will continue to grow up through the sand and the tubers can develop potatoes in the soft sand. When I am ready to harvest, all I need to do is pick up the tire.

List for this year’s garden:

Okra

Peppers

Squash

Zucchini

Cucumber

Bell Pepper

Potatoes

Tomatoes

Green Onion

Maybe more! Any suggestions? 

Hopefully all plants will be in the ground mid April.

Him just a little fella....

It has been awesome to watch all my different plants produce the vegetables.  They all produce blooms first and the magic happens from there.  The squash were the first to show any signs of life.  They grew large beautiful blooms and within a few days the squash began growing at the base of the bloom.  When you look at it, it really is a mini squash.  The next to produce was the cucumbers, and they are producing from the base of the bloom which is very similar to the squash.  However, the blooms were much smaller and took a couple of weeks after the blooms showed up for them to start growing babies.  The other difference is that these don't really look like mini adults.  They look like part of the stem and if you are not careful then you may not see them.

The next were the tomatoes and peppers.  Both plants have small blossoms.  The tomatoes blooms are yellow and the peppers are white.  Also, rather than growing from the base of the bloom, the plants bloom, drop the flower and then produce the vegetable.

What is THAT smell??????

I figured it was time to start a compost pile. I was turning into a hippie anyway, why not go all the way. Now that my mother-in-law is staying with us and cooking every night, I am up to my eye balls with all kinds of vegetable waste. It was perfect timing. I dug a hole in the back yard to the right of my garden. When I was digging it Annie joked that it looked like I was digging a grave and she wanted to know if she had done something wrong. The hole was about four inches deep.

I started by adding grass clippings, from what I found on the internet this is the best base to start with. So far I have added the clippings from three grass cuttings. Another key component was to have moisture in the pile so I have occasionally added water while watering the garden. I have to keep the pile turned to keep everything decomposing evenly. The only thing I am adding to the pile is fruit and vegetable waste. It is considered unhealthy to add meat products. If you read up on the subject, meat products are a no- no for compost piles (almost like dating your cousin). However my mother-in-law had convinced me the shrimp shells and fish are ok. Hey, who am I to argue with a Chinese woman. If you ask Annie, it is useless to argue with a Chinese woman because you will never win. Over the next nine months this pool of organic waste will turn into fertilizing GOLD. I will use it next year to prep the garden for all the plants and vegetables.

Each evening, AJ and I head up the hill to add the organic waste from the tin in the kitchen to the pile. AJ brings her little shovel with her to mix in everything. I have had to explain the term "decompose" at least five times to her. She is a curious child and is learning a lot so far.
Yesterday I took Annie with me to add to stuff from the tin and of course her reaction was "What is that smell", and my reaction was "what smell?". Moms have a much more sensitive nose than fathers. Annie can smell a poop diaper from a mile away. Anyway, after an explanation she proclaimed that her visit to the compost pile would be her last! I love her.

Blankets and Newspaper

After a week or two after planting the vegetables I followed the old teaching from my father. I "pulled to" which means pulling dirt to the base of the plant (usually up the base about two inches or so). This helps for a couple of reasons. It supports the stalk of the young plant and helps the plant retain water, especially during the hot summer months. I was always taught that this is a vital step to any vegetable garden's success.

I had AJ help me with this project. We spent an hour on our hands and knees playing in the dirt. AJ loves getting dirty in the garden and is very protective of the plants (as she is with everything). The other day she was talking to the baby tomatoes like she talks to her baby sisters. I told her why we were "pulling to" and she said, "oh...it's like little blankets for our plants. It keeps them warm and makes them feel safe". Well, I guess she was right it was like a little blanket. All the plants had a little blanket wrapped around them and AJ could sleep in peace tonight knowing that the little pepper plants were not scared.

The next day it was time to battle another great foe of any garden, weeds. As far as I knew I only had two choices; I could have spent loads of money on landscape fabric or I could spend each day weeding the entire thing. None of those options sounded appealing. I asked dad for his advice and he suggested newspaper. Newspaper?? Dad said that it does a good job of choking out the weeds and at the end of the season I can till the newspaper into the ground. I got together a bunch of old newspapers and AJ and I set out on the great task of covering the garden. Her job was to gather rocks (about the size of a quarter) to lay on the corners to keep it from blowing away. We covered the entire thing in about twenty minutes. A month into my garden and the newspaper has worked great! Some weeds have begun to grow through the newspaper so I may need to redo these areas within the next few weeks. It's not perfect but it's better than the alternatives.

Man Vs. Mole

For several months I have been trying to track down and destroy a mole that has been destroying my back yard. It never worried me too bad until I recently saw that the little bastard has been building an interstate system through my garden. At first I wanted to nuke the thing with poison.....but wait, I can't do that. The poison could taint the food and would completely destroy my goal of keeping an organic garden.
So I went to the web (again) for answers. The options were numerous.

Kitty litter - I am supposed to sprinkle it on the perimeter of the garden and the smell makes the mole think a predator is in the area.

Pinwheels - Stick them in the ground in various locations and the vibration keeps the mole away. I know AJ would have loved this option.

Animal or human hair - Bury these in the ground halfway in the ground throughout the area. The smell of a potential predator is supposed to keep them away. To be honest it seemed a little creepy to me. The idea of hair sticking up in various places in the garden just seemed wrong on so many levels.

Coffee Grounds - Moles hate the smell of coffee for some reason. It also works as a great fertilizer.



So after weighing all my options I decided to try the coffee suggestion. I sprinkled it around the outside of the garden. I was seriously skeptical of the whole thing but I figured it was worth a try. I put down the Maxwell House several days ago and to my surprise, NO NEW MOLE ACTIVITY!!!!! I guess it worked.....so far.

My Big Boy Garden

Ok....so I wanted to grow my own "organic garden" for the girls. I knew I wanted to grow potatoes but that's it. I went to Lowe's and picked out a variety of things that I thought we would actually eat. With three girls we are definitely on a tight budget so I needed to make my purchases count. I came home with way too much stuff and most of these I had never grown before. I had to use my superior intellect and researched the in's and out's of each vegetable on the internet (Thank God for those who blog about gardens). I felt confident enough to borrow my dad's tiller.
After I fought the tiller up the hill to the garden area(I wish I had video)I tilled the flat area behind my house. I let the soil sit for a few days so I could avoid any frosts. All the plants I bought would die if temperatures goes below freezing. I planted each one keeping plenty of room between the different plants. I got them all in the ground in late April.

What I planted:
-Cucumber
-Crook neck squash
-Jalapeno Peppers
-Russet Potatoes
-Tomatoes (grown before)
-Okra (grown before)
-Sweet Potatoes (because of my mother-in-law)



This picture is where we are now with the garden. Everything has had a couple of months to grow. I have been very surprised with how everything looks so far.