Following The Example of Others

Ever since I expanded the garden no less than three times last year and went from 18 sqft to 204 sqft in one year, I now realize I have almost enough room to plant everything I could ever wish for. Then I think to myself, does anyone REALLY need 9 sqft of carrots or 20 sqft of radishes? I've found the answer is yes! Yes you do, especially if you spread the love through different varieties.

We're not adventurous eaters. I know I could grow all sorts of different squashes or peppers and cucumbers, but really, one kind is usually enough for us, given the exception of tomatoes. Yet I've been reading the seed lists and planting schedules of others recently and decided there were a few areas I could really branch out, namely carrots and radishes.

I've already planned on growing the basic red radish, my father's black radishes and the German blue radishes Stefaneener sent realized this wasn't such new territory after all, so I ordered some watermelon radish seeds as well which I hope will prove a nice contrast with the basic red ones.

I also ordered a purple carrot and a white carrot to go along with my basic carrot seeds I already purchased. There should be one more bright yellow carrot coming in the mail shortly.

So there you have it. I'm entering new territory and living on the edge, or at least it's as close to the edge as I'll get this year....anyone see the need for an armenian cucumber? Or rather, what off the beaten path variety of veggie can you not live without?

The morning comes early. Sweet gardening dreams.

Movin' On Up - The High Rise Is Complete

For my birthday last year, the man agreed to let me build three more boxes in the other corner yard. They only got built in June, so I didn't get much use out of them, but I had high hopes for them for this year since the location gets a bit more sun than the main corner yard does. I built the boxes rather quickly and honestly thought that the six inches and eight inches I chose for the depth would be fine even though I knew from my first foray into raised beds from Fall of 2008 that it wouldn't be. Still, I chose to save the money on the wood and build them anyway.

Now I'm adding an addition to them and turning them into a high rise to be the depth they should have been all along.

The man, graciously as always, cut all of the boards for me. In the other corner yard, there's two 3x3 and one 8x4 bed that need additions.

I stacked the boxes.

The screws we had were too long, so I went out and got some two inch lengths and went outside to try my hand at screwing in the connecting blocks, myself. I could do it. Why couldn't I do it without help? It's a drill and screws; it practically works by itself.

I'm shamefully not as cool as I thought I was.

My Bert and Ernie arms couldn't hold the drill, press down on the drill and then hold the block in place while making sure not to shift the box on top. I got one side of one box done, practically stripping the screw bit to do so, and if you lean your head to the side, or have a stiff drink before viewing the picture, it doesn't look too bad. OK, so it looks bad. EG, I saw you cringe.

I gracefully conceded defeat, however the dog who witnessed my crushing failure wouldn't agree that graceful was the right word, but I packed it up and came to ask for help. The man's right. I'm "not qualified."

We went out to tackle the job together and I don't know if I feel better or worse. He struggled almost as much as I did. It turns out I couldn't have bought worse screws if I had tried. They had no bite whatsoever. So it wasn't all my shortcoming, but I was responsible in the long run. So, does that make me more or less qualified?

Here are the finished raised-raised beds. Next weekend looks cold, but sunny for both days, so I'm likely going to get the compost then to try to start filling these babies and top off my other beds as well.

The morning comes early. Sweet gardening dreams.

Seedling Update

The broccoli seedlings I replanted are starting to germinate. I hate it that they're going to be behind their cabbage counterparts, but it should be good in the long run. There's only one cell in the middle of the back row that hasn't sprouted. That's okay odds with me. Some of the cells have two seedlings, so maybe I can manage to divide one and use it to fill the spot in the garden.
The soil dries out very quickly as you can tell. We have a dehumidifier in the basement which sucks all of the moisture out. If we didn't have it, I'd be growing mushrooms as well. I just have to make sure I water everything frequently.

The cabbage and cauliflower seedlings are doing very well. They're actually looking robust which is nice for how cold it is in that basement. It gives me hope that those broccoli seedlings will toughen up as they grow.

See! Some are even starting to sport their true leaves. Just a few more short weeks and they'll be in the garden.

I'm hoping to get the additions to the beds on this weekend and fetch the compost to refill the beds. It's going to rain on Sunday, so if I'd need to get it done on Saturday if anything.

I know the added depth is going to be a huge asset when it comes to larger harvests. I don't know why I didn't just go ahead and make the beds to the depth I wanted to begin with. Hindsight and all that, I suppose.

I'll be starting some lettuce and spinach seedlings here in a week or two. The fun's really about to begin!

The morning comes early. Sweet gardening dreams.

Onions Thinned, But Not My Waistline

I'm just amazed to see the stems of those onions expand like they are. Last year's onions were a total flop and I can honestly see that these onions are really going to bulb up. I went ahead and thinned out some of the plants that were looking too close together and boy were those roots deep! Take a look:
For each one, I actually had to dig down below the bulb, hook my finger under the bulb and through the roots and pull with all my might. It was more difficult to get them out than I thought it would be.

They didn't weigh much, but I'm starting my 2010 totals on the side. Last year I kept the weight by vegetable, but this year I'm thinking I may just keep an over all total. What do you all do?

We had my parents over for supper the other night and baked a brie topped with the conserve I made earlier. This is before it was baked, but it was nice and buttery, nutty and sweet.
I'm going to try to fix my bowed boxes and hopefully build my high rises this weekend so I can fetch my compost either this weekend or next. It's getting to be about that time. My records show I had already planted out a LOT of things by this time last year, but I also remember much of that failing or needing to replant a lot of it. I'm thinking to keep the spring veggies light this year. Covering everything with straw on and off last year was for the birds. I'm itching to get started in earnest with the summer crops!

The morning comes early. Sweet gardening dreams.

Dear Mr. Nefarious Seedling Eater,

It seems we are at an impasse.

I am disheartened to see your antics of this past fall have transferred to the spring. Your decisions to prey on the weak, the feeble, and the vulnerable have less than endeared me to your character. You nibble on seedlings on the ground. Understandable. The yard is your home as well, but then last fall you chanced to hazard the romp up the deck stairs, over the screen mesh of the porch and then onto the deck where you dined on my potted Swiss chard. You've done the same again to my cole crop seedlings. Is nothing sacred?

I suppose I should thank you for decimating my week old seedlings instead of well established ones, however I'm not feeling charitably solicitous for your discerning tastes have led you to nibble only on the few growing broccoli seedlings and not the plethora of cabbage or cauliflower ones I started for no reason. Not that this is an invitation to lunch tomorrow, but it illustrates my consternation.

I will not be thwarted, Mr. Nefarious Seedling Eater. You may have won this round, but the weekend is fast approaching and I'm a fair shot with a straw and spit ball.

Until then,
Ribbit

Sharing Is Caring, Except For When It's Yuck-Foo

I usually say "The morning comes early," which isn't a lie. It usually does.

But when you never get to go to bed, the morning looks far off, indeed.

The girl brought home yuck-foo (the crud, stomach bug, virus, whatever) on Friday and she's gracefully shared it with us. The man started feeling it around 9:00 last night. I got it around midnight and now the boy has woken up. He hasn't horked yet but he knows he doesn't feel right so he and the man are soothing their sick bellies with Batman cartoons while I fiddle on the computer and wait for the next wave.

At least it's a school holiday.
Hope everyone stays yuck-foo-free.

The Pay-It-Forward Packages Arrived Safely!

I'm pleased to say that both of my pay-it-forward packages made it safely to their destinations.

One went to Kalena Michele in College Park, Georgia, USA and the other went to Mangocheeks all the way in Scotland. I let the boy and the girl pull the names from the hat and one pulled the closest entrant to us (College Park is about an hour and a half south of us; spitting distance, really) and the other pulled the farthest. I thought it couldn't be more perfect if we had tried.

If you missed out on this round and would like a chance at playing again, go to either or both of their blogs right now to enter their drawings.

Kalena Michele at Amira's Blog
Mangocheeks at Allotment 2 Kitchen

The morning comes early. Sweet gardening dreams.