Dang. First set-back.

The only problem with being a beginner veggie gardener (the only thing I've grown in the past were cherry tomatoes and basil) - - is figuring out WHEN to plant and HOW MUCH to plant. There are tons of resources out there - websites, books, the almanac, etc. But they all seem to be giving me different information. I wish someone made a ZONE 6 PLANTING CHART that was consistant with all the other information out there - but they don't. I tried to make my own but now I'm finding out that, once again, I had false information.

Yesterday, when I googled "growing garlic" - a website told me to plant cloves in early spring. Today I looked again, found a gal in St. Louis MO, who had this to say in her blog:

SO HERE'S THE RIGHT WAY, IN SHORT, TO GROW GARLIC IN YOUR OWN GARDEN. To grow your own garlic, plant cloves in the fall, not the spring. They'll pop out of the ground in late spring. When the tall scapes appear later in the spring, snip them off right away.. A month or more later, pull a test garlic out of the dirt to see if it's ready for harvest. If it is, carefully dig up the heads. Wipe clean the heads with a paper towel (a very thin papery layer will come off), cut off the roots, store in a dry dark spot. Cook/eat as normal but use less until you understand its potency. From A Veggie Venture. And here's a picture of her first garlic harvest:



*sigh* So no garlic this summer.

On the bright side, my mom suggested using pinwheels around the garden to help keep the squirrels away. I'll try anything. We have TONS of squirrels and they love, love, love to dig.

Onion sets and potatoes ordered.

Found a pretty good website called Gurney's Seed and Nursery. This means planting will be put off another week or two until I get the sets.

Preparation for early outdoor planting.

Today I made a pdf file of every veggie I wanted in my garden, how/when to plant, harvest, and misc info for each. Armed with this info, Husband and I set off to Lowe's on this crisp 55 degree Saturday. We were on the look-out for cucumber and lettuce seeds, good dirt, and a couple containers. I was also hoping to get some young onion plants - but the only plants they have right now are tulip bulbs, roses, blooming trees, and pansies. So no onions. And it's kinda too late to start them indoors so I'll just keep hunting at Lowe's and plant them a little later than usual.

So this is our backyard after winter:


Normally the pots would be cleared out but for some reason the cold snuck up on me last fall and I didn't get to it. That's Husband back there in the yard, digging up a small 2'x6' plot for the potatoes. I've decided to put them in the ground and try my luck.

Now before you say, "WHOA THERE, you have PLENTY of room for giant garden!" Our yard barely gets any sun. This early in the spring, we're lucky to have 2 hours of sun in any one spot. 2 measly hours of sun does not a great garden make. Typically my deck is sunny, but today, it didn't get a speck of sun until 3PM. Whatevs. I'm planting anyway.

This is the spot that gets the most sun...


It's kind of hard to see, but there's a 1'x4' plot there in front of the fence - - which sadly doesn't get much light during the day because of the fence. BUT - - Husband had a great idea of using hanging tomato baskets on the other side of the fence, hanging over our driveway. This is what would be the sunniest spot in our yard. Perfect for sun-loving tomatoes! I also like the idea of the hanging baskets because we won't have to trellis/cage them.

Okay, this is what husband dug up for my potatoes:


Notice the shade. BUT, this spot had at least 4-5 hours of sun first thing in the morning. So I'm going to try it. (This pic was taken at about 2:30PM.)

Now there is a long strip of tied off space along our back fence - - but when the leaves come in on the trees overhead - it'll be the shadiest, wettest part of the yard. The only thing that would grow there well would be hastas.

Here's Erik, saying to himself, "God mom, this place looks like a DUMP:"


But after a good hour or so of raking, trimming, mowing, pulling, and trashing (in the case of that rotting, wooden planter back there), it now looks like this:


I found these two plastic planters at Lowes for $18 each, and I may end up putting them in the yard on either side of the potatoes:


I also bought a couple large bags of quality (HEAVY) dirt:


....and a couple packets of cheap-o seeds:


When I came back in from cleaning up the yard - - I promptly took a two-hour nap. And now it's 6:30 - - so the planting will have to wait until tomorrow. But I still feel like we got a lot accomplished!

Note to self: Do this stuff.

Tips I'm going to use from "You Grow Girl:"

• Spend the money on good dirt.
  
• Get rid of the terra cotta containers. They dry up faster and they're heavy. Use plastic instead. (Will break them up and use them in the bottom of the plastic containers for drainage.)
  
• Mulch, mulch, mulch - even the containers. Use crushed up leaves (something we have plenty of) and stones.
  
• Make homemade cloches (cut plastic 2-liters for seedlings and chicken wire ones for larger plants) to keep the squirrels out.
• Crush up egg shells and lay around the base of slug-loving plants. It acts like sharp glass and will help keep them away. Another slug barrier is laying a layer of pennies (prior to 1980) around the stems. It "shocks" slugs and snails.
• Another pest barrier - lay tin foil, shiny side up, around young stems to confuse aphids and beetles.
  
• Plant garlic and onions in and around veggies to naturally repel pests. "Neat little rows of veggies" make it real easy for 'em to munch. Instead, mix up plants to confuse them.
• My new mantra: "Spiders and wasps are good for the garden. Spiders and wasps are good for the garden. Spiders and wasps are good for the garden."
• Consider making compost. Just need to find a place to put it. But it's the best thing for your soil and plants. (Won't be ready for about six months though. Should have started making it last fall!)
  

Husband suggested that we utilize a small section of driveway area (next to our garage) to make our own hanging tomato plants. They'd get the most light there and we can use those garden pole stake things to hang them from.

We're going to Lowes later to look around and see what's available. Apparently I should have been sowing seeds already.

You Grow Girl

I'm reading "You Grow Girl" by Gayla Trail right now. I've only been reading for about an hour and I've already learned some really cool things. I've also learned that I should have been sowing seeds LAST MONTH.

The cool things I've learned are actually from her website, yougrowgirl.com. She has a "Seed Starting Plan" chart that you can print out to let you know when to start sowing seeds, when to plant, etc. She also tuned me in to the online Farmer's Almanac, which gives all kinds of LOCAL gardening information and magically already knows where you live. I also learned that instead of buying tiny pots to sow seeds in, I can make my own out of toilet paper tubes for free. I just wish I'd started saving them back in February...

I'm going to keep reading this book and checking out this website. Maybe it's got hints for "late bloomers." HA! Get it? Late BLOOMERS.

Homesteading

The "homestead" bug has bitten me. It all started because of a conversation about milk. Let me explain.

For as long as I can remember, my family has always bought skim milk. But recently I needed to buy whole milk for a recipe I was making. I drank some of the leftover milk and it was like drinking a freaking milkshake - it was so good.

So one night my husband is drinking milk and I mention this. And this is how the homesteading idea came up:

Me: Whole milk tastes like a milk shake!
Husband: You should taste milk from a Jersey cow. It's like drinking cream.

That was how I came up with the idea of starting a homestead. Husband and I started talking about it and the more we talked, the more we both liked the idea of having our own "mini farm."

In a perfect world, our mini-farm would have: a goat for milk (cows are too big), 6 chickens and a rooster, an alpaca for wool, and two horses (for husband). It would also have a kitchen garden with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, peppers, brussel sprouts, basil, cilantro, and garlic. We would need a couple of barn cats (to keep the mice out of the barn, of course), and a dog to keep the critters away from the chickens.

The mini-farm is something we want to plan for and slowly build up to. We feel like this is something we need to do in the next five years because we don't want to be too old when we start. (We actually already feel like we're too old at 41 and 42 - but phooey on it.)

So this is the time line as of right now:
1) Grow, keep, and harvest a year-round vegetable garden in the city.
2) Fix our house up to sell.
3) Get a realtor, sell our house and buy a place on the outskirts of town to start the mini-farm.
4) Plant a new veggie garden.
5) Build a barn.
6) Start buying animals, etc.

I haven't always wanted to live in the country, but for the past few years, the thought has appealed. The only thing I would miss about living in town is pizza delivery. The rest - loud neighbors, louder cars, busy roads, vandalism - can all take a flying leap.

I did a little online research and found a family in Pasadena, CA that has been homesteading since the early 80's. They are HARDCORE. But soooo interesting! Check 'em out here.