Garden First
Posted
Sat, 05/03/03
This afternoon we dug out the edges of our planned vegetable garden. It will be a small area (ten feet by ten feet), with enough room for nine or ten different rows. We hope to grow lettuce, spinach, onions, squash, bell peppers, sweet corn, and broccoli. We also want to plant some carrots, but they require a soil looseness of twelve inches. We may cheat and just sow them a few inches in. I prefer baby carrots anyway.
Over the last year, my husband Wilbert has also collected various rocks and boulders. Every time he takes Foofer for a walk, he comes back with a pocketful of colorful rocks, with larger pieces in the back of the van. He's set them out on the back side of the house. We've got quite a few of them now in all shapes, sizes and colors. I suggested we use some of the rocks to border the garden. It will not only look attractive, it might deter small animals from traipsing about as well. This is just until we get the backyard fence built, which should be complete by the end of the summer.
I've always thought tomato plants are a better and much quicker way to get the fruits of labor. Instead of buying the plants, I took Early Girl Hybrid seeds Wilbert purchased and sowed them in three small planters. This is a first for me as I usually just buy the plants, but I'm going to let them germinate in the house. On sunny days I allow them to bask in the sunshine on the front porch, which hopefully will yield better results. None of my window sills are wide enough to accommodate planters, so I had to work around it. If the tomato seeds take hold, they just might produce enough for three plants.
We're taking the empty seed packets and placing them on a large piece of cardboard to track planting dates and the progress of the various vegetables. As I said, this is the first time I've started my own garden from scratch. The experiment will prove to be interesting if nothing else. I should say this is our garden. Wilbert is doing all of the hard work, such as digging the ground, turning over the soil and making the rows. My chore will be to keep the garden watered, and hopefully harvested in a few months time.
Tags: Gardening
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