Garden update: almost everything planted

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90% of the garden is finished, meaning all purchased seedlings are planted.  Only bush beans need to be seeded.  Above, in my first in-ground garden, I've got the following:

• 5 Yellow squash plants (from seed)
• 10 Sun flowers (from seed)
• 3 white pumpkins (from seed)
• 1 cilantro seedling & 2 small sungella tomato seedlings that I don't expect to make it (from seed)
• 2 cornflower seedlings (from seed)
• 3 zinnia flowers (from seed)
• 9 corn plants (from seed)

• a flowering grassy plant, overwintered from last year

• 1 Best boy hybrid tomato plant (starter purchased at last weekend's plant sale)
• 1 mortgage lifter tomato (plant sale)
• 1 sungold sweet tomato (plant sale)
• 1 mammoth sunflower (plant sale)
• 1 verde pueblos tomatillos (plant sale)
• 1 Matchbox hot pepper plant (plant sale)
• 1 Early jalapeno hot pepper seedling (plant sale)
• 5 genovese basil plants (plant sale)
• 1 Tall Climbing nasturtium (plant sale)
• 9 white onions (plant sale)
• 1 oregano (plant sale)

Corn seedlings, 5/21/11.

Outside of the garden, the love goes on and on.  In the raised "drawer" garden (above): 4 kinds of lettuce, arugula, kale, spinach, and carrots.

 Thyme (from Elizabeth's community garden, gifted and planted in a hanging planter)

...as well as 2 sweet peas (from seed) and 6 climbing morning glories (from seed) in a hanging planter & a row box, an unknown squash plant in a blue bin (volunteer), and 3 more white pumpkin seedlings in a round planter on the deck.

yellow crookneck squash

Amazingly hearty-looking, 4/22/11

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morning glories growing

4/22/11

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morning glories!

April 16, 2011.

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final batch of lettuce seedlings transplanted

Friday morning, April 14, 7:30 a.m.

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Seeds (round #4 - carrots)

30+ Orange and Purple Carrot seeds planted in the deep drawer (left)
Thursday morning 4/14/11.

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seed starting (round #3)

Now that the first batch of seedlings are in the drawers/mini-greenhouses, I have space freed up for new seedlings.

New seeds planted on Sunday (4/10/11):

• Cauliflower
• Cilantro
• crookneck squash
• Zinnias
• Cornflowers
• Morning glories (climbing)

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Raised Beds

These drawers were from Chris' dresser.  The legs on the dresser were broken, but on a fluke, I saved them on the chance that I might find a way to turn them into raised beds.

Raised beds are often open on the bottom, with a mesh or newspaper barrier separating the new soil from the old.  But if I tried to remove the bottom of the bed, I knew I'd ruin the drawer.  So the bottoms are there to stay.  And if the beds were sitting outside, in the rain, the problem is that it would fill up with water like a swimming pool.

So, for drainage, I drilled six to seven holes in the bottom of each drawer.  Each I lined with plastic -- pieces a white plastic tarp that our home's previous owners left behind -- using staples to secure the plastic to the inside of the drawers.  And then cut through the plastic around where I had drilled holes.

After an amazing weekend of warm weather, working in Elizabeth's garden, and tilling my first little plot in the backyard, today I transplanted a few seedlings I had started indoors.  They should be larger before going outside, but I couldn't wait.

To protect the seedlings from the shock of the outdoors, I created make-shift "row" covers with the white plastic.  Until the seedlings are larger, I'm hoping the drawers work work like mini-greenhouses.  Of course, everything might die on the first night.  We'll just have to see...

Kale, Spinach, Green Bibb Lettuce, Red Oak Bowl lettuce, and Arugula - 4/10/11

Seed Starting (Round #2)

Only a week later -- 3/25/11 -- I planted another small set of seeds.  This time, I used some of the new seeds that I ordered from Johnny's Seeds.

New seeds planted:

• Green Bibb Lettuce
• Red Cherokee Lettuce
• Red Oakleaf Bowl Lettuce (left)
• Arugula
• Sungella Tomato seeds (saved from two years back)
• Eggplant seeds (package from two years back)
• Marigolds

3/26/11 - The kale planted 6 days earlier looks great.

3/31/11 - And only 5 days later we've got a little batch of lettuce and arugula.  So fun.

Arugula

Green Bibb Lettuce

Setting Up Grow Lights

My grow light set up is far from slick.  I've got lights that are supposed to screw into a wall, with no proper attachment to my wire shelving unit.  I've used bungie chords to raise and lower the lights to the wire unit, but the hooks I've precariously rigged up, continually slip out.   One of these days I'll figure out a better way.

Since reading about winter sowing (on Get Busy Gardening), I have not bought seed starting trays this year.  Instead, take-out tupperware containers, and clear-lidded plastic containers, are my mini-green houses of choice. 

Upon assemblage, it was clear that two lights weren't going to cut it for my monstrous garden plans; so I picked up two more lights to expand the system.  When I got them home, I realized one was the wrong type of lamp, so it's on its way back to the store.  A third light, however, allows for a few more seedling trays.

This may be geeky, but with snow on the ground and spring frustratingly flirting only on Mondays through Fridays, planning the garden is a real mood lifter.  ...Even if there are only a few hours a week to spare...the plan is big this year.  We'll see how it goes.

Right now the garden will include 1) containers from last year, 2) Mini-garden #1 in the ground, and 3) raised lettuce and arugula beds in these drawers (above).  If there's time...I'll go for Mini-garden #2.

Seeds Started

3/20/11 - My grow light mini-greenhouse in the basement is up and running.  Planted the first round of seeds -- all old, saved seeds from last year and two years back.  I wasn't sure if they'd be warm enough, since the basement is pretty cool.

• White pumpkins (seeds from an hierloom pumpkin we bought in Westerly last year)
• Gray pumpkins (same as above)
• Spinach (saved seeds from plants gifted two years back - last year they didn't make it)
• Basil (saved seeds from two years back)
• Kale (seeds from Elizabeth)

3/24/11 - Amazingly...only four days later, seedlings are already appearing...kale came first and spinach soon after.   The pumpkin seeds may not have any life in them, but there's always a chance.

Best catalog ever

Who knew a seed catalog could bring such joy. And what if this spring I'm planting in the ground! It's possible....

A local farmer recommended the catalog to Elizabeth, and it's arrival actually made me giddy.

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