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Planting a garden
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A couple of Saturdays ago I built a garden box, hauled a truckload of horse manure and mixed my soil. For the next several days I watered the soil and turned it until it seemed ready to be planted. I used some string and nails to divide it into 16 1'x1' sections. I numbered them in a notebook so I could keep track of what's planted in each square. The grid below shows how the garden is layed out. The north side is on top, and if you look at the pictures you can see the school in the background. The school is to the north of us.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
And here's what I have in each square:
1. I'm planning on putting a tomato plant here.
2. Planning on cucumbers here. Both of these will be climbers, so I need to build something for them to climb on.
3. No plans for this square yet. Any ideas?
4. Planning on putting a pepper plant here.
5. India Mustard.
6. I hope to plant marigold seeds this weekend.
7. I put in four basil plants from the greenhouse yesterday.
8. Parsley (from the greenhouse).
9. Carrots
10. Butter crunch lettuce.
11. Onions (from sets.)
12. Oregano (from the greenhouse).
13. Seeded Simpson lettuce.
14. Bloomsdale spinach
15. Chives (from the greenhouse).
16. Planning on planting nasturtium seeds. The leaves and the flowers are edible, so it will be a fun one for Emma.
So far it's been fun and relaxing to come home from work, look things over, water a bit and pull some weeds. The onion sets sprang right up, but the carrots I planted a week ago are a little slower. This picture may show them finally sprouting, or maybe those are weeds. I really have no idea. When I was putting out the parsley yesterday a sprig broke off, so I took it inside and when I cooked some ground beef for dinner I added some chopped fresh parsley. Emma usually hates little green things on her food, but when I told her what it was she said she loved it.
7 comments
3.) hashish? ;D
Sounds like a fun project- I think you are on the right track– A few notes
(surfed over from The Big Lowitzki’s Random Ravings)
Where does the sun rise and set? (in relation to your chart. It looks like the first row is the highest. Your notes give north but not east and west. The afternoon sun is brighter than the morning sun. So anything shaded by taller plants in the afternoon will not be getting as much sun.
A caged tomato plant could easily take up 2 squares. I think you might want to make your back row 1-4 only 3 squares. This way you have room for the larger plants and have some space to reach the center of your plot. With out trampling it.
I always try to plant marigolds near tomatoes and peppers.
Will you use this same plot next year? The Tamato/peppers are hungry plants and should be moved for next year. (crop rotation)
Manure- Is sometimes salty and can often burn seedlings. You may want to give it 2 weeks to mellow out.
Radishes are the most rewarding for children. They germinate the quickest and are edible the quickest.
Nasturtium can get big. I would soak the seed for 24 hours and possibility knick it with a knife to help get it started. I have never done this but have read about it several times.
What type of pepper?
Keeping notes is a great idea. I date everything I plant on paper and in the garden on markers. This year I am also planing on taking pictures.
Green house? - I am jealous.
The tall plants will be in squares 1-4, so they shouldn’t ever shade anything. I don’t think I’ll be using a cage for the tomato plant, but something else it can climb on that doesn’t take up as much space. The manure is probably 3 years old, so I think it’s pretty mellow. The green house I go to is very cool. It’s run by Mennonites and they have some good quality stuff.
I have some things that will be perfect, I think, for your tomato and maybe cucs. Conical cages that are about 5 in in diamater at the bottom. You’re welcome to ‘em.
And Oates has a greenhouse. He might be able to hook you up.
I am fascinated by this idea of ’square foot gardening,’ Have fun and enjoy the end result.
Can I just say, as a Californian with a ridiculous cost of living, “Wow, you have a yard!”
Did you ever decide on what to put in square 3? We had some good luck with sugar snap peas last year. They need something to latch on to for climbing, but if your square 2 has something climbing it might be easy to extend the support to square 3. I don’t think it would be too late to plant peas (or maybe green beans).
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