Garden Update

I'm really good at growing weeds...

The seedlings were doing pretty well up until two weeks ago, when finals happened and I got pretty sick.

Now there are four left.

Two of them are little bitty bell pepper plants,  one is a cantaloupe seedling and the last is a moonflower.  I don't think the peppers were started early enough to go into the garden but maybe I'll stick them in pots on my patio as a consolation prize.

I also finally got to work in my little garden plot today.  I've changed up my plans a little bit since I last blathered about it, in order to incorporate some of what I've learned about gardening in the last month.

I've read this book as well as a couple others on permaculture which were really exciting.  It's all about how through proper gardening techniques you can contribute to the health of the soil, provide a proper habitat, and nurture yourself from your landscape. 

They mainly deal with perennial plants but some of the same principles can still be applied to my more temporary situation.

So, instead of having homogenized blocks of plants I'll be doing a variation on the "three sisters" tradition.

As I'm sure many of you know, the "three sisters" refers to the Native American practice of planting corn, beans, and squash together.   The attributes of these three types of plants work together to provide themselves a better growing environment.  The Legumes are nitrogen fixers, making the soil healthier for the other plants.  The corn acts a trellis for the legumes and provides some shade to the more delicate plants.   The squash is a good ground cover and inhibits the growth of weeds, as well as conserving water.

This is a system that has proven itself over thousands of years and works by providing the needs of some plants through the natural qualities of others.

I'm going to mess with it and hope that it still works.

As you can see, I'm letting the weeds mulch in place.

The main change that I'll be making is to the squash.  I don't specifically remember ever trying squash and I don't really want to plant a lot of something that I wouldn't know what to do with.  Instead I'll be using cantaloupe which is actually a relative of squash, so I think that It should work just fine.

The second change I'll be making is to use pepper plants in half the plots, instead of corn.  Although not quite as tall as the original component, I think that the peppers should provide a good trellis for the legumes.

For the legumes I'm using sugar snap peas, mostly because they're a variety I recognize.

Although, it occurs to me that I should check to make sure that they're a vining variety rather than a bush type.

Yesterday I planted the corn, peas and cantaloupe seeds in little round mounds.  Although I'm not entirely certain that they will be enough time for the cantaloupe to produce fruit and ripen properly.

Is there such a thing as cantaloupe starts?

I'll wait another week or so before putting the peppers in,  mostly because I will have the money to buy the starts then.

I also might try to find some nasturtium seeds, which is a type of edible flower that I'm interested in trying.   If I understand it correctly it's also another type of ground cover which should also attract insects.

Free Food and Bad Ideas

When Josh and I went to pay our gardening fee last Friday, the lovely woman in charge pulled out two giant bags full of donated seeds and told us to take what we wanted.

I made off with basil seeds, a couple varieties of bell pepper, cantaloupe, and plenty of lettuce for our balcony.  I think it's technecholy too late to start seeds but I thought I'd give it a try just in case.

I made paper cups out of spare notebook paper, and then filled them with soil from the bottom of our stairs.

I'm sure you know this, but every gardening source ever will tell you not to use garden dirt when starting seeds, or in containers in general.

It has dormant seeds, germs,  and the soil settles differently in the container.  In addition to this the soil I used felt like it had altogether too much clay in it.

Here's the thing;  it was free dirt.

The seeds were free, and the paper was free, and the water will be free, and I just didn't feel like paying for planting medium this time around.

If this works then it'll be awesome, and if it doesn't, then I budgeted to get plants from the nursery anyways. 

I also put a couple seeds from each variety in plastic bags with damp toilet paper.  I usually prefer to do things this way, as I like seeing the seeds germinate.

Who knows, maybe by the time these babies wake up I'll feel like buying some planting medium for them after all.

The cantaloupe and the basil plants should be poking through with in a week.  The bell peppers should follow the week after.

Here's hoping for the best!

Prospective Gardens

In twenty years, I want to have a beautiful, sprawling garden.

There will be bounteous fruit trees, berry bushes and raised vegetable patches that help sustain my family and beautify our backyard.  We'll to  contribute to the health of the soil by gardening organically using the some of the concepts of permaculture.

As part of this system we would have a few chickens, and maybe bees if we're feeling adventurous enough.

So,  secretly I'm a little hippie.

Of course,  I don't know how to run a garden like that,  I don't know how to grow anything really, and I'm told raising chickens is way harder than the books make it seem like. 

Of course, I have twenty years to get to that point. So I think I can manage it.

As my first real baby step, I'm going to be a part of the local community garden this year.*  My goal is mainly just to try gardening for real this time.

The space I have is somewhat small, only about 3 1/2  feet by 10 feet, so I'm going to focus on a few key plants that I love eating and that I think will be interesting to grow.

<- north

We'll mainly have bell pepper plants, and then strawberries interlaced with basil.  Although I might throw a cantaloupe plant in there as well.  

I don't get these delicious fruits too often because they tend to be slightly more expensive, which is why I'm growing strawberries and bell peppers instead of a ton of potatoes and parsnips.

At the same time I think I'll try to grow some salad greens on my balcony, where it's going to be nice and shady.

What interesting things are you doing this summer?

*really this time, we paid the fee and everything.