Friday morning was a beautiful spring morning here in the Bluegrass state. It was nice and crisp with the sun shining perfectly through the budding leaves. There had been a chance of frost that morning, but we lucked out and missed the colder temperatures. It was perfect gardening weather!
My husband had been great and helped get the garden up and running a couple of weeks ago but I still needed to do a few things before I could get anything in the ground. I still needed to get the weeds before they got my plants! I found this cool new product from DuPont that will hopefully help keep the darn weeds out this year. It's a biodegradable paper that spread over your soil and just cut out where the plants grow. It makes your garden look like it's wrapped up and ready to ship off with UPS. I keep my garden as organic as possible so chemical weed killer is never an option. Let's hope Garden O.N.E. helps!
Gardening has always been important to me. My grandparents lived on some land in southern Kentucky and had a large garden going every year. They really were the ones who gave me my appreciation for the land. My grandfather grew everything from green beans to turnips and lots more in between. They were also the first folks I knew of who composted. There was always a container on their counter for food scraps and coffee grinds. Of course they probably did this for two reasons: one being they didn't have a garbage disposal, and the other, they new how the nitrogen in the coffee grinds would help feed the vegetables. Pretty cool! Anyway, gardening is in my blood.
We have always had a garden in every yard we've owned from Portland to Asheville. But this year we're going bigger! Last year our garden looked like this last year. But I wanted to have more space to plant some corn and have a specific herb section. You can see the extra space cut out from last year to this year.
Once I placed the cover over the soil, I planted some lettuce seeds to try for an early crop. I'll start planting the majority of the other seeds and starters the last weekend of April, or first weekend of May. Typically, most folks in KY tend to wait until Derby weekend to get their crops in the ground. You never know with the crazy weather we've had, there could be snow in May.
Here's what I am going to plant this year:
Lettuce
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Beets
Carrots
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Onions
Tomatoes (three different varieties)
Snap Peas
Corn
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Basil
Cilantro
Oregano
Mint
Sounds like a lot for our small yard, but really it will all work out great. Especially since we expanded the garden and will use some pots, too. My oldest daughter can't wait to plant her watermelon and cantaloupe seeds. She's become quite a gardener too. I just hope my husband and I can help create special memories and instill these important values in our girls.
Check out what's going on over at goodLife {eats} and GrowCookEat for more gardening information! Katie has so many good ideas along with others who have linked.
Posts
5 comments:
Looks great! You are really utilizing the space you have. My Dad is coming in this weekend to help us plant ours. I've got a few things in the ground, but I'm looking forward to getting it completed!
Yay!
Ok, let me just say, that I am SO beyond happy you commented. NOt only because we are from the same town, but because I've been LOOKING for a blog like yours!!!
No joke!
I have been trying to eat healthier and instill good eating habits in our boys, enjoy good food as well as develop my cooking and tastes.
I think I need your help though! I need recipies and to plan meals. I just need to see what someone else does, so I know how to shop {and not spend $800 on groceries} and plan for a week.
PS- the garden is looking GREAT so far!
Ohhh! Gardens intmidate me because I seem to kill all plants even when I follow directions to a t - your biodegradable weed barrior looks awesome- we're attempting to just start with strawberries this year since I think they're hard to ruin. Your list is awesome and really puts me to shame!
I finally thought of the weed barrier last year and it was a life saver! Did you start the beets from seed, I am doing them this year for the first time. I have planted broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and 2 types of lettuce. Getting ready to plant the beet and spinach seeds this week. In May I plan on doing tomatoes, few types of peppers, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, eggplant and lots of herbs. I have strawberries and rhubarb growing as well.
LOVE GARDENING!!!
Thanks so much for all the compliments. I usually take the plunge and plant my seeds directly in the soil. Crossing my fingers each time. My swiss chard is coming up from seed and I'm thrilled. Just if I could get my husband to enjoy this veggie a little more.
Post a Comment