Early Spring Update

With school just about finished, thoughts are gravitating towards two things: Our new baby that will be here in a few weeks and the garden. I can't show you pictures of the baby yet, so we'll have to settle for the new Tower of Growing Power.

With plans to expand the garden this year, we're starting more seeds. And with that, we needed a better solution to laying everything out on the kitchen counters. Enter this rack I pulled out of the basement. So far, so good. It gets ample southerly sun, so the spot is bright and warm.



What we have going so far in various two-week intervals: Four types of tomatoes (Beefsteak, Sweet Tangerine Hybrid [yellow], San Marzano [plum], and Sweet Snack Hybrid), Black Beauty eggplant, broccoli, and Buttercrunch lettuce. Can you tell we love the tomatoes? Honestly, the plan is to pump out lots of the San Marzanos to make and freeze lots of sauce. What ever is left will be doled out to friends and family.



At this point, we're waiting for the ground and air to warm up just a bit more. I want to see how early I can get the spinach to take. Until then, it will be preparing the existing beds and building the new ones. Oh, the rhubarb has sprouted too. And we ordered up some asparagus and strawberries which are set to deliver in early May.

I'm still trying to work out the layout and planting plans for the expanded garden. I have some traveling coming up, which will leave plenty of time for sketching on the plane.

Finally, I had one of those amazing compost experiences. Compost Die-Hards will know what I'm talking about. I turned the pile inside our Earth Machine and was knocked over by the heat and steam coming out of it. Awesome! In the next couple of weeks I'll screen the ready compost in the second pile (made of recycled pallets) and get it worked into the beds.

How are your gardens going? Any good stories to share?

Mid-Season Kickoff

Welcome. It's the third week in July and the garden is in full swing. So we're a tad late in launching this, but that's OK. No better time than the present. Here's the highlight reel of activities so far this year:

MARCH -- After three summers and the sporadic pots of flowers and vegetables, we make the decision to go for the full-blown vegetable garden. Buy seeds and start tomatoes (roma and beefsteak), eggplant, broccoli, peppers.

APRIL -- Build four 4x8 foot (10-inch high) raise beds in the back yard. Fill with loam and homegrown compost that had been cooking all winter. Plant peas, spinach, and mesclun

MAY -- Plant more spinach and mesclun. Plant first crop of lettuce (baby romaine and buttercrunch); zucchini, summer squash, pattypan squash, pole beans, carrots, and cukes. In a different section of the yard, we plant four Jersey blueberry bushes and four raspberry vines. Lament over not getting any asparagus crowns to plant.

JUNE -- Transplant tomatoes (adding a couple of mounded beds to accommodate the volume), broccoli and a couple of rogue squash-looking plants sprouting from seeds left over in the compost; plant a few rows of silverqueen corn (this is a true experiment). Plant cauliflower, more carrots, and new peppers (the seedlings never took off). Harvest lettuces. In yet another section of yard, start a pumpkin patch with three different varieties. Cross fingers in hopes of enough sun hitting that patch...

JULY -- Keep everything going. Think about what more we could get in the ground for a late summer and fall harvest (beets anyone?). Buy a couple rhubarb plants from the Sakonnet Growers Market.

Whew... that was a lot. But now you're up to speed. Already so many lessons learned (lots of notes in a notebook).

We hope you enjoy some of the pictures...