Mostly about week end fun...

After a bit of light reading and researching, I took our dogs on a walk. Winter is definitly here. It doesn't bring snow, but just the dull, drab, grey, wet, murky, boy this couldn't get much worse type of feeling. However there were a few things to take pictures of so I took them.

a bit of light reading

When I got back, I checked, watered and took pictures of the plants in the cold frame.

Spinach Sprouts

Radishes

Red Leaf Lettuce

Green Lettuce

Then planted the next side of the cold frame. This is a much more condensed planting, and I hope they won't crowd when everything gets bigger. I guess only time will tell.

2nd Planting of all of the veggies

Building a Cold Frame

It has been cold, wet, and windy all weekend... in other words, perfect weather to build a cold frame. If you have been following the last few weeks, I have been heading in this direction. The culmination of all the efforts are on a video posted at the end of this. I hope you find it enjoyable and maybe even entertaining.
The problem with actually doing things and not just imagining doing them (which I am very good at) is that now it had better work. If an imaginary plan doesn't work, you don't feel too bad. However, when I spend the money, time, and energy to do the project, I spend the next few days thinking of ways I could have done it better or smarter. It is done and now we wait for the organic harvest to begin.

 

In case there is anyone who may want to build one of these, I will be happy to give you as detailed of info as you wish. However, as the vast majority of mankind will never even think of building one, I will not bore you with the steps here. You may e-mail or comment and I will respond.

Happy Gardening!

Mostly about Planting Seeds...

Radish Seeds

  My Johnny’s Seeds have arrived! Well almost all of them…all but one package (which is back ordered a few more days) and the potatoes. It was enough for a beginning.

Lucy "helping" plant seeds

    I want to talk a little about the goal of this venture because it may make the process I am following clearer. I think that anyone can grow lettuce, carrots, etc. (though I have failed even at that) However, I have a grander scheme. I don’t just want to plant, watch them grow, eat, then start all over. We must eat more than once every three months, so I think I have come up with a sustainable system. I am planting based on a two adult/two children appetite. Counting in the variable that my wife doesn’t like the taste of anything green and Lucy is just as happy with rice and beans, we may need even less. This works out in round numbers to 12 Lettuce, 12 Spinach, 6 pokchoi, 12 beets, 36 carrots, and 36 radishes every two weeks. I devised the “divisible by six plan” because the basis will be egg cartons. Starting today, I am planting a few egg cartons every 2 weeks. Once the harvest starts, I will then have harvestable, all organic, loved, cared for, beautiful vegetables every two weeks, with none of those terrible, toxic, deadly pesticides you hear about (although we've eaten our share of non-organic and haven't died yet :-) This is, of course, marring natural disasters, inquisitive dogs, forgetful gardeners, and other phenomenon.

   The process: #1 Steal the egg cartons from the recycle bin (you should have seen the look on its face when it realized it had been swindled) #2 Plant in rows #3 Mark rows #4 Watch and water.

   Once I begin to see sprouts, I will plant them in the hoop house and cold frame. The carrots and radishes should be able to just grow through the packaging, so I can plant their whole cartons. The leafy specimens, I will separate and plant with adequate spacing. Then marking the cold frames and hoop house by dates, I should be able to track them with mathematical precision and watch the cornucopia of organic goodness fill up! (Aren't I "poetical"?)



Egg Cartons filled with Dirt



Radish Seeds getting planted



Cartons ready for transport

Notes: There are a couple small but important notes here for the few weary travelers who have made it thus far.
1) If you buy johnny's seeds, they come in these really nice resealable packages. Don't rip off the top before reading the label.
2) You can buy "pelleted" seeds, which means they have a clay around the seed that will break down. This helps when trying to plant one seed at a time. They are a little larger and easier to handle, though about a dollar more per package $3.95 instead of $2.95. I plan on buying all pelleted from now on.