Creating a Garden
2nd and last post for today. How many of you grow your own veggies? I started small last year and am still very much a N00b. Between the ever-soaring cost of living and heightened awareness of just how much CRAP is in and on commercial produce, I decided I really want to make a go of it this year, and so with pickaxe and gravel rake, I've been removing turf from a good sized section of yard. We've had no chemicals on our property for nine years, and I'm sure this absence is why I'm finding such an enormous abundance of earthworms. As I worked, I saw one slithering away in escape - and no joke, this critter was somewhere around 10 to 12 inches long outstretched. At first glance I thought it was a garter snake!
I'd like to keep this project chemical-free. The seeds I'm growing are from organic sources. I'm using compost, manure, and organic (Dr. Earth) fertilizer. All the cool weather veggies are growing nicely, but I think there's a mouse making nightly visits to the buttercrunch lettuce. That's the only sort nibbled on, not too sure what to do about this after-dark raider yet.
Last year I used grow bags for potatoes. Even though we didn't have much of a summer (more sunny days in December than all Summer), the potatoes thrived. I grew two types, Kennebec and Yellow Finn. Finns are great keepers, still as firm in March as when they were dug last summer. I'm doubling the number of bags this year and trying new varieties from an organic potato farm in Colorado. We're very interested to see how the Purple Vikings perform, the "seed potatoes" they sent me are huge!
It's still too cold and wet to leave my heat-loving plants out for very long, but I'm hoping warm sunny weather will come soon. Peppers, squashes, cukes, and tomatoes would much rather be outside.
I'd like to keep this project chemical-free. The seeds I'm growing are from organic sources. I'm using compost, manure, and organic (Dr. Earth) fertilizer. All the cool weather veggies are growing nicely, but I think there's a mouse making nightly visits to the buttercrunch lettuce. That's the only sort nibbled on, not too sure what to do about this after-dark raider yet.
Last year I used grow bags for potatoes. Even though we didn't have much of a summer (more sunny days in December than all Summer), the potatoes thrived. I grew two types, Kennebec and Yellow Finn. Finns are great keepers, still as firm in March as when they were dug last summer. I'm doubling the number of bags this year and trying new varieties from an organic potato farm in Colorado. We're very interested to see how the Purple Vikings perform, the "seed potatoes" they sent me are huge!
It's still too cold and wet to leave my heat-loving plants out for very long, but I'm hoping warm sunny weather will come soon. Peppers, squashes, cukes, and tomatoes would much rather be outside.