Week 2: Broccoli/Kale Vs. Herbs

This week I had to separate the kale and broccoli from the other herbs. The kale and broccoli germinated very quickly, and those plants needed their own container without a lid. I also bought a grow light to get them growing indoors. So far the dill (of all the spices) has grown the fastest. I'm also noticing that a few of the herbs still need to germinate (i.e., spearmint), so I'll leave the lid on the herbs for another week. 

Let the New Year Begin!

Today I started my first seeds for our new garden. I am going to be following (almost exclusively) the book Week-By-Week Vegetable Gardeners Handbook. Today I started parsley, thyme, broccoli (2x), cilantro, basil, chives, dill, kale, and spearmint.  I will be keeping these in the garage under a shop light, but I still need to figure out the heating. I might buy a pad, but I'm not sure how many I might need. If I need it two or three, I will have to consider the cost.  I'll post my next update next week!

Strawberry Fields Forever

This year I planted four strawberry plants, and although I'm told I'm not suppose to allow strawberries to grow during the first year, I simply can't resist.  Apparently, preventing strawberries from growing during the first year allows the plant's root system to develop, creating better strawberries in the forthcoming years.

Screw that.

Yesterday I picked two strawberries, and today I just picked three - they were all quarter-sized but sweet at can be.  My 5-year-old daughter said, "Woah, those are TOO sweet, dad.  But, oh, they have a good aftertaste."  I couldn't agree more.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't probably follow my plan with the strawberries unless you're interested in eating them as soon as possible.  I'll see how the plants hold up next year...

The First Harvest!!!

Whoop whoop!  I picked two pea pods from the peas today.  The good news:  there was some production.  The bad news:  that's all there will be.  I remember planting these, saying to myself, "I wonder if ANYTHING will produce in this clay!"  Two pea pods are a win for me!

Companion Planting

Woah!  We sure have evolved since "Carrots Love Tomatoes" written in 1971 (I think!).  Here is a sweet chart I found via the inter-web.  There are SO many more resources to this, many of which I'll start bookmarking here!

http://www.diginmanitoba.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Companion-Planting-Table-Food-Matters-Manitoba.jpg

P.S.  I have TONS of raised beds updates coming soooooooooon.

Raised Bed Soil Planning

This has been the interesting part.  After deciding to use tree logs to create raised beds for the garden, finding the right combination of soil to put in the beds has been a bit of a brain-scratcher.  I've read a lot about using compost, peat moss, vermiculite, topsoil, and lots of others.  After purchasing Square Foot Gardener, I wanted to stay true to "Mel's Mix" for at least one of the raised beds.  For this, he explains to use a 1:1:1 mix of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite.  Honestly, after filling that first bed, all I could think about was how prevalent the vermiculite seemed to be in the bed.  True, when completed, the soil was very loose, weed-free, and very drainable, but I couldn't wrap my head around how expensive the vermiculite was and how much I needed to use.  Filling this particular bed cost approximately $18 for compost, $32 for vermiculite, and $15 for peat moss.  Totaling $55 just for one bed, I want to find a close alternative to this mixture.

After doing some research, here's what I think I'm going to try.  First I found a person who modified "Mel's Mix" to 3:1:1 with compost, vermiculite, and peat moss.  Additionally, our city's landfill will allow residents to pick up compost for free.  This will help out quite a bit, especially considering I'm going to use three parts of this to one part vermiculite and one part peat moss.  With the remaining beds, I've calculated 24 cubic feet of compost (free), 8 cubic feet of vermiculite ($64), and 8 cubic feet of peat moss ($20).  For these five beds, if my calculations are right, will total $84, or about $17 per raised bed.  This is much more reasonable than $55...now I just hope my math is right!

What Was Planted Last Year

For the record, I feel as if I need to post this somewhere.  I found a few empty packets of seeds planted last year.  Here is a list of the 2013 garden plants with a short review of their production:

Cucumber, Straight Eight - did well, lots of cukes, not ideal for pickling
Pepper, Grand Bell - did alright, took off in the hot summer months, hoping for bigger fruit
Cauliflower, Early Snowball - no production, planted too late and watered too little
Broccoli, De Cicco - each plant did fine (one broke at the stem), need to harvest at most ideal time