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

Let the Garden Begin!

One thing I realized today was that our land still needs to be graded since we just moved into our new house in January.  This may throw off my timing a bit.  Instead of sitting passively by, I decided to clear out a small patch (6' x 15') close to the trees.  After that, I planted some Sugar Snap Peas and Nantes Carrots in a 15' row.  I know these plants are a big more withstanding of the cold, so if we do have another frost, hopefully that won't affect their production.  I'll get some pictures and a growth chart up soon to help me remember dates.

*Update:  After thinking long and hard, I've decided to go with raised beds this year.  I was a big discouraged by the price of cedar planks that were 12" x 12' x 2" (total cost for six 8'x4' plots was around $250), so I decided to head to our tree pile and go for a more natural style.  The cost to fill the beds will be a bit in the beginning, but it's a start-up cost.  I'll add new compost as the years go by.

*Double Update:  I purchased two books to help with my adventure:  Carrots Love Tomatoes and Square Foot Gardening (2nd Edition).  I think these two books will work well with each other.  I'm excited to see how I will be arranging these beds after doing a little research.

*Triple Update:  I also came across this website today.  It's not the MOST friendly version this could be, but it's a great visual of when to plant what and how.  I'm sure I'll refer to this for quite some time!  http://veggieharvest.com/calendars/zone-5.html

Looking Ahead to April 15th

April 15th, of course, is Tax Day, but it also seems to be a big date in gardening.  Here is a list of vegetables that are suggested to be planted outdoors on this magical date (an asterisk indicates vegetables I plan on planting this year):

Outdoors
Asparagus
Beets
*Carrots - Scarlet Nantes and Kaleidoscope Mix
Chard
Kohlrabi
*Leaf Lettuce
Onion Sets
Parsnips
*Peas
*Early/Late Potatoes
*Radishes
Rhubarb
*Spinach - Bloomsdale
Turnips

Starting the Tomato Seeds

I was finally able to plant my tomato seeds from the start. This is the first year I've started tomatoes from seed, so I'm looking forward to seeing them start from Day 1. My number one resource says to plant April 15th, but I'm excited to get them started now.  We will see if the timing is close enough.  I put eight Roma plant pods and eight beefsteak plant pods.  I'll keep updating as the grow.

The Costs of Gardening.

So I'm not going to include the "labor" costs of raising a garden, but I am curious as to how much money I spend each year on my garden.  Now granted, I have a few materials from my previous community garden, so I'm going to count those as "free".  Not counting previously owned materials, this running total is in reference to all things gardening I buy throughout the year.

March 2, 2014
Pepper, California Wonder - $1.35
Broccoli, de Cicco - $2.70 (2 pack)
Tax - $0.28
Total - $4.33

March 9, 2014
Pellet Refills - $3.98
Tax - $0.27
Total - $4.25

April 4, 2014
Tomato Planter (16 ct.) - $6.47
Beefsteak Tomato Seeds - $1.34
Roma Tomato Seeds - $1.34
Jalapeno Pepper Seeds - $1.48
Crimson Giant Radish Seeds - $1.34
Caesar Lettuce Seeds - $1.48
Scarlet Nantes Carrot Seeds - $1.18
Mammoth Dill Seeds - $1.34
Sugar Baby Watermelon Seeds - $1.18
Picklebush Cucumber Seeds - $1.88
Kitchen King Garden Bean Seeds - $1.64
Tax - $1.45
Total - $22.12

Starting with the Seeds

When March Madness comes around, the first thing that comes to mind is "Go Tarheels!"  The second thing is making sure I have seeds started.  At the bottom of this post is a table that helps me remember to start seeds around March 15.

So far the broccoli was planted on March 15th, and I'm planting the cauliflower today.  I still need to buy the other seeds, so I'll update the blog when that time comes.  Ideally I would have started them at the same time, but I didn't have the seeds (other than cauliflower).  I'll get the cauliflower in the dirt today and get the others sometime this week.

Starting Seeds around March 15th
Seeds to Start	Spacing Plants/Rows	Days to Harvest (as Plants)
Broccoli	18/24	60-70
Early Cabbage	12/18	60-70
Cauliflower	12/24	50-60
Celery	6/30	100-110
Head Lettuce	8/15	60-70

 

Introductory Post

Wowza!  Finally into our new (and hopefully forever) home, it's time to plan our garden.  I have a general idea of what will go in it (i.e., broccoli, cauliflower, onions, tomatoes, peas), but THIS year I really want to make the most of it.  For the past two years, our garden was part of a community garden, and I had to drive 10 minutes away to get to it.  Doing that three times a week was awful, so this year (and many more time come) should be a BIG relief.

Using this blog, I hope to share with you progress and tips learned along the way.  My main resources are Month-by-Month Gardening in Iowa and Guide to Iowa Vegetable Gardening.  Of course I'll be using others' blogs and videos, but I'll link them here as well.  Ultimately as I share this progress, I'll have a main skeleton for the year, adding and revising as the years go by.  Good luck, and happy gardening!