Growing advice.
I'm just going to delve right into this and skirt around the fact that I haven't blogged in 5 months. We planted our vegetable garden, finally. It's the most gardenest garden I've ever planted, actually using up all 3 of our big raised beds, versus the sole one last year (that mostly failed) and the miscellaneous small patio pots from our past. I feel like I know only the basics about growing food, and most of those basics I just picked up from word of mouth. This worries me. Now, we don't have fancy cable, so when I say "This worries me," it is in the voice of Bill Hader doing an impression of Tim Gunn, rather than Tim Gunn himself. I think I'm better off.
Anyway, so, in the interest of increasing the word of mouthiness of my grower success, I'm going to list what we've planted and ask for input, anecdotes, warnings, and whatever else. Just tell me everything.
A blueberry bush (ozark). Lorien already told me blueberries like acidic soil, so I got some coffee bean husks from Caffe Forte, where they roast their own beans. the husks are more acidic than used grounds, apparently. I just kind of randomly sprinkled a few around the base of the plant and then maybe a day or two later, put some compost on top? Not sure how often to coffee-husk it. Also, will I need to somehow net or cage this from birds?
Malabar spinach. This was a seedling that we transplanted from City Farmer's. The leaves are already 3" long or so. It grows in a vine. One day, Ollie picked a leaf and ate it whole. This is the child that hates the feel of leafy greens on his tongue and will spit them out in disgust.
Basil. I planted this from seed, and whatever, they're doing fine. I actually planted a TON of seeds, and am now regretful that I didn't use the space for something more... bang-for-your-buck-y. These are now sprouting and looking decent. I'm pretty sure I'll have to thin these, like, pull out entire seedlings, as they grow up. Right?
Crookneck yellow squash. Boring, squash. However, we had the least successful zucchini plants in all the land last year, so let's not underestimate my ability to screw up something so simple.
Strawberries. I realize now that this was a mistake. I'm thinking we should pull up this little "6-pack" seedling (from City Farmer's) and put them in a low/wide container, because apparently strawberries are crazy spreaders? And the fruit will rot if it spends too much time touching the soil. Hmph.
Swiss chard. We eat a lot of chard in our house, so hopefully we can keep up with the three long rows of chard I planted. I planted this from seed just over a week ago, and all of them have sprouted now. They started sprouting after 6 days. Cute. Today, though, Ollie managed to drag his rake through a few of the tiny unsuspecting sprouts. Ugh. I think they'll survive. Afterwards, Ollie said very matter of fact-ly, "I hurt the little chard sprouts."
Pumpkins. Our very own pumpkin patch! I just assumed these would take forever to grow, but the sprouts were up after 5-6 days. One sprouted before our eyes, which was kind of magical. Now I'm worried that we'll be done with pumpkins by august.
Abe Lincoln heirloom tomato. This was kind of a whim choice. It was a seedling from City Farmer's. The leaves smelled good and the little binder they have described them as very red and juicy so I salivated and bought it. It's also apparently quite resistant to disease. We planted this in our third bed, as far away as possible from where our old cherry tomatoes breathed their last.
Peas. Oregon peas, apparently. These were seeds. Well, peas. Ollie had fun putting the little dried peas in the holes I made. I planted three short rows (the width of the bed), right next to...
Beans. I can't remember the type of bean. It's a pole/string bean. I planted 2 short rows, but used quite a few seeds. I'm not sure about those rows. The seed packet said to do 6 seeds per foot, but then they were all "plant spacing after thinning: 6-10" apart." Anyway, I put those next to the peas because I assume I'll need to build some sort of pole/trellis/vine thing for them.
Sweet potatoes. Well, we haven't planted these yet, but we dug a hole for them in our third bed and will plant them as soon as City Farmer's get some or the neglected potatoes on my counter start sprouting (although I can't tell if they have been cut at all). I think we need to try to dig a little deeper, but we'll see. The soil down there is such crap.
A baby. Obviously we didn't plant this one in the garden. Currently halfway sprouted. Due 9/28. I have a delightful midwife, Karly Nuttall, who was actually at Ollie's birth, and she even comes to our house for my prenatal appointments. Dreamy. This one I kind of have down; it's the vegetables I need help with.
That, my loves, is all.
