Well, our farm is coming along! Man, we have some rocks in our yard. Digging plots by hand was taking forever. After two weeks of work, we had three small-ish plots. They're long rectangles, but thin so that I can reach the middle. Yesterday, we bought a tiller. Josh has gotten three more plots done just today! Hooray for having the right tools for the job.
I've edited this post from nearly a month ago. I took too long getting a lot in the ground, and my germinating sprouts mildewed and had to be thrown away. I need to stay on top of that if we want a farm. At least next year won't take so long, since we'll have the beds already plotted out. I've been germinating seeds in damp paper towels inside sandwich baggies. The beans didn't germinate at all. I think I'll need to just plant those straight out. The rest, most sprouted, but several were left too long and had to be tossed.
Here's what I managed to get planted out:
Gourmet lettuce (our favorite)
Cilantro
Tomatoes (rutgers)
Broccoli
Serrano Peppers
I also added some already-started plants we picked up at the store: red onions, one Beefsteak tomato, and nine (I think) red cabbages. We also have a strawberry plant, but we still need to find a nice place for those.
Today, I started more seeds, including a second batch of some that went bad:
** Spinach – Bloomsdale, long-standing
45 days – Mar-Ap & July-Aug. Rows 12'' apart, ½ '' depth, seedlings 6'' apart
** Carrots – Danvers Half Long
70 days - Ap-June. Rows 12-15'' apart, ½ '' depth, seedlings 3'' apart. Water LIGHTLY
** Jalapeños
72 days – March-May. Rows 2 ½ ft apart, ¼'' depth, 18'' apart. Plant hot & sweet peppers separately.
** Grand Bell Pepper mix
65-85 days – April-June. Rows 24'' apart, ¼ '' depth, 18 '' apart.
** Zucchini – Black Beauty
63 days – May-July. Rows/hills 3-4 ft apart, 1'' depth, 3-4 seedlings/hill.
** Yellow Squash – Early Crookneck
42-60 days. Hills 3-4' apart, ¾ ''-1'' depth, 2-3 plants/hill.
** Acorn Squash – Table Queen
75-90 days – Ap-Jun. Rows 4-5' apart, 1'' depth, 3/hill.
I've edited this post from nearly a month ago. I took too long getting a lot in the ground, and my germinating sprouts mildewed and had to be thrown away. I need to stay on top of that if we want a farm. At least next year won't take so long, since we'll have the beds already plotted out. I've been germinating seeds in damp paper towels inside sandwich baggies. The beans didn't germinate at all. I think I'll need to just plant those straight out. The rest, most sprouted, but several were left too long and had to be tossed.
Here's what I managed to get planted out:
Gourmet lettuce (our favorite)
Tomatoes (rutgers)
Broccoli
I also added some already-started plants we picked up at the store: red onions, one Beefsteak tomato, and nine (I think) red cabbages. We also have a strawberry plant, but we still need to find a nice place for those.
Today, I started more seeds, including a second batch of some that went bad:
** Spinach – Bloomsdale, long-standing
45 days – Mar-Ap & July-Aug. Rows 12'' apart, ½ '' depth, seedlings 6'' apart
70 days - Ap-June. Rows 12-15'' apart, ½ '' depth, seedlings 3'' apart. Water LIGHTLY
** Jalapeños
72 days – March-May. Rows 2 ½ ft apart, ¼'' depth, 18'' apart. Plant hot & sweet peppers separately.
** Grand Bell Pepper mix
65-85 days – April-June. Rows 24'' apart, ¼ '' depth, 18 '' apart.
** Zucchini – Black Beauty
63 days – May-July. Rows/hills 3-4 ft apart, 1'' depth, 3-4 seedlings/hill.
** Yellow Squash – Early Crookneck
42-60 days. Hills 3-4' apart, ¾ ''-1'' depth, 2-3 plants/hill.
** Acorn Squash – Table Queen
75-90 days – Ap-Jun. Rows 4-5' apart, 1'' depth, 3/hill.
- Current Location:Home sweet home
- Current Mood:
pleased
Comments
I love jalapenos - why do you need to plant hot and sweet peppers separately, out of curiosity?
One day I want enough space to plant some veggies - our "garden" is just two tiny strips of soil either side of the slightly larger strip of concrete at the moment, though even that's lucky living in a city! We're trying to improve the soil first but then we'll have a go at planting maybe onions as they're supposed to be quite easy!
You have to plant hot & sweet peppers separately so they don't cross-polinate. Otherwise you might end up with spicy bell peppers or something. Which I didn't actually think of last year, and I had two bells with two jalapenos. It didn't really mess anything up, but maybe because I just had a couple and my garden didn't do all that well anyway. :P
I hope you're able to garden! If your strips don't work, you could always try raised beds or container gardens. We had really poor soil at our old place, and we made a compost pile (which helped) and used some bags of hummus that we got a Lowe's for like $1.50. It was a pretty good deal and helped quite a bit.
I had never thought about that re: the peppers - but it makes sense now you say it!
I reckon the soil will come good with enough work - even if that work is digging most of it out and replacing it ;) I'm determined to have a lovely, if tiny, garden!