Late June

Black Krim

Mid-May

In the beginning...

This is the new layout! From the top left: Peas (just planted), rainbow tomatoes, sweet baby tomatoes, black krim tomatoes. 2nd row left: 3 leeks, broccoli, broccoli, 2 corn. 3rd row left: sweet banana pepper, jalapeno, green bell pepper, 2 corn. 4th row left: Rosemary, basil, cilantro (just planted), red oak and some other kind of lettuce (the name escapes me....)



This photo was taken around the beginning of May.

Everyone's transplanted

To say that a lot has happened since the last post would be an understatement. Without making anyone reading a gardening blog feel awkward, I will just say that instead of two Square Foot Gardens, there is now only one being written about. 'Nuff said.

I will say, though, that if there is one thing I have learned about this process, it is that almost anything will survive a transplant if you do it well enough. When we first created our SFG boxes, we put all of our seedlings into the dirt praying that they would take to their new environment and grow. And they did. Wonderfully. And then came The Great Move, in which everything (that hadn't been eaten by deer/rabbits in our neglect and absence of gardening) was pulled out of the dirt and put into a large cardboard box. Corn was pulled out almost 4 inches high, baby tomato plants were temporarily planted in an Amazon box, lettuce was laid (dirt still attached to the roots and all) in the big box, etc. Knowing that Mel's Mix of soil=GOLD, we hauled everything we could shovel into the back of the Forester and split it half and half. The frames were easy to strap to the luggage rack, but the lattice was trickier. One box went to Kathryn's house, the other came with me to mine. The plants were separated and then planted (again) in hopes that they took and began to grow.

I have not seen Kathryn's SFG box lately, but mine has been doing great. With the rains of WNC, I have only had to manually water the garden once or twice, and the vermiculite does some awesome things with regards to water retention.

I added some new plants to mine: Peas (the original peas were all eaten by animals), Rosemary, Cilantro, Sweet pepper plant, green bell pepper, and a jalapeno plant.

Photo update

Growing nicely...



Red Oak Leaf Lettuce out of control



Rainbow carrots sprouting



Gigantic broccoli and buttercrunch lettuce

Update from the side of the garden (iPhones rock!)

Spinach is flourishing! This is very exciting, since our spinach last year never sprouted. If there is anyone who is not convinced about Mel's Mix, let me be the light. I had 4 broccoli seedings from a plant sale, rootbound and wilted. 12 hours later they are upright and regaining color. GO COMPOST! If only we could make our own...

Poor Peppers

I hate to admit defeat, but I think I'm going to have to go buy ::shudder:: a pepper plant or two. When we planted the other box a few days ago, we put in the two poblano seeds that we started awhile back that have never done anything. Let me rephrase that: we planted a bunch of soil, with a poblano seed in there somewhere.

Part of the fun in planting what we did this year is to supplement what we wouldn't be receiving from our CSA. We focused more on (as Kathryn likes to call them) snack foods. Poblanos don't necessarily constitute as a "snack food", but I don't believe they are a part of our CSA. And I like peppers, so, there you go.

Dirty Hands

There's something truly amazing about putting something in the earth and watching it grow. I was finally able to plant something in a box!! (thank you to Kathryn for preparing the whole cold-weather box). Our seedlings were desperately needing a change of habitat, and most were growing tired of their newspaper homes, so we put them in the ground yesterday. I'm hoping that we didn't jump the gun on planting the warmer weather crops right now, but our tarp-covering system has seemed to be working when they need protection from the colder WNC nights.

Can't see much going on right now except for the sweet corn growin' wild.

Early morning in the garden

There's something blissful about going out to the garden in your jammies.

Even more blissful is weeding said garden, in said jammies, in less time than it takes to brew coffee.

I saw the weed. It saw me. I walked over to it. It shuddered (ok, there was a breeze, but still).

With two fingers, I pulled the bastard out of the box. Root ball and all.

Weeding is done, dude.

Damn, I LOVE SFGardening.

Pictures!!

The cold weather box: (from top left) Red Sail and Red Oak Leaf lettuce, strawberries, two broccolis, spinach, butter crunch lettuce, leeks, rainbow mix carrots, and peas.



Lots of sweet corn, basil, black krim tomatoes, rainbow bell tomatoes, poblanos (haven't sprouted yet), more broccoli.


Sweet Baby tomatoes, fairy tale eggplant, marigolds

Is it done yet?

As much as I love being an ignorant gardener (after all, it means I am constantly learning!) but I am definitely NOT a patient gardener.

The cold box now holds 1 square of Buttercrunch lettuce, 2 squares of broccoli, 2 squares of strawberries, 3 squares of red oak leave lettuce and red sail lettuce (mixed), 2 squares of rainbow mix carrots, 1 square of vital green spinach, and 2 squares of mira green peas. That leaves just two boxes left, one each for a black krim and rainbow bell tomato.

We had a light frost last night, but the box was covered with a tarp (we're using old tent poles for a frame). Everything is looking good!

Three weeks in, and there's been exactly 0 incidents of weeding. LOVE IT. That reason alone has converted me to Square Foot Gardening.

RIP, Crimson Red

The rhubarb is dead.

It wasn't the snow. It wasn't the rain.

It was the hound-mix puppy from next door.

There will be no rhubarb. Sadness.

Everyone else that is in the coldbox has been tucked in under its tarp for the night. I'm going to go sing to the seeds, and head to bed.

In plant-years, we have toddlers

About 86 different toddlers, to be exact.

As Rachel explained, we stared seeds in about 86 different newspaper cups. We used a 1/1/1 blend of peat moss, vermiculite, and compost (mushroom, 4 different types of humus, fully rotted cow manure) and to be honest, I was skeptical.

The idea that permeates Square Foot Gardening is "less work, less space, less waste." Instead of needing a bunch of expensive seed starting cells, lamps, and medium, we just used homemade newspaper pots and our Mel's Mix with a bit of extra vermiculite added. Mel's book reminds you not less than a dozen times that you don't need nearly as many seeds as you think you do (since you're not trying to fill a 20 foot row only to pluck out 1/2 of those plants later), but it was hard to put my faith in the idea of planting only the exact number of finished plants that I wanted.

Truthfully, I couldn't do it. So, while Rachel was carefully filling our newspaper cups, I was sneaking an extra seed into each cup. Which TOTALLY explains why we have nearly 30 Mira green pea seedlings when we only needed 16; I just wasn't expecting it to, well, work.

But boy howdy, did it work! Out of the nearly 100 seeds we started, we have 7 "failed" cups (3 marigolds, 2 Fairytale eggplants, and 2 poblanos). Otherwise, we have multiple plants and can choose from the hardiest ones (which will be hard, since they are all doing REALLY well).

I came home early today due to some stomach issues, and after a long nap, I decided to take the seedlings (and myself) outside for a dose of vitamin D. Rachel came home between her classes, and we decided it was time to transplant the peas. Some of them had a main root that was more than 4" long! We decided since the newspaper cups were already falling apart, we'd just put the plants in the ground and compost the cups.

Unfortunately, I have discovered that putting plants in the ground is addicting. Not wanting to leave the warm sunshine, I ended up planing our Rainbow Blend carrots and replanting the 7 failed cups. Man, that Mel's Mix is downright AMAZING to work with! I hope Rachel can forgive me for putting seeds in without her.

So, of the two boxes we have, our "cold" box now has 2 squares of Ozark Beauty strawberries, 2 squares of Rainbow Blend carrots, 3 squares of Red Sail and Red Oakleaf lettuce (purchased from some AMAZING kids in the ag. class at Brevard High School), 2 squares of Mira green peas, and 2 squares of broccoli.

Once the toddlers are a little sturdier, we'll add the Vital Green spinach and Buttercrunch lettuce to the box, and that one will be done!

Construction (pictures are in reverse order)

Mel's Mix (1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost (4 different types: 2 humus, composted cow manure, mushroom compost)


Drillin'


Two square foot boxes, complete with a conduit trellis (which now has netting on it, and the other box also has a conduit trellis), notice the snow...


Leveling the boxes and scraping the grass out (boxes are lined with newspaper)


Completed frames


Drilling some holes

It's Seed Time! (by Rachel)

I have a feeling that today will not be the last day I will ever curse the rains of WNC!!

 We managed to get to Lowe’s today and grab the rest of the compost/peat moss to finish filling the last box. After adding the last of the mix to the box, we put the cross-sections on. We ended up using some super cheap half-round stripping and just nailed them to the boxes.

Since our playing in the dirt time was thwarted by the rain, we moved the operation inside. We’ve created these “pots” with newspaper, which we are going to start our seedlings in. I think this is going to be great because we are going to start some seeds that technically need to be started outside and not transplanted (peas, carrots, and the eggplant). Using the newspaper, we can start these seeds, and then just plunk them into the soil out in the boxes, instead of taking the seedling out and transplanting them.

We have temporarily converted our office into the seedling zone. We have a cat that likes to eat plants as snacks, so the door to the office is closed from here on out!! The desk has been shellacked with garbage bags, and then we put a sheet on top of that. The desk is over an air vent, so the temperature won’t be a concern. The desk also backs right up to the two windows, so there will be plenty of sunlight.

We have officially received all of our seeds and plants (it’s about time!!). The strawberry plants need to be planted in one of the boxes ASAP because they are actually starting to sprout. We were also wondering where we should plant the rhubarb crown....in a box? Or a more permanent home somewhere around the house?

And we're off!

It’s not spring in WNC if we’re not under in a few inches of snow. It least, that’s what spring in 2010 has been thus far. Out on yet another snow day (day 13 so far, though not all in a row), and the lazily falling flakes make me literally hungry for the heat and bother of our garden.

So, to add insult to frigid injury, I decided to check the Gurney’s Web site (www.gurneys.com) to see where this year’s seeds are and how soon until we meet; apparently, there’s no better time to receive live plants and seeds than during a snowstorm!

Currently on their way are:
- Crimson red rhubarb
- Miragreen peas
- Gotta Have It (Gurney’s exclusive corn)
- Rainbow bells tomatoes
- Black Krim tomatoes
- California white garlic
- Fairytale eggplant
- Vital Green spinach
- Rainbow blend carrot
- Butter crunch lettuce
- Coronado Crown broccoli
- Sweet basil

And, the much anticipated:
- Ozark Beauty strawberries

Of course, we are ill prepared for this; guess it’s time to get the boxes going and to start some seeds.

Growing Pains: The UGP of 2009

It was probably out of desperation and disdain for the lingering winter that we looked to such an advantageous project—two first time gardeners, pairing with a family of 4 (including one man-sized boy and one newly teenaged girl), and a freshly plowed 1,000 sq. ft. plot. It was the makings of a bountiful dream!

We knew we didn’t want just a slew of traditional rows. We planted some long rows,  some short, a strawberry patch, a lettuce patch, and a few herb beds. Like communism, our garden looked great on paper.

But holy weeds, batman! In just a few short weeks, our meticulously planned rows were landing strips in a well-fed yard. Infested with mosquitoes, No See Ums, and all sorts of caterpillars, we were growing grass much more successfully then we were growing vegetables.

And reality grew nearly as vigorous as the weeds. After losing several crops to crows, caterpillars, mildew, and ignorance, we decided there had to be a better way. Every week, we were clocking nearly 12 hours of constant, backbreaking work in humid, buggy misery, tending a 6 person garden with the hands of just two people. (But don't BOTHER sharing any tales of woe with anyone; apparently, this *is* all anyone expects out of gardening, which I still refuse to believe.)

However, as horrible as the experience was, I had fallen in love with the smells and flavors of food that had lived in my own backyard, from birth to fork. I was hopeless, but I was hooked.

During one of WNC’s many snowstorms this past winter, I found SquareFootGardening.com, and for the first time, and approach to gardening that wasn’t just “hard work, but worth it,” but logical, ecologically sound approaches enjoying not just what you grow, but enjoying the act of growing itself. Before you could say “traditional row gardening,” I’d bought the latest edition of Mel Barthalemew’s book that started the revolution, Square Foot Gardening.

This year, the UGP2.0 is being planted according to Mel’s modified raised bed approach. We’ll be providing specific posts as we cross each step, but right now, we’re planning on two boxes (4’x4’ each, I’ll let Rachel talk about what we’re putting in them).

Planting the seeds of gardening... (groan)

It all started more than two decades ago in a rectangular backyard plot in the desert outskirts of Phoenix, Ariz..

Each March, my father—who spent his childhood working on dozens of farms in northern North Dakota—would crank up the Troy Built, carving a respectable traditional plot out of the caliche. We planted the usual suspects, all from seed, and we’d be harvesting tomatoes, zucchini, carrots and others by late June, early July. By August, everything would be burned up.

Dad made coaxing plants out of that vapid ground look easy—and the proof of that was in our fruit trees. Plums, peaches, grapefruit, two kinds of oranges, even an apple and a lemon tree all grew and flourished on our two acres.

After 22 years of living off that brittle land, I moved to eastern North Carolina, and eventually to the western NC mountains. It was in the tiny rural town of Brevard that I started learning about the importance of sustainable agriculture, and the importance of supporting local farmers.

Our first garden, lovingly named the UGP—Unnamed Garden Project—was a learning experience (with the first lesson being when a family of four offers to "do a garden with you" and your partner, it *is* simply too good to be true; you will end up weeding, watering, harvesting and figuring out what the hell to do with a bounty intended for 6 people). My desert bones and Rachel’s eastern Oregon upbringing left us more than conflicted when it came to knowing what to expect from the Appalachian mountains. It was a labor of love, and a comedy of errors (ask Rachel about the two rows of corn that disappeared overnight, or about the one, lone potato we *thought* had died, not knowing the plant part shriveled and dried when the potatoes are ready to be harvested).

But one thing that DID grow was our eagerness to do it right and do it better “the next time.” In the land of the small scale farmer, where it rains exactly enough that you don’t have to water and it’s sunny enough that everything is emerald and alive, we blindly groped our way to literally hundreds of tomatoes, dozens of zucchini, several robust heads of lettuce, and a whole slew of learning.

For every crop we harvested, there was a lesson in failure:
Our Roma tomatoes were great, but we ate a lot of green German Queens before we learned that not all tomatoes are ready at the same time. Our Romaine lettuce wasn’t “really tall,” it was bolting. That’s bad, in lettuce-land. Powdery mildew spreads faster that a rumor in high school (and I should know; I’m a high school teacher and an ignorant gardener!), but can be thwarted with a watering can of reconstituted nonfat dry milk. Cucumbers right out of the garden are slightly sweet, but can be cross pollinated by your crook necked squash (and crook neck cucumbers are not that tasty at all).

Each lesson I excitedly shared with my friends, many of which were met with those chuckles and ill-timed advice so readily available in the South.

But that massive garden gave us two of the greatest lessons we learned and is what inspired us to begin this blog; first, if you tell someone (anyone) you’ve got a garden, you will be inundated with (mostly contradictory) advice that will always come too little, too late; and two, if the weeds grow wildly, you’re at least doing SOMETHING right. Armed with that, I’m proud to admit that I’m an Ignorant Gardener, learning my way to successful growing, one failed crop at a time.