I don't have the proper space required for growing "starts," so I cheat. Today I bought a few seedlings (Bonnie Plants) at our local home improvement store. Trying to get a little head-start on the season with some basic plants... straight-neck yellow squash, black beauty zucchini, Heinz super roma tomatoes, sweet basil.
I had sworn off squash the last couple of years because of an ever-expanding number of squash bugs in previous years. I'm hoping to get an early start this spring, raise the plants to maturity, then get out of the squash business before the bugs have a chance to take over. Wish me luck.
I had good success with roma tomatoes last year. They are great for sauces and stews, canning, grilling, juicing, etc. I plan to buy my slicing tomatoes from the farmer's market.
It's a little risky putting plants into the ground right now. We're still two weeks before the official end-of-frost-danger date. But if I'm lucky, we'll have reasonably warm weather resulting in early enjoyment of the fruits of my labor.
As April 15 approaches, I'll check out the seedlings at the feed and seed store in town to see what the local growers have to offer. I'll be looking for interesting varieties of peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, etc to fill up the beds. I'll directly seed other crops, such as beans and okra, into the garden.
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Here's the poop from the backyard chicken coop ... keeping tabs on the girls and checking the garden to see what's for supper. Now that's LOCAL!
Garden of Eat'n
Small Flock
It all started...
... in the spring of 2006. Rouse decided to build a raised bed for the purpose of growing blueberry bushes. Well, one raised bed led to another and soon we had four raised beds. Three were filled with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and wineberries. The fourth was planted with herbs and tomatoes.
One year later...
... Andrew came home after his freshman year at UNC-Asheville and announced that he wanted to put in a vegetable garden. He said he wanted to learn how to do it "before he had to." We all liked the idea of eating more local food. You certainly can't get any more local then your own back yard!
Rouse had recently pulled out two overgrown shrubs in the bed behind the house. He had no plans to improve the area until fall, so he gave Drew the go-ahead. Andrew worked hard preparing the soil... digging it up and adding turkey manure enhanced dirt and mulch. He planted pole beans, cucumbers, a variety of hot peppers, okra, eggplant, canteloupe, zucchini and yellow squash.
Drew's garden was a huge success. We enjoyed the fresh food so much Rouse and I decided we wanted a more permanent garden. And chickens, too! In September of 2007 Rouse built four more raised beds and starting clearing space for the chicken yard. See "The HENstory" on its own page.
Rouse had recently pulled out two overgrown shrubs in the bed behind the house. He had no plans to improve the area until fall, so he gave Drew the go-ahead. Andrew worked hard preparing the soil... digging it up and adding turkey manure enhanced dirt and mulch. He planted pole beans, cucumbers, a variety of hot peppers, okra, eggplant, canteloupe, zucchini and yellow squash.
Drew's garden was a huge success. We enjoyed the fresh food so much Rouse and I decided we wanted a more permanent garden. And chickens, too! In September of 2007 Rouse built four more raised beds and starting clearing space for the chicken yard. See "The HENstory" on its own page.
We had a successful fall garden, with lots of salad and cooking greens. In the spring of 2008, we added four more raised beds. I successfully grew lettuce, arugula, spinach, chard, kale, mustard and turnip greens, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower, sugar snaps, tomatoes, peppers, okra, green beans, field peas, lima beans, yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, sweet potatoes, plus, lots of herbs. I had less success with beets, radishes, and carrots.
See the "Evolution of a Garden" page for pictures and more about how our garden has grown!
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