There are many great reasons for one to have a vegetable garden. Better tasting produce that has more nutrients, a lesson of self reliance, and to do our part to smaller our foot print on the world. Neither Peter or I have ever started a vegetable garden, so it is safe to say there were many mistakes made, but all good practice for our next years crop.
We started two months ago, with no idea how much work we had a head of us. Our backyard is a lush oasis, with over grown, aggressive vines, and massive trees shading almost every inch. Luckily we had a small patch about 5x4 foot area that received more that 6 hours of direct sunlight to work with. However this small patch had a years worth of weeds and vines covering the area. We worked tirelessly to remove every bit, until we saw what seemed to be a rich dark soil just waiting to be cultivated.
After doing much research (thank you Martha Stewart) we learned about the benefits of prepping soil early on. With a mature compost heap that had been started by previous tenants we were able to prep the soil with rich, rotten, organic matter. We tilled and mixed in extra organic fertilizer and let the soil set for a few days.
While this was going on, I put my green thumb to the test, which was almost an utter failure. I had started to grow cherry tomato seedlings in a window in our kitchen. While they looked promising at first, I became overly eager to see more results. Mistake number 1: Fertilizing too soon. In just a day I watched my seedlings go lifeless.
However there were some things that I was patient enough with, and now they are thriving in their new home in our small garden. Radishes, carrots, and green beans that I started from seeds have flourished, and are growing larger than I had expected. I am currently in the process of babying my green bean successors that will be planted later on so we can have a summer bounty of my favorite vegetable.
As for the tomatoes I lost, we purchased some hearty seedlings, they transplanted well and are flowering this week. We have one "Big Boy" tomato plant, and two heirloom tomato plants, "Lemon Boy" (yellow tomatoes) and "Cherokee Purple" tomatoes (I am assuming they will be purple).
Also, we started with 10 red onion bulbs...now nine. Mistake number 2: Crushing plants while weeding...not a good thing.
We also have one okra plant, that is in my opinion "taking it's sweet ass time to grow".
Two plants I am particularly excited to watch grow are our "Fresno Chili" and "Salsa Pepper". These two were bought as harden seedlings, and are blooming as well.
Prior to all this hard work, killing things, making things grow...we had two things going against us.
Penny Lou and Dexter Goliath.
Our ever so adorable dogs have a license to kill, a license to kill every green thing growing and/ or blooming. At first a small wood fence, not even a foot was our first attempt to protect the garden. Thank you to our dogs we realized not only would it not keep them out, but it wouldn't even keep the bunnies out. Mistake number 3: Appropriate Fencing Required.
After upgrading to a slightly taller fence (that Penny still likes to jump) it seems we are keeping unwanted visitors out (other than her). We haven't seen any other problems...other than Dexter eating my organic fish bi product fertilizer...gross.
All in all it seems we are off to a good start, fingers are crossed for a great harvest this summer!
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