Planting Update

One hundred forty-seven onion plants and fifty strawberry plants have been planted.  Light rain is forcast for this Easter afternoon - perfect for the new plants.

At this point, all the existing garden beds are full.  Next we start on tilling, amending and building more beds.  I'm actually very grateful for the furloughs...my family is working hard together to accomplish this goal...very satisfying.

Strawberry Plants Arrive!

The strawberry plants I ordered from Park Seed arrived in the mail today and will go in the ground tomorrow. There are 25 Tribute and 25 Tristar plants. Can't wait for yummy, sweet berries!

Peas, Potatoes, and more snow...

Peas and potatoes went into the ground late Saturday afternoon...on Monday we woke up to a lovely snowfall...today the sun is out and snow is melted.  Crazy March weather.

Grow Lights!

My husband built a grow light table and I have placed the few sprouted seedlings we have under it.  As more plants sprout, they will also be moved.  Hopefully this will help the little plants to grow strong and sturdy stems.

Turnips and Beets...

The turnip and beet seeds we ordered arrived in the mail today along with an email regarding the upcoming furlough notices.  We don't really like beets or furlough notices, but will be trying to live with both...but the beets were our idea...we just want to see if they taste better right out of the garden.  I found this recipe and plan to give it a try.

ROASTED BEETS & TURNIPS 

WITH BALSAMIC GLAZE   

modified From Veganista

3-5 red beets, peeled and sliced into discs
3 or 4 turnips, sliced into discs
2 turnips, cut into chunks
3-4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon rosemary
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
salt & pepper to taste

Place beets, turnips, onion, & garlic on a lightly oiled platter. Toss with coconut oil, balsamic, rosemary, & salt & pepper.  Roast at 400 degrees for about 1 hour or until edges are crispy.
http://www.washingtonsgreengrocer.com/blog/balsamic-glazed-turnips-beets/detail.htm

Snow, rain, snow.....but more seedlings!

Woke up this morning to snow....then rain...then snow...on and off all morning.  Did manage to get to Southern States to purchase Kennebec and Red Norland Potatoes along with two bunches of onions (red and yellow).  We may have to cover their beds with plastic if things don't dry out for the rest of the week; otherwise it will be too wet to get them in the ground this coming weekend.

Big Mama Tomato Seedling

Created a spreadsheet to keep track of the garden costs vs. production value.  Anything like wood for raised beds, garden tools, etc. will be depreciated over their lifespan.  This way so that we will know precisely what our efforts this year have saved us.

On a happy note, more seedlings are sprouting.  It was so nice to see little tomatoes, a few broccoli and more basil peeking through the upper crust of their seed pots this morning.

Bottom Half of Garden Plan....

At long last...cold frames!

We were given these storm window panels several years ago.  The intention was to use them in cold frames..but they just sat in the basement gathering dust.  So I guess I should be grateful for the upcoming furlough days...without them I wouldn't have these beautiful cold frames.

Garden Layout - Top Half

Ok - here is a pic of the top half of the garden layout...the garden is too big to get a readable plan loaded onto the blog.

We have seedlings!

Some of the lettuce and basil seeds we planted this past weekend have started to sprout.  Love it.

Garden planning continues...used Excel to make my own planner as none of the "canned" planners were flexible enough to suit me.  Hopefully I can figure out how to post a screen shot.

The Sting of Procrastination

I found someone who will deliver 10 yds. of aged manure for $50.  Price is great, but the ground will be so wet over the next two months that it will be a real feat to get it into the soil in a timely fashion.  We should have done this last fall...drat.

Nevertheless, the sun is shining and I'm really having fun planning for and anticipating our upcoming bounty.

Planning Work Continues...

Ground is soggy from yesterday's downpours..did spend an hour or so planning what to plant and how many square feet we would need to get the job done.  We currently have beds which total approximately 350 square feet...we will have to prepare more beds if we want to grow an annual supply of veggies....not to mention a strawberry bed...and raspberries...oh, so much to do.

And so we begin...

Ok - so we've been "playing" at gardening for over nine years now.  Now that the sequester has gone into effect and we will experience a 25% net reduction in income due to furloughs, it is time to get serious about producing as much of our own food as possible.  Better late than never.  Hopefully, keeping this blog about our gardening efforts will serve to keep us accountable throughout the season.

This past weekend we started seeds of  lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, artichokes, lavender, sage, oregano, and broccoli.  Hubby is building a cold frame so we can get some of the early spring veggies off to a good start.

The garden is in shambles...but the rosemary, sage, thyme, and lavenear which was planted last season has survived the winter and the fall broccoli (which I neglected to pull up) is showing signs of growing some early new buds.  It will be interesting to see if we can harvest anything from our "has been" broccoli plants.

It's a gray, rainy day, but I will try to get a picture of the "garden" -although it has been so neglected, it hardly qualifies for the title.