Last fall I researched potager gardens and decided I would give it a try. Yesterday I decided to take advantage of the warm weather and started digging the borders for my vegetable garden. Instead of planting everything in rows, I am planting my plants in shaped beds...It was a lot of work...two days worth of digging, but today I finally got to get vegetable starts. I took Natalie to our local garden center after school and we picked out lots of good things to plant. Here is an idea of what's in store for us if the bunnies don't eat them first...Strawberries, lettuce, cabbage, leeks, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, artichokes, eggplant, turnips, peas, green beans, broccoli, 3 sizes of pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini, dill, 3 kinds of thyme, rosemary, parsley, 2 kinds of basil and chives.
Hayden and Zander had fun digging in the dirt and "helping" mommy. After spending about 4 hours in the garden, I only got about half of the plants in the ground. Boy are my arms sore...and sun burnt. It's been downright hot here, well hot for May in Oregon anyway.
While I was busy planting, our cat Harley was having fun swatting at a snake!!! YIKES!
6 comments:
Congratulations on your gardening. I started gardening when I was about 12 and have been doing it in one form or another ever since.
Say, is that the same snake Zander was playing with last summer? I think that there must be a nest of them somewhere nearby. As I recall I think that I saw two of them heading out toward the garden.
Did you use sun screen? You really should, I think that some of my worst sunburns came from working out in the garden. I enjoyed it so much that I would loose track of how long I had been doing it and wound up cooked myself.
YIKES!!! A snake??
Lookin' good Alyssa, sounds like a really yummy garden! No carrots? I hope the bunnies and deer stay out of it too.
You eat eggplant huh? I have never tried eggplant.
I would love to make myself a little herb garden. The kids and Shawn planted our little garden already out in the backyard. We have a little raised bed back there. Should be fun!
I enjoy gardening as well, although I'm not sure how I'll like all the weeding that goes with a big garden. As far as the snake goes, it very well could be the same one. It is much longer than I remember though.
Katie
I may plant carrot seeds later as carrots are a favorite around here...I've never had good luck with them. They always turn out all deformed and twisted. The eggplant is mostly for Dan. He loves it when I make eggplant parmesan, so I thought I would try to grow my own.
I tried posting this earlier but it did not come through so I am trying to remember what I wrote.
First off, eggplant is yummy!
Now for the carrots: Forked roots may be due to rocky, stony soil or heavy soil.
Here is a way to help prevent this: Carrots grow best in a deep, loose soil that retains moisture yet is well-drained. Root crops, like carrots do not grow well in very acid soils. If you can take a soil sample for pH and nutrient analysis and apply fertilizer and/or lime appropriately.
Nitrogen recommendations for carrots are about ¾ to 1 cup of urea/100 sq. ft. Apply half during seed bed preparation and side dress the other half in mid-season.
You can start planting carrots beginning about April 15. For a continuous supply of young carrots, make two or three plantings spaced about three weeks apart.
I hope this helps,
Your Farmer Dad
Thanks for the soil tips. I wonder if our local garden center does soil testing. Would this also apply to turnips? I think they are a root vegetable too.
Yes turnips are very similar to carrots. Are you growing radishes as well, they are probably a little closer to turnips than carrots.
For radishes and turnips, nitrogen recommendations are about ½ cup urea/100 sq. ft.
The optimum pH range is between 6 and 6.5. Liming will raise the pH of acid soils. You can improve soil conditions by adding well-rotted manure or compost. Do not use fresh manure as it can stimulate branching of the roots, compromising the quality of the crop and probably increase weed problems. Deeply till the soil, and then smooth the surface in order to prepare a good seedbed.
I have a pH meter that I got many years ago. You probably could pick one at one of the local stores, like Fred Meyer, Bi Mart or any nursery should carry them.
You can start to plant radishes and turnips beginning April 15 for a spring crop, and then again August 1 for a fall crop.
Root crops must be thinned to allow room for turnips to develop properly as soon as the plants are large enough to pull. You should thin carrots and radishes as soon as they reach a small, edible size, the children will like these. Carrots, radishes, and turnips should be thinned to about a 2-inch spacing. Long-rooted vegetables such as carrots should never be transplanted; otherwise, as they develop, the roots will fork.
Proper watering can make the difference between good production and poor production. Vegetables need at least 1 inch of water (the same goes for your lawn) from rainfall or irrigation each week during the growing season. I use an empty tuna cans set out in different places in the garden to measure the amount of water, you could use a rain gauges, but why spend the money. Always soak the soil thoroughly when watering. This helps to promote good root development.
There is little or no value in a light watering that only wets the surface of the soil. In fact, light watering often promote shallow root development and can increase the crop's susceptibility to hot weather and drought stress, and reduce product quality. On most soils, watering once a week is sufficient. Very sandy soils may require more frequent watering.
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