I'm not sure I know what I'm doing. I gather bits and pieces of information from here and there, but I've never actually produced a successful garden. If anyone saw the garden we planted a couple of years ago, you'd understand my point. The weeds took us to town and back and even picked up hitch hikers along the way. The tomatoes I planted along the house didn't do well either. I came outside one day and every single one of them was bare. Just little sticks trying to pretend like they were still tomato plants. I'm not even sure if it was the chickens or tomato worms, or something else entirely. That's how much attention I paid to my cheerless little plants.
This year though, something fresh has definitely ignited. I'm guessing it's all the knowledge I've absorbed the past few years surrounding local, fresh produce. Once you take that first baby-step, it just gets easier and easier to make changes. Now I feel like I'm obligated to grow my own vegetables. Maybe obligated isn't the right word. Well, obligated...but in a good way.
I started some seeds today and I'm not going to let them down. I need a small little garden that I can manage on my own between my 2 jobs and caring for our animals. This is what I'm looking at so far:
True Black Brandywine (heirloom) Tomato
Amana Orange (heirloom) Tomato
Green Zebra (heirloom) Tomato
Green Acorn Squash
Beets
Arugula
Parsley
Cilantro
Dill
Rosemary
The herbs are staying inside and only outside to enjoy the day every now and again. The others will go outside when they're ready. I'm researching like crazy and trying to figure out what will work best for me. Please share your gardening tips to help me produce a successful garden this year. *FINGERS CROSSED FOR LUCK*
I am on the garden bandwagon too Jay. Garebear had a friend plow up about a 50x50 area. He is getting really anxious to get it going. I chose seeds he is going to try plants I think. I think he is cheating. I am anxious to see stuff grow. Ready for the green and the colors.
ReplyDeleteGarys mom was saying to use manure from cows, chickens pigs. Seemed like any poop was good poop.
Wow! That's a pretty big garden. You should grow/make/can your salsa and make Christmas presents then sell the rest to your church and/or online. You need to share that delicious salsa with the rest of the world. One of my friends gave me a book on canning. It looks so difficult but she swears it's a cinch. If you come visit me in the summer, we can pick fruit out of park orchards (Capitol Reef NP) and make some jam! There are apricot, peach, apple, pear and cherry orchards. My mom, and Ryan, and I picked peaches and made a pie.
ReplyDeleteJanelle, I bought our seeds just the other day and am also very excited to start a garden this year. There are two sources of information that have been great! The first is Mother Earth News. They have a wide range of articles covering everything from growing and canning to raising sheep, building coops, producing your own gasoline... all sorts of stuff. The other site I've been on is the Utah State Garden Extension. It's awesome! You can find all the information on frost dates, when to plant, where to plant. They have a list on the right side of their page with all the trees, fruits and vegis; if you select one it will give you a 2 page pdf with all the info you'll need to grow something successfully. If you would like me to I can also email you some information I've gotten from local gardeners? I chose heirloom, open-pollinated plants too and I don't think we'll regret it.
ReplyDeletehttp://extension.usu.edu/yardandgarden/
Thank you for the info! Also, please forward the email information you have when you get a chance. My email is janely20@gmail.com I will definitely check it out. I am also thrilled to get up that way and check out your place. It sounds like you guys have some pretty intense self-sufficiency going on. Nice work. I will make sure I come visit when the veggies are ripe :)
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