Frugal Babe

A rich life without a lot of money

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Garden Progress

May 20, 2011 By Frugal Babe

We’ve spent all of our free time over the last week working in our garden, and we’ve got nearly everything planted.  We had a dumptruck full of compost delivered, so we spent last weekend with our shovels and wheelbarrow, mixing compost into all of our beds.  We did the same thing last year, and I think our alkaline clay soil is finally looking pretty good.  From now on, we shouldn’t have to have compost delivered – the compost we create ourselves should be enough in future years.

Last year, instead of tomato cages ,we installed metal stakes in a single row down the middle of each tomato bed, and attached chicken wire fencing (six feet high) to the stakes.  The beds are only four feet wide, so we had a row of tomato plants on each side of the fencing, and they all climbed up the fence together.  In order to rotate our crops, we had to pull out the fencing and move them to other beds last weekend, which was actually a pretty easy process.  We got all of our tomato plants – that had been growing in our hydroponic garden for the last several weeks – transplanted out to the new tomato beds a few days ago.  We also had peppers that we transplanted outside earlier this week.

Other than the tomatoes and peppers, we’re starting everything outside, from seeds this year.  Our potatoes, spinach, and onions have all been in the ground for several weeks now, and are looking good.  Most of the potatoes have sprouted and will be ready to be hilled up in another week or two, and the onions are several inches tall.  Everything else got planted over the last week, so most of our garden beds still just look like bare dirt – but soon there will be little sprouts everywhere.  (I love this time of year – it’s like magic!)  We gave one bed to our three-year-old, and we’ve got six more beds (out of 27 total) that still need seeds (those will be getting planted this evening).  I had wondered how our garden process would go this spring, since we knew we’d have a brand new baby right at the start of garden season, but so far we’ve managed to stay on track.  I’ve done quite a bit of gardening while wearing the baby in the Moby Wrap, and my husband and I have also taken turns working in the garden and taking care of the baby.  It’s a bit more of a juggling act, but so far, so good.

All of our fruit trees are looking good, and we’ve had lots of blossoms this spring, so we might even get some fruit this year.  The berry bushes are also looking great, and some of the raspberry bushes have already spread out with new growth in a three-foot circle.  Last year we planted three beds with asparagus, and those have all come back nicely, as did our rhubarb, and mint plants.  Wouldn’t it be nice if all veggies were perennials?

In early March, I planted seeds for various greens into our cold frames, and we’ve been harvesting lettuce, kale, and all sorts of other greens from those beds for several weeks now.  Given that we go through at least one large bunch of organic kale/collards/swiss chard, etc. each day, having the growing season for greens extended by a few months each year is definitely a money saver when it comes to our grocery bill.

We’re going to experiment with straw mulch this year, hoping that it will cut down on the amount of weeding and watering that we have to do.  I tried hay mulch in one of our beds last year, and practically turned the bed into a sod farm – the grass seeds that were lurking in the bale of hay sprouted like crazy when they got into the nice moist garden bed!  We’ve read that straw doesn’t do that, so we’ll see how it goes.

Anyway, I hope all my northern hemisphere readers are having a good spring so far!  Have you got your gardens or container gardens going yet?

Anyway

Filed Under: food, garden 5 Comments

Comments

  1. Money Beagle says

    May 20, 2011 at 10:49 am

    We haven’t gotten into the whole thing with gardening yet, maybe one of these years, but we are planning on putting in flowers this week or next, if that counts :)

    Reply
  2. Regina W says

    May 20, 2011 at 10:50 am

    We planted our seeds directly into our little raised flower bed several weeks ago. Since we rent, we can’t have a full garden, so we’re doing mainly salad type plants in the area we have. So far, all of our plants (except the peppers) have sprouted nicely. Our sweet peas are already several inches tall (just set up their climbing strings this morning) and the radishes are going crazy. Our green onions and carrots are looking a little sparse, but we’ll give them more time to see how they shape up. The lettuces have all come up nicely and are looking like they’re going to give us more than our family of 3 1/2 can handle (new baby due in September–he’s the 1/2). :)

    Our two year old daughter was begging for flowers, so we started some sunflowers, marigolds, and daisies in another bed (and stole half of one from our kind neighbors) and those are all just beginning to sprout. When those are done flowering, we’ll put some of our fall garden stuff in that bed. I’m excited to try growing our own pie pumpkins later this summer and fall. :)

    Reply
  3. average guy says

    May 21, 2011 at 4:37 pm

    Yes, garden in full swing. We harvested our Fava beans recently, cleared the plot for tomato shoots (that my wife sprouts from seeds). Got a raspberry plant last month in trade with a co-worker, gave her tomato shoots. Raspberry now looks like some fruit is about to pop. Bought blueberry and blackberry bare root plants last month, but I think it could take time for those to show signs of growth.
    Peach tree has some but not a lot of peaches. Asian pear tree has many pears in the works. Persimmon tree has a few fruit, we never have many from it. Lemon tree fruits but it seems the squirrels like them too much.
    Apricot tree spout is doing well, but it will be some years before it gives fruit.
    The tiny orange in the front years has some tiny fruitings about a eighth of an inch in size, but its a guessing game this year, we have seen these before but all drop, maybe this year will be different.

    Reply
  4. FFW says

    May 21, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    Having a garden is one of the most fun ways to save money. Greay blog!

    Reply
  5. Meg says

    May 23, 2011 at 7:21 am

    We live in Northeast Ohio and I have been TRYING to work in the garden for the past 3 weeks. We have had so much rain, it’s been difficult. But, with two days of sunshine this weekend, I finished up planting everything we are going to plant in the garden this year. We will see how it all turns out.

    I bought a flat of seedlings, and this is what we got:

    15 tomato plants
    9 pepper plants
    3 eggplant
    4 zuke

    From seed, I planted:
    Snow Peas
    Green Beans
    Brussels
    Onions (they were on clearance, I couldnt help myself)

    The only thing I’ve grown before out of the seeds has been green beans. Everything else, I am learning to grow this year.

    I also bought some asparagus this year from ebay. 25 of them – so I had to add a bed in the garen and planted them. I cant wait to reap the benefits of those. I love perennials! :-)

    I thought I had killed my strawberry plants in pots from two years ago, but I put them in the ground and they are thriving! We have alot of flowers and are looking forward to fresh strawberries.

    Our potted blueberry bush got a few flowers this weekend, so it looks like we will have a few to pick this year.

    The red raspberries are taking off like crazy! I planted some the first year we moved in (2007) along the house, and they have been producing like champs! They are spreading like crazy, too. I may have to relocate some of them this Fall.

    Last June, we bought 2 pear trees, an apricot tree and a dwarf plum. We had some flowers on the apricot and the dwarf plum, but we are waiting to see what fruit may grow. So far, I dont see anything. The pear trees didnt even flower yet this year.

    I had a horrible time this year in the garden with weeds. I planted all that I could and decided to go back and weed. So, for the next month or so, I will be out there twice a day picking weeds. Little – by – little. Next year, I am putting cardboard down, leaves, and soiled chicken bedding to hopefully create very rich soil without all the weeds!

    I posted a blog on the garden progress this morning if you’re interested in taking a peek.

    Reply

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