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Saturday, May 8, 2010

Gardening

Have I ever mentioned how awesome my brother, Travis, is? First, he gave me the greatest Christmas present of ever (which I still need to blog about. Sorry, Trav.), second, he traveled the Holy Land with me for a month, third, he moved less than a mile away from me because he loves me (I'm sure that's the reason), and fourth, he let me commandeer his garden at his new house. We made a deal, I give him free labor and he gives me free food. We're both ok with this deal.

Here's what the space looked like initially. Lots of weeds (some with horrible pricklies on them), a giant burned spot in the middle, and...

… cigarette butts. Lots and lots of them. The guys that rented the house before Trav were heavy drinkers and smokers. We're guessing they weren't allowed to smoke in the house, so they chose the garden to be their ash tray. Ick.

After a lot of weed-pulling (me and Trav), tilling (Casey, Trav's roommate), and mulching (Trav), the fun part began. And Trav left for the weekend and BJ was busy working on a second job. So it was all me. First I fertilized, then I started staking out the garden. We're doing square foot gardening, so I first marked out the paths and the six 4'x4' plots.

Then I marked each of the individual square feet. I realized after I'd already cut all the string that I should have done the individual squares in a different color. Alas. I stuck stakes in the intersections of the paths to clue me in to where I could walk. (Trav is gonna get some vinyl and such to lay down in the paths for us to walk on.)

Then the planting! Wahoo! That's the best part. There is a lot in there, let me tell you. It's not quite finished, but it's mostly there. (The onion sets I got were way root bound, so I couldn't separate them to plant them, so I think I'm gonna go get bulbs instead. And I need to go get some more green pepper plants.) And there's another plot going in once Trav gets home and helps me dig it. It'll be for the vine plants. But isn't it pretty? (See the shadow on the right? Yeah, I was out there all day. 10:30-12:30, then 2-3:30. Ok, so not all day, but it was hot. So it felt like it.)


Here's what we have planted (or will plant):
plant
# of plants
dwarf peas
16
Alaska peas
16
bush beans
126
green onion
48
broccoli
6
chives
32
carrots
160
cherry tomatoes
2
Endless Summer tomatoes
2
Roma tomatoes
2
bell peppers
10
onion
48
zucchini
1
yellow squash
1
beets
128
pole beans
16
cauliflower
4
spinach
27
lettuce
12
red onions
48

We've also planted 8 flowers in there. Some for bug repellant purposes, some for prettiness, and some for edibility. Maybe I'll be more inclined to make salads when I have the lettuce in the garden and flowers to make it look all fancy-shmancy. You think I have a hope?


I'm excited. Very, very excited.

6 comments:

Alison said...

Oh Tianna! Your garden is absolutely beautiful and inspiring! I think you should come and make mine look beautiful too. I love how organized you are.

Jessica Pears said...

Impressive! If only you didn't live so far from me I'd let you rent my garden space as well.

Tianna said...

Well, seeing as both of you live too far away for me to do anything with your gardens (except maybe draw up a potential plan for what to plant and when)… I'm afraid your gardens will have to remain your own. But I still love you both. :)

Gma G said...

I am really impressed. Good luck and have fun with your garden!
Love Aunt Alease

JumpingJeri said...

Tianna,
You should have your own tv show! That garden layout is so impressive. I hope you will keep the pictures coming so we can watch it grow!

Carly said...

We are getting a spot of a community garden just around the corner from us... and I remembered skimming over your garden post, so I had to come back and see just what you are planting. SO FUN! I am super excited to do my first real garden all by myself. I'm doing square foot as well (can I do anything else when I taught it at the MTC for a year??)... but am still in the "what on earth should we plant?!" stage. Happy gardening!