Grow, Baby, Grow

Two pumpkin plants only made it into the garden due to the pleas of my son, niece and nephew. They will enjoy watching the growth of these giant pumpkins. I planted them on separate corners so they can sit just outside the raised bed once they grow beyond the confines of the planter.

The squash plants have just blossomed this morning. I know it won't be long now before I have plenty of squash and zucchini. Even if all other veggies fail you can always count on those two to prosper.

Cherry tomatoes are now visible on all the tomato plants. I can't wait to taste these babies in a tossed salad with dinner. My early girl tomatoes got a late start and most will likely end up canned for sauce.

Garden Update

Well the garden is coming to life and I couldn't be happier. Most every square has some green blooming and if won't be long before I have fresh veggies on our table. The radishes are just about ready to pick. I'll need to add the trellis netting this week as the vining tomatoes, squash and cucumbers are really coming along.

The only problem I've noticed so far is that something is snacking on my swiss chard. I've lost a few seedlings over the last few days and I am debating how to nip this problem in the bud, so to speak.

I was also a little disappointed that my herbs don't want to cooperate. I've planted one square each of oregano, rosemary and parsley. So far there's no signs of germination. I decided to reseed and cross my fingers. All in all, despite these annoyances, I am quite pleased with my first try at square foot gardening.

Salad Bar

The garden is complete. A little time and sunshine and we'll have our own salad bar just outside the back door. The radishes have already started popping through the ground and the beans should be next. Since I've put up the fence the chickens have largely ignored the garden and I hope to keep it that way. I still need to add the trellis netting to the trellis posts but there's time for that. I am very pleased thus far with the Square Foot Garden technique. Give it a few months and I will know whether the extra time and effort up front was worth it. It does indeed appear so far that there will be much less weeding and watering required.

Our Little Corner Amid the Chaos

It's been a year and a half since I decided to carve my little .15 acre of suburbia into a homestead and turn our postage stamp plot into a more self-sufficient resource. In that time our family of four has managed to change our lifestyle toward a more simpler, organic one. Some changes are small ones, such as drying our clothes outside on the line. Perhaps our most dramatic change has been the addition of chickens to our urban backyard. I'm always looking for ways to live more frugally and work more healthy choices into the mix. Recently I've begun baking our own wheat bread, pressure canning food and making our laundry soap from scratch.

Gardening has always been confined to a few container tomato plants on the patio. This year I've decided to expand and have just completed four raised 4' x 4' planters in our backyard. I'll be trying my hand at square foot gardening and by the end of the weekend my 10' x 10' garden plot will be finished. The chickens will be so disappointed, poor babies, when the poultry fence goes up around the garden. I only hope I can keep the other pests at bay and bring in a decent crop. I have seeds sprouting and ready to transplant including: green beans, peas, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, radishes, carrots, spinich, swiss chard, tomatoes, watermelon, parsley, oregano, rosemary and some marigolds. Now that should keep me busy.