Demi's Garden Day 16

By: Pen-Pal Productions on 4:51 PM

What a difference just a couple weeks has made! All of the plants have rooted nicely and are pretty happy. I caged the tomatoes (thank you, Mum) and added a small trellis for the cucumbers which will be upgraded once they get bigger. I'm pretty sure the tomato plant in the top left corner has a flower already so we may just hit our 1 tomato goal early! 

And the strawberries have started flowering! My MIL suggested we cover them once they turn into berries to keep the birds away. 

Just a quick update for you all, I hope your summer is starting off as wonderfully as ours is. 

Day 1:

 Day 16:

I am a proud garden mom right now and they haven't even produced a single fruit or veggie!

Read More

Demi's Garden: Day 1

By: Pen-Pal Productions on 7:28 PM

Apologies for the blog-neglect! We all have been super busy but I'm here to share a garden update! 

Isn't it so hopeful and beautiful!? 

I'm going to try really hard to keep them happy and healthy. I have a bit of a brown thumb when it comes to plants but I am dedicated to getting SOMETHING out of this little garden. 

After a little more research, I decided that square-foot gardening was the method I wanted to try first. This method is kind of like a vertical garden, each square-foot supports one super healthy (and hopefully productive) plant.

So here is the finished plan, based on what they had at the garden store (we went to That Bloomin' Place in Weymouth) :

I read that marigolds are are good companion plants for tomatoes and peppers so I added a square foot of them so we'll see how that goes. I hope I didn't waste a square on flowers but plants need friends too! 

The Mr. measured out a foot on each side and used a little nail to hold some kitchen twine so that we could separate our square-foot sections neatly.

We spent $25 at the garden store so I'm praying that we at least get one fruit or veggie out of this plan. Super low expectations will yield a high reward, right?

We had a lot of extra plant babies so I grabbed whatever pots I could find and planted them all around the garden. I suspect a few of them will outgrow their pots but that is for a different day.

The left overs were,

Broccoli:

3 tomatoes and 3 peppers:

and 2 brussel sprouts (not pictured.)

I also picked up some strawberries, because every garden needs a few strawberry plants:

In other plant news, our gerber daisies have returned! These guys were planted in 2009 as a way to cheer up the side of our apartment. We have let the flower heads dry and make seeds, let the leaves cover them in the fall, and the snow pack on them in the winter, and every year they have faithfully returned to greet us in the spring. I remember talking to Brendan about how we could plant different colors every year because they are supposed to be annual but these flowers are here to stay. We have a theory that the brick wall and the heat from the house keep this strip of soil super warm all year. I love seeing their little heads bloom all summer.

This is Chloe, she loves to watch me garden from the kitchen windowsill.

An avocado experiment by the Mr., he thinks he will get a tree out if this set-up, check back and see.

If you need me I will be here, tending to this garden's every need. Wish me luck?

Read More

Its time to plant!

By: Pen-Pal Productions on 8:29 PM

...Well, not quite. But it's time to set up the raised bed and start filling it with dirt and mixing it up! My lovely mother-in-law got me two 4x4 cedar raised garden beds for my birthday I can't wait to see what we can grow this year. I have tried to start plants from seeds and it hasn't worked out in the past. There just is not enough sun in the apartment and cats that love to eat anything green and growing. Perhaps when we get a house we can follow Kristin's tips on seed sowing!

I followed instructions on Gardeners.com and their raised bed plans, they're interactive beds that you can customize what kind of bed you have and add plants.

Doesn't that bed look amazing?! That is a 3x6 bed with lots of different veggies. Using their plan as a guide I made this plan.

These are the veggies we buy most at the grocery store so I know we will eat them if they do well. The next step now is to grab the dirt, my mother-in-law suggested we get a mixture of garden soil, peat moss and organic compost. Using this calculator it says I need 10 cubic feet of total soil. The same site suggests:

"For most situations, we recommend these proportions:

• 60 percent topsoil
• 30 percent compost
• 10 percent soilless growing mix that contains peat moss, perlite and/or vermiculite, such as Transplant Mix or Container Mix"

I plan on consulting with my MIL to see what she thinks about my plan, it seems like a lot of plants for just a 4x4 square but the website said that most only need a 1ft square.

Read More