Food for thought: How does your garden grow?

When I set out on our garden adventure I meticulously read, planned, read, and planned some more. I had graph paper with drawings to scale of each garden bed, numbered to match a corresponding legend of what crops I would plan where...well good thing I did this all in pencil!!! I can't tell you how many times I have erased, re-planned, and re-configured this garden- all in the hopes of the greatest first year crop ever! I bought a soil test kit and with the appearance of a home chemistry lab, I tested the PH, nitrogen, and phosphorus levels in our soil to assure the proper growing conditions. I amended the soil based on the results with lime, phosphate and tons and tons of compost. I dug all the walkways by hand to create the ideal raised beds and reduce compaction of the soil. I mulched the walkways with newspapers and straw to keep the weeds away. After a hunt, I found a soil thermometer to be sure the soil was warm enough to start planting (many workers at local nurseries looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for this! "what are you going to do with THAT?") Not trusting the thermometer alone, I asked a few seasoned gardeners I know when they started planting- "when you sit on the soil and your butt isn't cold, then you can plant"- guess I didn't really need to buy that thermometer after all.

When it came time to buy the seeds I cross referenced my Vegetable Gardeners Bible repeatedly to be sure I was buying the right variety of each plant. I made sure to follow the guidelines for companion planting- that is planting things that thrive well, or that keep bugs off other plants together. I planted the marigolds next to my tomatoes as instructed and the nasturtiums everywhere to keep pests away.

I still remember the day I planted all the seeds, carefully digging the holes to the instructed depth for each different crop, carefully cross referencing my garden chart to be sure I put everything in its proper place. After all was said and done, I stood back and thought "Yeah right!!!" In my mind there was NO way those tiny little seeds would grow into anything, more or less something I could make a meal out of. I got out my moisture meter- checked to be sure everything had just the right amount of water, fetilized with fish emulsion and then I waited....and waited...
Well now you see, the nice thing here is that this garden is not at my house. Although that means scheduling time over at Rich and Betty's to work in it( and it IS WORK!!!)- I also have the pleasure of being amazed by how much everything really HAS GROWN since last I visited!

First to emerge were the radishes- the variety was a little too spicy for my liking, mental note- research milder radish for next time. Next were the pole beans and the cucumbers. The tomatoes, peppers and celery are difficult to start from seed outdoors so those we bought starter plants,

they too had grown. The melons, herbs, squash, lettuce, spinach, onions, leeks, bush beans, strawberries, broccoli and soybeans all started poking up their little heads. For the first time I thought, "this might actually work!" And then the bugs attached!!!!!

They started munching on the radish leaves, my basil, broccoli, the pole bean leaves and so on. They even ate my marigolds and nasturtiums which were intended to keep pests away! After calling everyone I know that grows organically, reading books and online searches, our problem was diagnosed as snails, earwigs and caterpillars. So what

to do? Well, we still haven't found the perfect answer to that. The snails apparently only come out at night, so I was told to wait until dark and hunt them down with a flashlight and pick them off one by one. First problem with that is I'm not usually around the garden at night seeing that it isn't at my house, second problem is I couldn't really convince Betty to track through the garden w

ith her flashlight and bucket! So, I choose the easy road, an organic snail bait! We'll see how that works. As for the earwigs, "roll up some newspapers and set them around the garden. Early in the morning (in this lies the problem again!) go out and pick up the papers carefully and dump them into a bucket. All your earwigs will slide right out and you'll be good to go!" Again, not usually there early in the morning- and if you know any gardeners, early really does means EARLY! So for now- we have earwigs, even after a valiant attempt by Betty- unfortunately I think the earwigs wake up before she does :o) As for the caterpillars- I haven't tackled that problem yet, but be assured I'm researching it!

All in all I am truly amazed at what has come from all this work- so far about 12 radishes, 1 tiny but extremely tasty sun gold tomato that Betty and I shared on Memorial day, and about 2 plastic grocery bags full of mixed lettuce. Not enough to make a meal yet, but let me tell you, soon we will be swimming in beans, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, squash and melons! Everything is growing tremendously well. I have since planted some corn, eggplant and Swiss chard, so I am hopeful that those will thrive as well. I hunted down some seeds to grow watermelon radish that we tried and loved from our local produce store, as well as some seeds for kohlrabi (you should try both of these chopped raw in a salad- so good!) Those are both on order, along with some more carrots and Brussel sprout seeds, so I still have some planting to do.

Along with all of that Rich and Betty have an orange, peach and plum tree that are all laden with fruit. We are trying to convince them to plant an apricot, kiwi and maybe even an apple tree in the next year or so. Not much room for an avocado tree though, since really you need two for cross pollination- but I tried! :o)

I will say it has been a lot of work, but so rewarding. I have stumbled upon something I can share with my kids, am truly passionate about, enjoy doing and feel that some good comes of it as well- what more could I ask for! BE WELL ~