So last Friday we got a bit of a cold snap (and of course we decided to make that weekend our first camping trip of the year). It went down to just below zero and wreaked havoc on our beautiful garden.
In April or May, we decided we should get started on planting inside so that come planting time in our garden we'd have a nice crop of seedlings ready to go out. So we planted cauliflower, broccoli, watermelon, pumpkin, corn, peppers and tomatoes. Almost everything germinated on schedule, but they sort of stalled out. They grew on long spindly stalks and seemed to stretch for the sun coming in the windows. Most of the plants got some sort of secondary "real" leaves but they never reached the point of the seedlings you buy in the store.
Last week we decided that it was safe to put the seedlings into the ground, along with a row of geraniums and marigolds. We figured since June was underway and we were seeing average nighttime temps above 10 degrees that it would be safe to plant our delicate seedlings. I guess not.
We planted on Wednesday evening before small group, and they were looking nice in their new homes. I watered them and we left them to flourish. Well Friday comes around and so does the dreaded freezing temps.
We stopped by to check on our plot Sunday morning after returning from camping to find rows of death. Our plot is in the middle of the community garden, so we had to walk by a number of plots before reaching ours; all full of dead plants. Even those whose tomatoes were covered suffered. Some people had some pretty established plants and they were all withered and dying. I'm curious to go out tonight and see if some people's stuff has recovered, but I'm not holding out hope for our tiny, fragile plants.
So tonight we are going out to plant our tomatoes and peppers. We'll also turn in all the dead plants and see about using up the remaining seeds for the other crops we've already planted. It will mean a whole bunch of extras of some stuff, but that's alright. I'd rather have a nice full garden, and it also means less weeding.
It's just sad is all.
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Friday, June 12, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
I love gardening
I can see why people say gardening is therapeutic. After spending all day Saturday and all afternoon on Sunday at our garden plot, I understand; you just get into this trance and totally zone out.
Saturday morning I started around 10:30 and decided I was going to till the entire plot with a hoe and a rake, instead of using a rototiller. Two and a half hours later I was finished and the plot was looking great. The time just flew by. When I first started I was wishing I had some tunes, but that thought quickly subsided. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and I'm working in the dirt with my hands. It was beautiful.
I also love all the old people out there. Our community garden has a little over 100 plots, and I'm sure the average age is about 70. We have this cool 85 year old Yugoslavian guy across from us. When I was working alone Saturday morning he came over to talk with me, well, talk at me, for over an hour. He told me about the war (WWII), and how he was in the Yugoslavian army, and fighting the Nazis, and moving to England after the war, and marrying an English girl, and how his brother-in-law, who also lives in Winnipeg used to be a Nazi and hates him because he is Yugoslavian. I also learned that he is 85, and worked until he was 73 in construction because of his arthritis and how keeping moving and working kept the arthritis away. He also told me how Canadians can't get pissed when people speak languages other than English and French because Canada is built on multiculturalism and we need to own that, not fight it. So after all of that, I still have no idea what his name is. :) It makes me laugh. He's such a nice guy, and we now call him Mr. Slav.
All the old people out there are glad we are there. They always make comments about how they are so happy young people are getting involved in gardening.and they also are quick to offer advice. TONS of advice. About every aspect of gardening. It makes me laugh.
I love gardening.
Saturday morning I started around 10:30 and decided I was going to till the entire plot with a hoe and a rake, instead of using a rototiller. Two and a half hours later I was finished and the plot was looking great. The time just flew by. When I first started I was wishing I had some tunes, but that thought quickly subsided. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and I'm working in the dirt with my hands. It was beautiful.
I also love all the old people out there. Our community garden has a little over 100 plots, and I'm sure the average age is about 70. We have this cool 85 year old Yugoslavian guy across from us. When I was working alone Saturday morning he came over to talk with me, well, talk at me, for over an hour. He told me about the war (WWII), and how he was in the Yugoslavian army, and fighting the Nazis, and moving to England after the war, and marrying an English girl, and how his brother-in-law, who also lives in Winnipeg used to be a Nazi and hates him because he is Yugoslavian. I also learned that he is 85, and worked until he was 73 in construction because of his arthritis and how keeping moving and working kept the arthritis away. He also told me how Canadians can't get pissed when people speak languages other than English and French because Canada is built on multiculturalism and we need to own that, not fight it. So after all of that, I still have no idea what his name is. :) It makes me laugh. He's such a nice guy, and we now call him Mr. Slav.
All the old people out there are glad we are there. They always make comments about how they are so happy young people are getting involved in gardening.and they also are quick to offer advice. TONS of advice. About every aspect of gardening. It makes me laugh.
I love gardening.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Some Gardening Updates
Here's a little update on our gardening adventures so far.
Chris and Mama Bean in Winnipeg
We'll have some more pictures in the coming days. It is pouring rain today, so hopefully when it is done, we'll go out and take some pics (providing it isn't too muddy)
Chris and Mama Bean in Winnipeg
We'll have some more pictures in the coming days. It is pouring rain today, so hopefully when it is done, we'll go out and take some pics (providing it isn't too muddy)
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Lessons from Our Garden
Alright, things I learned today.
A 1500 sq.ft garden (which we thought was 1800, but it's actually 25x60, not 30x60) is much more manageable when it is split into 10 mini gardens. We now have 10 150sq.ft gardens and it seems much more manageable.
It is much easier to till a 1500 sq.ft garden with a roto-tiller, than by hand. I knew this going in, yet I did it by hand anyway. It would have taken 20 min and cost $25 to have the dude roto-till it, but instead I did it with a rake and a hoe. A hoe that I proceeded to break in the process.
When working outside for an extended period of time, one should wear sunscreen, preferably SPF30 or maybe even 45. Just because it is windy, and doesn't feel very warm, doesn't mean you aren't getting burned, just ask my epidermis. You can call me Lobster Boy for the next couple of days.
There are a lot of politics when it comes to community gardens. This morning I saw a dude yelling that he'd been screwed over as I received a lot that is totally covered in weeds. It had something to do with people he pissed off last year, and he wasn't happy about it.
Tomorrow I will post some pictures of our garden. Mama Bean has a list of everything we are growing and a map that she has drawn up of it. She said she will post it tomorrow, so I'll be linking to it when she does.
A 1500 sq.ft garden (which we thought was 1800, but it's actually 25x60, not 30x60) is much more manageable when it is split into 10 mini gardens. We now have 10 150sq.ft gardens and it seems much more manageable.
It is much easier to till a 1500 sq.ft garden with a roto-tiller, than by hand. I knew this going in, yet I did it by hand anyway. It would have taken 20 min and cost $25 to have the dude roto-till it, but instead I did it with a rake and a hoe. A hoe that I proceeded to break in the process.
When working outside for an extended period of time, one should wear sunscreen, preferably SPF30 or maybe even 45. Just because it is windy, and doesn't feel very warm, doesn't mean you aren't getting burned, just ask my epidermis. You can call me Lobster Boy for the next couple of days.
There are a lot of politics when it comes to community gardens. This morning I saw a dude yelling that he'd been screwed over as I received a lot that is totally covered in weeds. It had something to do with people he pissed off last year, and he wasn't happy about it.
Tomorrow I will post some pictures of our garden. Mama Bean has a list of everything we are growing and a map that she has drawn up of it. She said she will post it tomorrow, so I'll be linking to it when she does.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Our Garden Surprise!
So Mama Bean and I got a bit of a surprise when we went to check out our community garden plot. Originally we thought it was about 12'x36', so about 400sqft, which is pretty friggin huge. We had checked it out a couple of weeks ago and saw some stakes so we assumed that was the general size of the plot and started planning based on that.
Mama Bean dorked it up and did a layout on the computer with a big color coded map of where we'd be planting everything. She figured out the spacing for all of the plants, and what goes well together, and planned it all out.
On Tuesday we went out to check on the garden plot again, as I had heard the survey was done and all of the plots had been staked out, and to say we were shocked would be an understatement. So you know that 400sqft garden? That rather large, 12'x36'? Yeah, well that's a third of the actual size. We have an 1800 sqft garden!! Yup, 30'x60'. That is HUGE. Three times the size we had originally planned. Now I'm not sad, not in anyway, it's gonna be awesome, but it was just a bit of a shock.
So yeah, we have a list of what we want to grow, but have room for lots more now. :) We are planning on growing:
1. Corn
2. Beans
3. Peas
4. Pumpkins
5. Carrots
6. Lettuce
7. Spinach
8. Broccoli
9. Cauliflower
10. Peppers
11. Tomatoes
12. Watermelon
13. Potatoes
We are also thinking of:
1. Squash
2. Turnips
3. Radishes
4. Parsnip
5. Any other ideas?
And at home (in the 4’x12’ raised garden we built last year) we will be growing:
1. Onions
2. Garlic
3. Various herbs
4. Carrots
5. Lettuce
6. A few other assorted thing.
At home we started 100 little seedlings to get things going to be ready to plant next week. Some things just work better when started inside and then transplanted outside, though I think we might have been a little late in starting them. But we started things like the corn, pumpkin, watermelon, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and tomatoes.
So it's shaping up to be an interesting summer. Lots of planting in the coming weeks as we are going to plant in stages to ensure we get a steady supply of veggies all summer and into the fall. There's going to be LOTS of weeding and maintenance as well. I found out that the librarian I work with also has a plot out there, so she's full of good info. It'll also be interesting come September when Mama Bean is 8 months pregnant. I think my workload will increase just a bit. ;)
I'll keep you updated on all of the fun and excitement, and pictures too!
Mama Bean dorked it up and did a layout on the computer with a big color coded map of where we'd be planting everything. She figured out the spacing for all of the plants, and what goes well together, and planned it all out.
On Tuesday we went out to check on the garden plot again, as I had heard the survey was done and all of the plots had been staked out, and to say we were shocked would be an understatement. So you know that 400sqft garden? That rather large, 12'x36'? Yeah, well that's a third of the actual size. We have an 1800 sqft garden!! Yup, 30'x60'. That is HUGE. Three times the size we had originally planned. Now I'm not sad, not in anyway, it's gonna be awesome, but it was just a bit of a shock.
So yeah, we have a list of what we want to grow, but have room for lots more now. :) We are planning on growing:
1. Corn
2. Beans
3. Peas
4. Pumpkins
5. Carrots
6. Lettuce
7. Spinach
8. Broccoli
9. Cauliflower
10. Peppers
11. Tomatoes
12. Watermelon
13. Potatoes
We are also thinking of:
1. Squash
2. Turnips
3. Radishes
4. Parsnip
5. Any other ideas?
And at home (in the 4’x12’ raised garden we built last year) we will be growing:
1. Onions
2. Garlic
3. Various herbs
4. Carrots
5. Lettuce
6. A few other assorted thing.
At home we started 100 little seedlings to get things going to be ready to plant next week. Some things just work better when started inside and then transplanted outside, though I think we might have been a little late in starting them. But we started things like the corn, pumpkin, watermelon, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and tomatoes.
So it's shaping up to be an interesting summer. Lots of planting in the coming weeks as we are going to plant in stages to ensure we get a steady supply of veggies all summer and into the fall. There's going to be LOTS of weeding and maintenance as well. I found out that the librarian I work with also has a plot out there, so she's full of good info. It'll also be interesting come September when Mama Bean is 8 months pregnant. I think my workload will increase just a bit. ;)
I'll keep you updated on all of the fun and excitement, and pictures too!
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