About this blog

With the generous help of my grandma, I am spending this spring and summer learning how to garden
by plunging in headfirst. This blog is a narrative of my adventures.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The First Planting

It was a big day in the garden.

Some friends of the family who have a landscaping business, Mike and his son Dylan, came over on Sunday and tilled about two thirds of the garden, only skipping the areas covered by quaking aspens and currant bushes, which are somehow still alive after being half suffocated by prairie grasses. This left me with ample space to plant today. But first I had to make sure the weeds wouldn't storm the place.

Grandma mixed up the weedkiller, which neither of us was thrilled about using, but without it I would be fighting a losing battle. I sprayed the perimeter and a few stubborn patches of grass and some box elders within the garden. The sprayer wasn't very happy about the whole situation either and leaked all over my hand, but my skin hasn't turned strange colors so I think I'll be fine.

After that unpleasantness I got to plant the first seeds in the ground--lettuce, spinach, and peas. I think I completely messed up the spacing of the lettuce seeds because the instructions on the package confused me and Grandma wasn't nearby, but I figure the rabbits will sort that out for me by eating the majority of it. They have no idea the fence around the garden was put up to keep them out, not to give them a cozy place to live.

The spinach and the peas went in just fine, but Grandma didn't have any row markers so I have to remember where I put everything until I can pick up something to mark them with.

On a different note, some of the seedlings in the strawberry containers are beginning to come up. One little vittoria eggplant and a few aconcagua peppers are sprouting.

Now we watch the seedlings until they need to be transplanted, and keep an eye on the weeds...and the wascally wabbits.

3 comments:

  1. Also, these guys http://www.growbetterveggies.com/growbetterveggies/instructions-on-how-to-grow-better-tomatoes.html have good advice on tomatoes.

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  2. Yep, I realized tonight I really need to get some pictures posted. I'll swing by the garden tomorrow and take a few. There's not much to look at yet, though, so don't get too excited.

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