After anticipating this year's garden since last spring, we (quite literally) got off to a rocky start with it. It was a lot more work than we expected to dig the plot in our yard. My husband spent 3 or 4 weekends mainly digging out the grass and rocks, including one huge rock that we had to easy out of the ground using logs as levers.
Also, I don't think I've mentioned what happened to most of the seeds that I excitedly reported on starting a few weeks back. After I realized that they needed more light in order to germinate, I started putting them out on the porch each day. Well, it just took one windy day while we were out doing errands . . . I came back to find a sad little upturned egg carton in our yard and that was the end of most of our seeds. The jalapenos were the only ones still inside, so we still have those.
We ended up just planting most our seeds right in the ground. So far, the herbs are enthusiastically coming up; I'm sure we'll have plenty of parsley, cilantro, and basil (not to mention our ever-present mint). Also, I just noticed yesterday that the cucumbers are coming up in the garden bed. Hurray! Sprouted seeds are such a sign of hope!
I was feeling really discouraged for a while, but my husband encouraged me to stick it out. This is a learning experience for our family, and as we hope to do it every year, we'll just learn as we go along. One thing I wish I had done is to educate myself more on basic gardening procedure and tips before starting; I will definitely be trying to read more about it this year and over the next fall and winter.
Does anyone have any good gardening books/websites/blogs to recommend for beginners?
I too am struggling to follow through... exact same experience last year with my tomato seedlings, except once it flew off the table, my dogs played with the egg carton...
ReplyDeleteA number of years ago, I did have a successful garden and my source was (no kidding) the Klutz Kids Gardening Book. (Actual title may be slightly different.) But, Klutz has a gardening book for kids and it is very, very straightforward and clear. When I read a typical gardening book, my eyes glaze over in the discussion of soil quality. This book just had me add lots of compost and dig it in. The garden really did grow amazingly well that year.
I did my first garden last year, too, in our townhouse yard! It was so thrilling to watch the seeds turn into green shoots and then vegetables!!! I felt like a kid, and I was blown away by the wonder of God's creation. Starting seeds indoors did not work for me. In fact, the seeds did absolutely nothing indoors. But they flourished outdoors. I didn't buy cucumbers, green peppers, or green onions the entire summer. The tomatoes didn't do so well, but I'm hoping for a better garden this year! Can't wait to hear how yours progresses!
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