Gridlock

We've got grids on the garden beds! I can see why creating the square foot grids are really going to help with planting. I'm glad we went through the work to do them.



It was a perfect day for it, not windy, about seventy degrees, and Dmitri and Zoe helped a lot!

We drilled holes, screwed in eyelets, and then threaded twine through the holes and tied it off. The eyelets were Michael's idea - so no one would scrape themselves on nails or screws. And they worked out brilliantly! He also gave me the idea to thread the twine through instead of tying each individual piece of twine off. I love being married to such a smart man. ;)



Turned out pretty good!

I can handle this sort of gridlock!

Tomorrow, we plant... weather permitting.

Eager to Transplant

My poor blog is as neglected as my little seedlings are lavished with love and attention! :)

We still don't have our boxes built for square foot gardening (I know, we're so behind!) and no chicken coop yet, either. We're waiting for our tax return, and it's been over a month, but still - nada. I hear it's taking longer this year, because of the rebates...

But I feel like the guy in the commercial, "It's my money and I WANT IT NOW!"

In the meantime, I'm doing what I can for my babies inside under the lights.

Tomatoes:



















Sunflowers:



















Peppers:



















Onions:



















Celery:



















Cabbage:



















Lettuce:



















Brussels Sprouts:



















Herbs:



















Nasturtiums (flowers):



















Mint:


















They're like little monsters, outgrowing their homes! (well except the mint, which just sprouted - but I hear mint gets very aggressive and invasive once it starts growing!)

Hurry, Mr. Taxman, I need a garden to plant these in before they take over the house!

I had a wonderful gift from a friend, who gave me lots of perennials to plant, so I've been doing that for the past two days. I'll get pictures soon... probably. Funny how little time I want to spend at the computer when it's so gorgeous outside! :)

Blooming Where You're Planted

I finally got around to planting. (I know, I know! I'm sooooo late!)

The littles loved getting their hands dirty, but they didn't have much patience with the tiny seeds. But it was totally fun recognizing seeds we often eat - like cucumber and tomatoes. It was also quite amazing to see broccoli, cauliflower and onion seeds - I'd never seen them before!

I know, how out of touch are we with our own food, right?

Opening each seed packet was like Christmas - what would we find inside?

I followed all the varied instructions while Michael hung my "planting light" over a table in the laundry room. It's a south-facing room (makes it nice and warm, with lots of sun - which the elder bugs love. *shudder* I hate those things, they crawl all over the inside of my laundry room windows!)

Zoe helped me plant, Dmitri helped Daddy "build stuff" and in the end, this is what we had:





























How exciting! That was Sunday, and now, three days later, we have babies!







































I put a heating pad under my peppers (these are peppers - and in case you were wondering, those are tacks. I didn't have labels, so I color-coded everything!) and it seems the heat was just right, and they've started to germinate.

This whole seed-dirt-water-light thing... it actually works!

Who knew!?

Garden Behind

Apparently, I'm behind in my gardening. In February.

FEBRUARY!?

Huh!?

I guess I'm supposed to be planting seeds right now inside the house, so I can transplant them later. Get a jump on the growing season and all. I'm in Zone 5B - which, according to this calendar (different state, same zone) means I'm behind.

I just ordered my seeds today. Hurry, little seeds, hurry! Now I have to go out and buy stuff to plant them in... sheesh. This whole gardening thing is... like... work! ;)

Reminds me of that Gone With the Wind line, "You're not sorry you stole, you're just sorry you got caught!" I want the garden... but do I have to do all the work!? *whine*

Where's the Little Red Hen when you need her?

Speaking of chickens... Michael is already gathering tools to build our coop. Guess I'll have to start looking into chickens soon, too. Maybe we're behind on that, too, who knows!

Such a big learning curve... eek!

Here's what will, theoretically, be growing in our garden this spring...

Broccoli Raab Seed

Oliver Brussels Sprout Seed

Snowball Y Cauliflower Seed

Marketmore Cucumber Seed

Jericho Romaine Lettuce Seed

Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage Seed

Celebrity Tomato Seed

Danvers Carrot Seed

Conquistador Celery Seed

Walla Walla Onion Seed

Ariane Pepper Seed

Camarosa Strawberry Crowns

Hearts of Gold Melon Seedling

Cross your fingers!