January 24th, 2012 |
Author: Christopher | Filed under: Landscaping
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2 Comments »
With this mild (so far) winter we’ve been having, we’ve been thinking a lot about what we’re going to be doing with our garden once the weather actually turns. Those of you that follow Jessica on Twitter (which should be all of you) may have noticed that she’s been talking about living off the land in a bigger way.
Our first step was getting a copy of The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible, from Edward C. Smith. Love that hat, man. Besides now having an excuse to buy a completely garish hat to wear in the backyard this summer, now we’ve got some real instruction on how to get the best yield from our garden. This book is fantastic, giving great instruction to all levels of gardeners. Jessica’s all in on this project as well; I know this because she was actually talking about manure in a favorable way the other day.
Last year, we succeeded with tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapenos, romaine and herbs. We failed with scallions, carrots and celery. We’re hoping to add some new heirloom tomato varieties, more lettuce varieties, and an even greater variety of herbs. We’ve already started rosemary, basil and parsley inside, with dill, chives and mint this year.
All of this is just a trial run, really, until we can get more land to hopefully have one of those Martha Stewart-sized gardens.
Maybe not that big.
Point is, there’s nothing quite like cooking with fresh ingredients that you’ve grown or created yourself. Whether vegetables, fruits, or even baked goods, you’ll never want to go back to store-bought. (Although, that’s inevitable, living with the weather we do around here.)
Stay tuned throughout the year for more updates.
September 3rd, 2011 |
Author: Christopher | Filed under: Landscaping
| Tags: gardening |
4 Comments »
Now that the main growing season is pretty much completed, I thought it’d be a good idea to share with you what worked and what didn’t this summer.
In April, I ordered several seed packets from Johnny’s Selected Seeds out of Winslow, Maine. Another site had recommended them as well as Seed Savers Exchange from Decorah, Iowa. In retrospect, it probably would have made more sense to order from them, but the selection at Johnny’s fit what we were looking for better.
Clockwise from top left; Yellow Mini, Valencia, Moskvich, Ridgeline romaine, Five-Star Grape, Sun Gold
We wanted a few different varieties of tomatoes, romaine lettuce, herbs and some other vegetables. We ended up with the Five Star Grape, Sun Gold, Yellow Mini, Valencia, Moskvich and Ridgeline romaine. I also picked up some carrot, celery, green onion, cucumber and cilantro seeds. As for our parsley and basil, we just picked up a plant for each at Lowe’s.
The seeds were started in growing trays inside and left to grow for about a month. Once the danger of frost had passed, we built our raised beds and set up our garden.
Tomato plants in the large planters and in the back of the beds, herbs in the small planters and the rest of the veg in the remaining bed space.
It grew, and grew, and didn’t yield, and didn’t yield, and then finally…
It took forever, but we started getting those tomatoes. The cucumber went crazy until Lisey found it. She then promptly ate every single one to the point where she broke all the green onions, as you can see above. The celery and carrots never really worked. The Yellow Minis yielded a ridiculous amount, as did the Sun Gold. The Five-Star Grape, not as much. The Moskvich was a disaster, with end-rot on almost every single fruit, and the Valencia just began yielding recently.
So, much more luck with the cherry and grape varieties. I also learned that if you want decent performance from any vegetable, don’t put massive tomato plants behind them to block the sun.
The cilantro didn’t do too well, but the parsley, and particularly the basil performed quite well. I do get much more satisfaction from growing plants from seed, but when it comes to that basil, sometimes it’s just easier to go with the plant. You pay $5 for a plant that’ll last you all summer long, when it’s nearly the same price for a small bunch of fresh herbs from the grocery.
So, a success? Partially. I’ve learned where I can plant things and where I can’t; learned what vegetables work well and what don’t. Basically, you just need to experiment with your own garden. Learn which spots get the best sun, which have the best soil. The first year, you’ll have some success, but it’s every year after that that you’ll get better, and get more of everything. So keep trying, because there’s nothing that gives more satisfaction than eating a meal from your own backyard.
May 22nd, 2011 |
Author: Jessica | Filed under: Landscaping
| Tags: exterior projects, gardening, landscaping |
1 Comment »
And, we are seriously lacking it at our house. We have the biggest pine tree on the planet in our front yard and it is truly the bane of my existence. You can see the branches in the top of this pic. Now imagine that those branches basically go up to Heaven and they swallow our house and our neighbors’ house in the process. Oh, you might say, “Jessica, just cut that sucker down!” I would say to that brilliant observation, “Can I borrow lots o’ cash money from you then?” So there is Christopher slaving away attempting to mulch and figure out some type of appealing plant scheme to make the tree presentable to the viewing public.
A couple of more notes on the exterior of our house. We’ll be planting something in that flowerbed by the porch. The fact that it is naked right now embarrasses and annoys me. Plus, eventually we are going to paint the trim black and get a new black garage door. That ugly-as-hell shrub will get pulled out too. Who thought an ill-placed, heinous, bushy structure was a good idea again? Why yes, I would love to be ushered into your house by a blob of aggressive looking greenery. Actually, no thank you, I wouldn’t.
The good news is, we are making progress on a few other projects and here is a peek at our beginning herb and vegetable garden. We will have all kinds of heirloom tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, green onions, carrots, jalapenos, cilantro, basil, and parsley. I am dying to get these babies in full bloom.
Hopefully everything will look a lot different in a month or two and I can share the update!