June.... lettuce and chard!

We had some delicious lettuce and great swiss chard during the month of June. Green onions were delicious too. It's interesting to see how veggies planted in the middle of the lasagna are doing better than those on the edge. I think it's because the layering is shorter at the edge. The use of some sort of edge or border would have helped to keep a more uniform depth (note for next year!).

All 10 tomato plants have flowers and green tomatoes. Just waiting for that first red one to arrive!

The green beans have finally taken off, so has the edemame. We should have our first edemame next week. BUT... you should see our corn! I started a few kernels indoors and the rest outside. The ones that I started indoors are silked, full and ready to harvest! Yay corn! We ended up having to stake the corn to keep it upright.

Oh, and one of our rhubarb corms didn't take but the one that did has produced a huge crop of beautiful stalks and leaves. I can't wait to taste it next year. (we are letting it wait and fully establish) Same with the blueberries. We let the bushes set just a few berries, pinching most of them back. But the few we picked have been great. Definitely Peanie's favorite!

Of the pics here.... the first few are from the beginning of June... the rest are from today. What a difference a month makes!

Lasagna Gardening "After the Fact"

I wanted to see if I could use layered/lasagna techniques in an already-established garden. Last summer I had awful problems with sedge growing in our flower beds along the driveway.

Mother's day weekend I tried out the system...

1. Carefully rake away the mulch surrounding the plants.
2. Lay layers of newspapers down around the plants, leaving as little soil exposed as possible. (wetting the papers as you go makes it easier)
3. Put a layer of peat moss and compost down on top of the paper.
4. Layer leaves and/or grass clippings on top of this.
5. Reapply the mulch to the top.
Voila!

Due to my low leaf supply and an overly helpful toddler, I was only able to finish a third of the driveway bed... and it shows. Where I lasagnaed, no weeds. Where I didn't.... new sedge growth. I better finish the rest ASAP!

I plan on using this technique throughout the garden, especially in the front of the house. The soil there really needs some help.

May flowers... on my spinach!

May has been a mixed month here.... wet weeks followed by very dry, cool weeks followed by very warm. Normal Missouri weather!

The garden is growing... the 8 tomato transplants from inside have all survived so far and they were joined by two striped green cherry tomatoes that I picked up in Columbia, MO at a farmer's market.

None of the pepper transplants made it though. I've supplemented with four transplants from Soil Service.

The beans have finally germinated and are now starting to slowly trail up the supports. The corn is growing tall and we've had a great lettuce harvest. Beets were a bust and slugs have been chewing on my edemame and melon seedlings. Drat!

I've found a few slugs on the lettuce as well... prompting me to order some Escar-go!

We have two rain barrels now (the picture shows the first one in action). Combined with our fancy-schmancy kitty litter containers with pin-holes in the bottom, we have a pretty cheap and low-impact drip irrigation system in place.

The spinach and lettuce are really tasty. I think I'd like to devote more space to greens next year. I'd also like to plant more spring veggies like cabbage and broccoli. Next time!

I'll post recent pics soon... these are from early in the month.

A busy month of growing

April has been a wet month but there have been warm, sunny days mixed in with the rain. The garden is growing and continues to be weed-free! Yay for the lasagna!

Peanie has been "helping" a ton. She likes to play in mulch and she loves to steal packets of seeds. (She also likes to sneak beans). I mulched paths around the garden two weeks ago and put up a temporary rabbit fence on Thursday using bamboo poles and netting. I need to use landscape staples to secure the netting at the bottom. Right now it's more of a cosmetic fence than one that could actually stop a critter.

Pole beans were planted two weeks ago. Corn went in on Monday morning. Today we planted the green pepper, jalapeno, cucumber, and squash seedlings as well as edemame seeds. We are expecting two cool nights so the tomatoes will wait inside till at least May day.

Peanie and I harvested our first handful of greens today when we thinned the lettuce and chard. Small but very tasty. We spent the morning at the Brookside farmer's market. Bags of greens and lettuce were going for $5! Glad that we planted our own.

Speaking of growing your own food.... Michael Pollan had a nice article that affirms gardening in last week's NYT's Sunday Mag.

Sprouting

The green peppers have finally sprouted and out in the garden, the chard and lettuce seedlings are popping up. This weekend we will transplant the lettuce and chard started indoors to compare.

Our spare-room seedlings were starting to look leggy so I took some advice I found online and rigged up some "reflectors" out of foil. Pretty funky looking and JP is not a fan of having to move seedlings PLUS wacky foil-dealies every time he needs to iron his pants but.... eh.... they'll be in the garden soon.

Jonquils and mini-daffodils are blooming in the side and front gardens. I just found the pale-purple coneflowers that I planted bare-root last fall starting to peak above the ground. Yay! Spring is really here.

March Madness!

Almost all the seeds have now sprouted! The jalapenos and two delphiniums joined the tomatoes, lettuce, chard, marigolds, and foxgloves today. Hopefully the rest of the delphiniums and the green peppers will follow suite tomorrow. Gma and Gpa came for a visit this week so the seedlings moved from their home in the guest room to the top of the desk in the den (the only other toddler-safe spot in a South-facing room).

Out in the garden, heavy wind blew the top layers of the lasagna around a bit. Not quite as tidy as I left it last Saturday but still holding up. We haven't had much rain so the rhubarb needed a drink. No sign of germination in the lettuce and chard beds that were planted in a layer of peat on top of the lasagna. I am leaning toward getting a bunch of cow-pots or peat pots to plop seeds in for the garden. They might be a way to get around the lasagna/seed problem until I can save up for the fancy-schmancy soil block dealies next year.

In non-veggie garden news: The lilac buds are starting to open up, revealing tips of purple under the green. Tulips, daffodils, alliums, and grape hyachinths are popping up all over. Neighbors have daffodils already blooming and ours look like they might any day now. The hardy geraniums, nepeta, and roses seem to have come through the winter well. Still no sign of the bare-root native perrenials that I planted last fall. I'm crossing my finger that we'll have echinacia, asters, and baptisia poking their heads above the soil soon. We'll see!

The next big plan involves removing more yews, rain gardens, and privacy screens. Always something to look forward to in the garden!

A new layer

We had a brief warm-up this past week followed by a cold Easter. The yard was mowed on Saturday... not that we had enough grass to really warrant it BUT we were able to suck up the last of the leaves on the lawn and use them, along with the little bit of grass clippings to add another layer onto the lasagna bed.

In addition to rhubarb, the lasagna bed played host to a special guest today, the Easter Bunny. Peanie enjoyed her egg hunt. Speaking of hunting.... the lasagna bed must be attracting worms because it is now the favorite hunting ground for our resident robins. Luckily, we have enough worms to share. All the tomatoes have sprouted but we are still waiting to see jalapeno and green pepper seedlings. Grow!

Herbs..... more than just guys with my GGpa's name

So... the herb garden is perking up. We inherited "the coffin" (as our neighbor calls it) when we moved here. The oregano and thyme are showing new growth. The rosemary looks like it might have made it. We let the chives self-seed last fall and now they are growing like mad. Basil and cilantro seeds are in. Once those get going we'll just need to add parsley and we'll be set!

Up in the greenhouse (otherwise known as the guest room)... 3 of 4 tomato varieties have sprouted - only holdouts are the mortgage lifters. The marigolds have sprouted too.

Peanie did some good watering today. She spritzed the seedlings and watered the seeds out in the beds.

Lettuce Pray (for a great spring)!

Lettuce, spinach, and chard went into the garden today. We put down a little bit of peat and manure, seeded, then added a very thin layer of peat on top of the seeds. Peanie watered. Here's hoping!

BTW... Peanie got her very cool mud suit in the mail today. We promptly put it on and got it very muddy!

The chard that we started indoors has sprouted. No sign of the other plants yet. Grow, grow, grow.

I was reading the March edition of MSL
the other night. She described the way that she is now starting seeds using soil blocks. Now, she gardens in the typical till/turn method BUT.... I think these soil blocks would be PERFECT for the lasagna garden. You could plop the seedlings right into the bed without disturbing the roots while giving it some "soily stuff" to hold onto initially... AND, it would provide a perfect "home" for seeds you are starting in the bed. Now... gotta add those to my "wish list"!

Worms!

Worms are a key component of a "lasagna garden".

Peanie helped her garden out by digging up worms in the old compost heap and transferring them to the veggie garden. Great job Peanie!

The Bed is Done!

We worked hard this weekend! Took a trip to Lowes to pick up a load of "stuff"!
The first layers were covered with:

- Another big bale of peat moss
- 60 lbs of cotton bur compost
- 160 lbs of cow manure
- A handful of bone meal



Followed by...
- leaves, leaves, and more leaves (from our leaf pile)
- the little bit of usable grass clippings from our compost heap (compost heap ended up being mostly junk.. will make a better one this year)
- a handful of blood meal



Our compost was no good BUT the heap was full of great looking worms. I tossed a bunch of those on the garden. Should help things get a good start!



We started the rest of our seeds: some jalapenos, sweet peppers, and lettuce.

I set out the rhubarb. Yay!!!!! It's really going now!

The Plan....

Peanie is ready to start gardening! The lasagna bed was started yesterday. A layer of cardboard and newsprint was put down followed by one bale of peat. Today we will return to the garden center for more peat and manure compost.

We started tomatoes and chard two days ago. We need to start marigolds and peppers. Seeds will cook upstairs in the guest room till they are ready to go into the ground.

Here is what we plan to grow this year (and what we need):

Tomatoes - 4 varieties started ("4th of July", "Brandy Boy", "Mortgage Lifter", "Yellow Pear"), will use cages or ladders
Swiss Chard - ("bright lights"), already started, will transplant as soon as bed is ready and they sprout
Peppers - variety not chosen yet, will use cages to keep upright
Pole Beans - "Missouri Wonder", haven't decided on teepee or pole for support, will direct sow
Lettuce - organic "gourmet blend", direct sow ASAP
Spinach - organic "bloomsdale", direct sow ASAP
Summer Squash - "early golden crookneck", direct sow
Beets - organic "detroit dark red", direct sow, may not do great this year b/c lasagna bed will be pretty shallow
Cucumbers - "picklebush", bush cucumber, direct sow, will use cage for support
Watermelon - "bush sugar baby", bush-style, direct sow, now sure how to support, will research!
Sweet Corn - "kandy korn hybrid", direct sow

Seeds were purchased at Soil Service last week. Let the fun begin!