Lessons learned? July 2009

Things Learned During the First Growing Season

1. Label the Seeds in the Seed Tray
The dark green bushy plants with the bean poles are actually flowers - maybe nasturtiums?

2. Be Careful When Watering
Don't splash the leaves with water or they will get scorched (especially beans, squash and tomato plants)

Seed & Seedling Planning: Log 2009

Crops to Plant Directly in the Ground by 4/25

• greens (chard, spinach and kale)
• carrots
• beets
• radishes
• lettuce
• celeriac

Crops to Plant Directly in the Ground after Memorial Day

• beans
• squash
• cucumbers

Seeds to Start Indoors: Started 4/11/2009
Plant Seeds:
Soil: Used pellets, germinated in the dark
Length of Germination: ?

Tips:
- keep moist (not soggy), if they dry they die - soggy fungal nightmare
- when all seedlings show remove plastic cover (some say remove at sign of first sprout -test)
- seedlings must receive 14-16 hours of light per day

• heirloom tomatoes
• chili peppers
• perenials: 3 types of marigolds & nasturtiums
• eggplant (none)
• onions (none)

Options to consider: landscape fabric vs heavy mulch, where to get seeds from, composting solution, fluorescent bulbs (4-tube ballast, 1"-2" above seedlings)

Moving to Larger Containers
Soil: Organic ?
Length of Time:
Tips: replant when roots of seedling hit the sides, spread apart the roots, use a container twice the size of the previous, water to settle the soil around the roots

Plant late May

Preparing the Planting Beds

Location, Location, Location

This might sound like the name of a tacky travel show but it took a year to work out where to position our garden.

After monitoring the 2 acres around our house we identified an area which got at least half a days sunshine. You'd think a full day would be better but after watching herbs and greens shrivel under the glare of strong sunshine at 5,800 ft we decided half a day would do it.

This are didn't have enough light.

Clearing the Garden

The garden space was full of over grown trees, paving slabs and medium sized boulders. It took 2-3 weeks to dig out the rocks and pull out the trees and shrubs. The next phase will be building the raised beds.

The reasoning behind the raised beds is that their height makes daily weeding and watering less of a back breaking task and that we can add in better soil. We're going to use a combination of nutirient rich mountain soil which is being excavated from the path behind our house, compost and top soil.

We're picking up the wood for the beds at the end of the month so will be sharing the next step in a couple of weeks. The adventure continues...