Well here is is March 1. There is still plenty of snow outside, although it is melting. It is currently 19 degrees at 7am. That is pretty warm for this early, but not warm enough for my garden. The weatherman is reporting highs in the 40s. That sounds VERY warm. I've got the gardening itch. Therein lies the problem.
The number one reason why I will never be a great gardener is... because I really don't have the patience for it. Here in Idaho, most people start planting outside around memorial day. That isn't for a few months still. How could I wait that long? All that waiting just kills me. And then you have to wait for the seeds to come up. It takes them forever. They finally do come up, but then you have to wait for them to get big. That can take months. Have you ever watched a tomato turn from green to red. It seems to take years...
So I just give in and plant early. Then when the frost and hail and winds ruin all my plants I get to plant again. Well at least I am starting them indoors. I tell myself I am starting early because the plants need 4-6 weeks to get big enough to go outside. I am still a few weeks early I know.
I guess I should not have gone to Home Depot for that light bulb. My ADHD kicked in and I ended up in the gardening department pulling seed pack after seed pack from the shelf. And now they are all planted.
Come to find out, I still have plenty of seeds from last year:
They sure make the plants look so healthy in the pictures. Especially the melons (cantelope, watermelon and casaba melon). I have yet to grow one of those that I can eat. But I still plant them every year just for the fun of it.
This year I planted lots of tomato seeds. Here are some better boy tomatoes:
I am REALLY hoping that they do make my boys better!!! Don't those white seeds on the chocolate colored background remind you of something? Yes, OREOS!! I had to buy a couple packs of those yesterday along with the seeds. But hey, one pack was FREE! Thanks Nabisco! Anyways, back to my garden. I have yet to figure out how to grow Oreo bushes.
I also planted some early girls:
Those girl tomatoes just make me want to smile :)
Last year I had a bit of a "by their fruits shall ye know them" kind of garden. Somehow my seeds got all mixed up and I didn't know what was what. My melons turned out to be pumpkins and my peppers turned out to be tomatoes.
This year is going to be different. So I don't lose the piece of paper that contains a map, I am putting it online. That way it will be impossible to lose. If I do lose it I will just call one of you up and you know where to find it. Here is my map. 72 plants, 12x6.
Apparently I have already started a "mystery" garden. The blank row there in between the girl tomatoes and boy tomatoes is supposed to be cucumbers (yes, I had to separate the boys and girls. They were being naughty).
When you see what I planted, don't laugh. Only a few of them will actually grow to maturity. 4 plants of celery is pretty ambitious for a person who has never seen a real celery plant.
I will keep you updated and let you know what I plant after the frost kills all of these!
I think the problem is that you live in Idaho. If you lived here, you could at least plant all the Spring stuff in March. I'll be planting next weekend.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Casaba? I tried planting Rosemary from seed and never had any luck. I think it takes so long for it to mature, you should probably just buy a plant. :)
It was 55 degrees in SLC when I was there last weekend. I told Melissa we should move to Utah. That idea definitely didn't fly!
ReplyDeleteCasaba melons are the melons that Marylynn brings up from the warmer parts of the country where they thrive. At least that is what I thought she called them. I doubt I will have much luck with them.
I think the next really cool project would be to try and figure out how to make your garden space a two storied garden. You'd have to keep your corn kind of short though, but all the rest might like a little company from above. Then you could really keep your girl plants separate from the boy plants. Have you ever just tried planting a bag of Oreo cookies to see if they might grow? Who knows, maybe if you put some marshmellow nearby, you could get them to crosspollinate and make some triple stuffed one Oreos! haha.
ReplyDeleteDoes your soil actually drain and not drown your veggies? I have tried for 2 years now to get a healthy garden in our backyard but the clay soil is so dense. I added fertile soil, manure, peet moss etc. Oh well, I guess I'll just wait for my cool neighbors to bring me some of their awesome vegetables *hint*hint* :) Good luck!
ReplyDelete@SAM - Brilliant idea about planting the Oreos. I think I shall try it.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous - I have a raised box garden. I bought pecky ceder (sp?) boards to frame the garden and filled it with soil from Sunnyside Gardens. I think that helps with the drainage. For the first couple years I mixed in manure and peet moss. Last year I used 100% homemade compost. I am no expert, but you could try adding sand or bring some of your soil into the local nursery.
ReplyDeleteYou are more than welcome to some of our vegetables (if the kids leave any). Come on over in a few months.