We have had a garden for three years now at our house. Below is a picture of what it currently looks like. I just tilled it two weeks ago and it is ready to go. In past years our garden has been mildly successful but it generally consists of a one time planting of the whole garden and then weeds slowly taking it over throughout the year resulting in a tangled jungle of tomatoes, peppers and deer.
I chose the goal to plant one thing per week for two reasons. I wanted to keep our garden as productive as possible this year by replacing things that die off and taking advantage of the vast seasonal differences here in Blacksburg. The other reason I thought this would be fun is because after about 3 weeks I'll see a new plant sprouting up every week. If you've never planted anything before you should give it a shot. There is something very rewarding about putting a seed in some dirt and two months later eating something that came from that seed. It's got a way of filling up your soul.
Hopefully by the end of the year we will have a lot more planted than just vegetables. Maybe some new trees, grasses and indoor plants. It will be a big learning process and I'm sure my mother will be getting a lot of phone calls. It was her that the inspiration to garden originated with and I'm very thankful to have such a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips. Without her advice I'm sure our past experience wouldn't have been much more than just the weeds and deer at the end of the year. So heres to a house and yard full of plants! Call me Johnny Appleseed!
End of Week 15 Update
Hopefully by the end of the year we will have a lot more planted than just vegetables. Maybe some new trees, grasses and indoor plants. It will be a big learning process and I'm sure my mother will be getting a lot of phone calls. It was her that the inspiration to garden originated with and I'm very thankful to have such a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips. Without her advice I'm sure our past experience wouldn't have been much more than just the weeds and deer at the end of the year. So heres to a house and yard full of plants! Call me Johnny Appleseed!
End of Week 15 Update
Starting out the garden is turning into a hurry up and wait game. I planted snap peas last Tuesday and this tray of yellow pear tomatoes, red bell peppers and jalapenos this week and have only yet to see one little sprout come up. Aren't there supposed to be vegetables after like two days???
I believe part of the reason people don't get to experience the joy of growing their own food as much is because of how readily available everything has become in our culture today. I found myself growing impatient waiting for my seeds to come up this week and then had to sit down and say "RELAX, its only been a week, you are growing a life form here." When you can get on an iphone and do your grocery shopping why would you bother waiting around for seeds to pop up out of the ground?? I guess you'll never find out if you don't try huh? If anything, it will teach you a lesson in patience. The anticipation is killing me for now though, things are going to get pretty exciting pretty quick in the next month as far as the garden goes.
I believe part of the reason people don't get to experience the joy of growing their own food as much is because of how readily available everything has become in our culture today. I found myself growing impatient waiting for my seeds to come up this week and then had to sit down and say "RELAX, its only been a week, you are growing a life form here." When you can get on an iphone and do your grocery shopping why would you bother waiting around for seeds to pop up out of the ground?? I guess you'll never find out if you don't try huh? If anything, it will teach you a lesson in patience. The anticipation is killing me for now though, things are going to get pretty exciting pretty quick in the next month as far as the garden goes.
In the end it turned out to be a blessing that the seeds didn't come up this week as Blacksburg is going through another round of sub freezing weather at night. This sudden cold snap also made trash clean up a chilly/rainy event. I drove down main st. to 460 and made it about 100 yards before I pulled over the car and filled up three buckets in a matter of 20 minutes. I even found a full trash bag of recycling that had fallen out of someones car onto the side of the road.
There was one problem with going to 460. I felt like I didn't leave with enough. It seemed that the side of the road actually was fairly clean with little wrappers and pieces of plastic here and there. Sort of the same sense of how clean you feel it is as you are driving at 60 mph. When you go about 20 - 30 ft off the road, that's when it gets scary. Next week i'll be going back to clean up someones personal liquor and beer bottle dump just over the side of a guard rail. I might even need to develop a crew for this spot it is so hefty, any volunteers? Ill vouch to pick up twice as much as whoever gets the most next week!
End of Week 15 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 52.75 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 168 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $234.39
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 56
Pushups - 840 Crunches - 760
Days Flossed - 42
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 4
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 30
Items planted - 12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes
There was one problem with going to 460. I felt like I didn't leave with enough. It seemed that the side of the road actually was fairly clean with little wrappers and pieces of plastic here and there. Sort of the same sense of how clean you feel it is as you are driving at 60 mph. When you go about 20 - 30 ft off the road, that's when it gets scary. Next week i'll be going back to clean up someones personal liquor and beer bottle dump just over the side of a guard rail. I might even need to develop a crew for this spot it is so hefty, any volunteers? Ill vouch to pick up twice as much as whoever gets the most next week!
End of Week 15 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 52.75 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 168 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $234.39
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 56
Pushups - 840 Crunches - 760
Days Flossed - 42
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 4
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 30
Items planted - 12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes