Better late than never! It's been a busy spring and digging out new vegetable garden beds proved difficult with a baby. I tried several times when it was just me and June Bug. She either wanted to be right where I was shoveling or cried. Eventually Jeff did almost all of it by himself.
Here it is half way done. Moving the sod was very dirty work. I'm grateful to have a husband who is capable and willing to dig out new beds - during finals week no less! I shall reward him with lots of vegetables and good food this year. (Don't tell him, but maybe next year we will expand!)
Here's the vegetable plot all dug and racked smooth. We are fortunate to live in a part of Indiana with sandy-loam. We have exquisite, crumbly, dark soil. I would guess that exquisite is a word that doesn't get applied to dirt very often, but I'm not exaggerating. A touch more organic matter is all that I might add in the future.
I planted three quarters of the 264 square feet on May 18th. I'm still waiting on my seed potatoes and I need to go get some onions from a local organic farm this week.
Above is what I had out with me in the garden to do the planting; including my basket of seed packets, the garden plan on the clip board, my Japanese soil knife and pruners which are usually clipped to my hip pocket but I was wearing a dress so they were out on the ground . The soil knife is excellent for planting and so many other things.
I also had a roll of masking tape handy to close the seed packets after planting.
This year I am trying something I picked up from River Ridge farmer, Nathan Fingerle, cutting up old mini blinds to use as row markers. I'll have to put up a short tutorial on how to make them. They are super easy.
I'm starting everything from seed; sowing the seeds directly in the ground. I'm a little late to the party. Some of these vegetables should have been planted more than a month ago, but I've got my fingers crossed that I'll still have plenty to harvest even if it isn't the earliest produce this summer.
My goal was to grow veggies that I wanted in addition to what I get from our Hawkin's Farm Share. We will get plenty of peppers, zucchini, lettuce and other greens. I focused on squash and onions that will store for winter, basil for pesto and then some pickling cucumbers and tomatoes for canning. To keep things interesting I've also got some Swiss chard and Brussels sprouts which I have never grown before.
Here's what I have in the garden this summer:
Vegetables
We also planted 4 rhubarb and 45 asparagus crowns in beds up near the house since they are perennial.
Herbs
Here it is half way done. Moving the sod was very dirty work. I'm grateful to have a husband who is capable and willing to dig out new beds - during finals week no less! I shall reward him with lots of vegetables and good food this year. (Don't tell him, but maybe next year we will expand!)
Here's the vegetable plot all dug and racked smooth. We are fortunate to live in a part of Indiana with sandy-loam. We have exquisite, crumbly, dark soil. I would guess that exquisite is a word that doesn't get applied to dirt very often, but I'm not exaggerating. A touch more organic matter is all that I might add in the future.
I planted three quarters of the 264 square feet on May 18th. I'm still waiting on my seed potatoes and I need to go get some onions from a local organic farm this week.
Above is what I had out with me in the garden to do the planting; including my basket of seed packets, the garden plan on the clip board, my Japanese soil knife and pruners which are usually clipped to my hip pocket but I was wearing a dress so they were out on the ground . The soil knife is excellent for planting and so many other things.
I also had a roll of masking tape handy to close the seed packets after planting.
This year I am trying something I picked up from River Ridge farmer, Nathan Fingerle, cutting up old mini blinds to use as row markers. I'll have to put up a short tutorial on how to make them. They are super easy.
I'm starting everything from seed; sowing the seeds directly in the ground. I'm a little late to the party. Some of these vegetables should have been planted more than a month ago, but I've got my fingers crossed that I'll still have plenty to harvest even if it isn't the earliest produce this summer.
My goal was to grow veggies that I wanted in addition to what I get from our Hawkin's Farm Share. We will get plenty of peppers, zucchini, lettuce and other greens. I focused on squash and onions that will store for winter, basil for pesto and then some pickling cucumbers and tomatoes for canning. To keep things interesting I've also got some Swiss chard and Brussels sprouts which I have never grown before.
Here's what I have in the garden this summer:
Vegetables
- Brussels sprouts (2’ between rows, 4” between plants)
- Cucumber, Parade (6-8 seeds per hill 6’ apart)
- Squash acorn, Carnival (3-5 seeds per hill 5’ apart)
- Squash, Delicata (6-8 seeds per hill 3-4’ apart)
- Squash spaghetti , Travoli (1-2 seeds 3’ apart)
- Swiss chard, Rhubarb Red
- Tomato, Amish Paste (2-3’ apart)
- Tomato, Egg Yolk (2-3’ apart)
- Tomato, Sun Gold (3-4’ apart)
- Tomato, Super Bush (1.5’ apart)
- Tomatoes, San Marzano (1.5-2’ apart)
We also planted 4 rhubarb and 45 asparagus crowns in beds up near the house since they are perennial.
Herbs
- Basil, Genovese
- Basil, Italian Cameo
- Basil, Profumo di Genova
- Basil, True Thai
- Cilantro, Slow Bolt
- Dill, Ducat Leafy Dill
- Perilla, Red Basil
I've got perennial herbs like parsley, thyme and chives up in a bed next to the back door.
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