Year 1 update 1

New sugarbaby watermelon sprouts at day 8...I think. Will be planting them not this weekend, but the next.


Waltham butternut squashes at day 16 or so with their first true leaves! Will be planting them this weekend. I think I planted one of them too deep. I don't know.


I am also conducting an experiment on the roma tomatoes. Since romas are determinates, there is conflicting information on whether to prune or not. So, for three of them, I got rid of all side branches below the first flowers; the others I have left alone. Supposedly, that will strengthen the main stem. And we'll see how that goes.

Year 1 Beginning of summer crops

These are the current edibles in the garden:

Six roma tomatoes. They are determinate, so no staking needed. Planted two weeks ago.








Garden beans. Seeds from my mom. Planted two weeks ago, and staked last night. I can't believe how great they look after transplanted two days ago!

Dwarf lime tree.











Dwarf lemon.











Zucchini squash.








Mango tree.











Washington navel orange.











Basil plant. We were thinking about planting another batch. I've kind of noticed that if they are grown in sun, they flower faster than if planted in shade. So we'll try shade next time.









Butternut squash. Planted last Sunday. Finally sprouted. Now we are just waiting for the rest of them. I think we are only going to plant three of them. Can't wait. Mmm...Butternut squash soup. Or baked.









Brussel sprouts. Lady at nursery said to plant them in partial shade.











Current state of compost pile. Need to chop it down a bit.








Future site of blueberry bushes. Thinking about planting eggplants during this season to prepare the soil for the blueberries. Speaking of which, better get started with planting the seeds.

7/16/09: the palm is archontophoenix alexandrae.




Canby raspberries.











Misty blueberries.











O'Neal blueberries. I forgot which is which, but one of them is supposed to be more flavorful and the other is smaller and sweeter. Having two is nice since they can cross-pollinate, something blueberries need.









A pepper plant. (I think.)











Beefsteak tomatoes (indeterminate). Staking is good.











Another pepper plant or maybe eggplant? I'm not too sure.











Future site of raspberry bushes.








And just because. Rabbits.

Why Garden? Why Blog about it?

I recently realized that I don't know how to do many things.

I make my living in a way that would be impossible to explain to my children and or my ancestors. Hell, I don't even understand what I do for a living half the time. There's nothing wrong with that per se (times change, and I imagine the first farmers felt that was about their huntergathering ancestors, or imagine a scribe trying to explain his career path to his preliterate parents) but for that the limits of my expertise and work feels terribly limited .

In recognition of that, I have told my friends that I would love to learn with them/be taught by them how to Garden. We're going to make the world a slightly better place, do our small part to save the planet. On second thought, that sounds kinda hippy. OK, in that case we're going to spew forth monstrous mega-fauna! We shall master the dark arts of Plantomancy! Extreme!

All the jokes aside, I just want to be more efficient well rounded person. I want to do more with what I and my friends already have. And I am pretty sure I/we can.

So here is my plan: I am going to work the land. I am going to learn a new skill. I am going to turn waste into food. I am going to eat something I made happen. I am going to play in the dirt with my friends. And I'm going to catalog it all right here.

It's already begun truth be told, we're just finally getting around to providing evidence of our fun for the all seeing eyes of the internet and for our future selves. Hell, I've already learned a valuable lesson: I'm pretty dang awesome at digging holes, rocks and gravel be damned. Seriously, ask anyone.