This is super helpful.

I found a planning calendar to tell me when to plant which veggies. I will use this from now on.


http://xandervaughn.com/green/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Central-Texas-Vegetable-Planting-Calendar1-1024x783.jpg

And today...

So my 50 strawberry plants I ordered from Gurney's came in yesterday. I was super excited, until I opened the box and realized that I had apparently ordered bare root plants. I wasn't quite sure what to do with them, but luckily Gurney's sent some very good instructions with the plants. I soaked the roots for about 1 hr in warm water, then planted them in trenches with the crowns level to the ground. I'm hoping it does not take long for the leaves to sprout, because I am wanting to put mulch around the plants. I'm trying to use mulch instead of weed fabric around the strawberry plants this year.

I also planted 9 different herbs in my raised bed garden. I planted some pok choy as well, which I know nothing about, but it was beautiful. I couldn't resist, and I thought there'd be no harm in trying it. I also bought a couple of flowering plants to add some color and attract polinators.

I'm planning on planting my asparagus today, and this weekend I will be planting potatoes. I also started some corn indoors to get a jump start on my first round of corn, as I plan on planting 16 plants every 2 weeks in order to have a steady supply of corn through the summer.

Here are the latest pictures. :)

 Full Garden- 3/1/12

 onions, celery, and garlic in the back

 Sugar snap peas on the right, then onions, then carrots (Danvers and Tendersweet), then assorted lettuce and spinach.

 broccoli on the left, cauliflower on the right.

 celery (top right corner), sweet basil, cilantro, italian oregano, greek oregano, red basil, grey sage, thyme, garlic chives, dill, pok choy, and flowers.

my outdoor greenhouse... careful with these in warm weather... plants bake easily... I figured out that it needs to be zipped up at night and unzipped during the day if it is over 60 degrees.

New news

Okay. I haven't posted for awhile, but that's because there's just not a lot going on. Or at least there hadn't been a lot going on until now. I have 100% sprouting for my garlic that was planted in January. I have had a little less luck with my carrots and lettuce, but my peas have done VERY well. Things have sprouted and are all tiny right now, and I've planted 6 plants each of cauliflower and broccoli.

The big news is that today my husband got me a new 4x4 ft raised bed garden kit. He worked to prepare the ground for it, and he helped me set it up. I've already planted 2 celery, 2 types of carrots, 2 types of spinach, and 2 types of lettuce in it. I also planted 2 celery plants directly in the ground to do some comparison growing. I've never tried to grow celery before, so this could be interesting. :)

Here are some pictures that show what I have so far. I'll be transplanting tomato plants soon, and putting potatoes in the ground this weekend. I'll also be starting some squash seeds indoors along with some corn. Those will be transplanted almost immediately upon sprouting and getting their first true leaves.

Hard working... but finally seeing some beauty.

So I have spent the last two days working my tail off to get my garden ready for planting. I purchased some middle of the road quality landscape fabric to help prevent weeds, warm the soil, and retain moisture. I've used this fabric for the last 2 years with good success. It really cuts down on the weeding and watering...mainly the weeding. :) I don't think anything is more frustrating than to have all my hard work squeezed out with ugly grass and weeds. I treat my plants like they are my babies..I give them lots of love and attention, and my husband laughs at me when I go out during the summer to just stand around and admire my fruits and vegetables. He thinks I am absolutely nuts, but he doesn't complain too much when he is munching away on fresh cherry tomatoes or squash.

Anyway... I divided up my 10 ft by 28 ft space to give me 4 beds that are 4 ft by 10 ft and one bed that is 4 ft by 7 ft. I used cedar mulch in the 2 ft walkways between beds. One of the reasons I divided the space like this instead of using it all for planting is that it makes it easier to reach all of my plants to tend them. I have used a square foot grid with jute twine to try my hand at square foot gardening (my adaptation-in the ground vs. raised bed). Here are a couple of pictures of my garden before I planted. I think it is kindof beautiful. :) I almost hated to start cutting into the landscape fabric... ALMOST. ;)




After getting everything laid out and ready, I planted 100 onions on one row (5 plants in 10 squares), 18 onions in two other squares (to harvest early as green onions), and 20 cloves of garlic.


The weather forecast says there should be rain on Wednesday, so I plan on getting some peas, carrots, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and cauliflower in the ground during the next two days.

My garlic should be ready in July, and my onions should be ready in May.
:) Here we go garden! It gets really busy now. :) LOTS to do...sure wish there was more time in the day!

The Time Has Come My Little Friends!

It's here... the time I've awaited since those first seed catalogs came during Christmas Break... My father came today and tilled my garden for me, so I fully plan on planting SOMETHING tomorrow. :)

My girls must be just like me. They couldn't wait to get their hands in the freshly tilled soil. :)


I've been saving some milk jugs and jugs from sweet tea and juice and things, so I've got some tiny "mini greenhouses" that I'll be putting over some of the things I plan to plant tomorrow. My plan is to get some onions to plant... I will also plant my broccoli plants that I purchased last weekend. I've spent the week hardening them off, but a few of them look pretty pitiful right now. I'm hoping they will perk up once I get them in the ground and cover them with a plastic jug. If not, then I may have to get a few new plants.... how sad...

I'm also awaiting a delivery from Gurney's. I got some romaine seed and carrot seed, as well as a floating row cover that protects my plants down to 10 degrees. That should help me out with my early planting too. I can't wait until March 15th..... 8 weeks!

MORE MORE MORE

:) I got another Jiffy Professional Greenhouse today, and I purchased a carnival mix of bell peppers to plant in  it. I plan on getting a couple more lights to install on the next shelf down on my unit I built. :) Everything looks great so far! My dad is going to come till my garden for me soon, and I'll be laying out paths and laying down weed fabric, and planting onions and broccoli! I might even go so far as to plant some lettuce... I may need to invest in a floating row cover for now. 

PICTURES... :) 

They emerge!

So I have seedlings for everything but spinach. I have basil, cilantro, lolla Rossa lettuce, chives, chamomile, tarragon, supersweet 100 tomato, and early girl tomato. The baby plants love the new light shelf I built (go me)... I used a power tool and everything lol!Looks like I'll have to add pictures later.