Monday, May 31, 2010

Garden Update:

Well... I've spent nearly every day this week in my little plot of Heaven, digging, planting and sweating, and I've taken a few pictures to encourage those of you who are gardening this summer too!

First of all, I hit my local Payless to scope out some sexy gardening shoes! (Mission definitely accomplished!!!) OK, I hate dirty feet, and even though its hot and tempting to just wear flippy-floppies, I decided that I can N.E.V.E.R go wrong with pink & brown canvas saddle shoes! They were a $6 splurge, but heck, I'm totally (spoken with an 80's valley girl twang!!!) worth it!

I planted several varieties of lettuce seeds, and I used plasti-ware to mark the beginning and ending if the line of planted seed. I also (should have used white) write the variety of seed on the spoon to help me remember!

I have 5 varieties of peppers, and when I planted them, I decided to plot my rows by alphabetizing my plants so that I can easily distinguish between my Bell peppers and Habaneros!

Lastly, you're seeing a combination of two of my favorite tricks!

The handle of a wooden spoon makes the best seed whole maker, and the long handle of my rake makes a great straight line!!!

I could probably make my own ruler markings along the spoon handle, so I'd know exactly when I was 3/4" deep in soil... but I prefer just to guess!

See, the rake handle allows me to keep my seeds planted in a straight line, and my rows are al the same length since I begin at one end of the rake, and finish at the other!

How are YOUR gardens coming along?

9 comments:

Julie

We finally have strawberries. My husband picks them early in the morning before he leaves for work so my little boy doesn't eat them all straight from the vine.
A caution about your peppers: sometimes when you plant hot peppers near sweet peppers they cross pollinate and all get a little heat. Just check them before you eat them or feed them to your little boy.

Laura Webber

Hi Julie,
Thanks for the advice, but my husband is the only pepper eater in the house! But I would not have thought of that!

Gina

Such a great idea with the wooden spoon and rake Laura. I will definitely do that next year. I just planted my garden about three weeks ago, and before I left on vacation last Wednesday, my cucumbers, pumpkins, and lettuce were all sprouting. I head home tonight and am so interested to see what everything looks like now. I will be blogging about it soon!!

Laura Webber

Hi Gina,
I can't wait to see your garden! Sorry my ideas were a bit behind, but I started seeds indoors and was waiting for Dave to rototill!

Ellen

Good little tidbits! Thank you. I have to say that I'm very happy this year - my husband (who is working sooo many hours already) decided to take it upon himself to put in some extra time with me so that we can have a veggie garden again this year. (which I didn't think would happen) Yeah!

Anonymous

Laura,

Would you post a photo of your entire garden? I'd like to see an overview of how large it is and how the rows look.
My garden is pitiful this year (translation: just weeded it last weekend, haven't prepared soil or planted. Must do this week or there won't be one! LOL).

Your strawberries look fantastic! We have about 10 plants from 3 years ago, but no berries yet.

Katy

Laura Webber

Hi Katie,
When its sunny, I'll gladly take a few pictures! My garden is about 300 square feet- or almost the size of a two car garage!

Anonymous

Wow. My garden is only about the size of a bathtub. No wonder you have so many strawberries! Thanks!

Katy

Anonymous

Wow. My garden is only about the size of a bathtub. No wonder you have so many strawberries! Thanks!

Katy