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2012: Garden Journal – June Edition

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May was a great month for our garden. The rain and the pruning resulted in new and continued growth.

In addition to watching the garden, my children take turns watering the garden twice a day. My daughter had this responsibility during the school week. But with summer, my son wanted his turn as well. No matter who waters, I appreciate the extra help as we watch our garden change.

Strawberries

Since losing strawberries in April, our plants rebounded and are growing again. To deter the birds, I plan to purchase a net within the next week to protect our fruit.

Tomatoes

Our one cherry tomato plant produced 5 tomatoes. We harvested 4 of them while one continues to grow. The other cherry tomato plant has 5 green tomatoes growing. I am looking forward to harvesting those this month.

  

Cucumbers

Our two plants are beginning to show the prickly buds under the flowers. Growth is slow, but steady.

Onions

Thought I killed the onions. The green stalks had shriveled to brown, so I decided to remove them from the garden. To my surprise, I uprooted 3 perfectly round, white onions.

Realizing that my onions were doing well, I replanted them and continue to water. Though the pictures show the stalks as brown, the onions are alive and well. (Did I mention that I am new to gardening? Guess I should just let them grow. Oops!)

Lettuce

Our bibb lettuce and Romaine took off this month. With lots of pruning and focused watering, the lettuce has grown sturdy and tall. I look forward to watching our spinach take off once the plants sprout.

 

Though still waiting on the bell peppers, carrots, and spinach to produce, our family watches the growth, waters the squares, and harvests the fruit.

 

In using time wisely, I find our garden a source of joy and excitement for our entire family. Happy tending!

Question: Did you harvest any items from your garden this month? 

2012: Garden Journal – May Edition

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Our garden this month experienced two nights of frost and a couple of days of 90 degree heat. With the extreme temperatures, our garden has survived. Thankfully, I did not kill it. 🙂

I have pruned lots of leaves that dried or froze, but overall the garden is growing.

         

Strawberries

We lost one more strawberry to a bird’s snack, but our strawberry plants are rebounding from the cold and heat. Though no more berries at this time, the leaves are healthy and the plants are growing.

Tomatoes

One of our tomato plants is producing four cherry tomatoes. They are green and perfectly round.

  

April 21, 2012 with 3 tomatoes               May 1, 2012 with 4 tomatoes

Overall Progress

We started with a few plants, harvested our strawberries last month, and watched our tomatoes grow this month.

  

April 21, 2012                              May 1, 2012

Though I have forgotten to water a few days here and there, our garden has been very forgiving and continues to bless us with outdoor activity, topics of conversation, and beauty. In using time wisely, I enjoy spending time tending our garden while watching the changes to our fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Happy tending!

Question: Did you plant a garden this year?

2012: Garden Journal – April Edition

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The garden post has arrived! I gave you a sneak peek into our garden when sharing our spring break activities. Though I posted a few pictures of my children planting, I will share specifics and plan to post updates throughout the planting season. In this first edition, I will start from the ground up. 🙂

Planning our Garden

Having only had a container garden at our apartment, I needed details for preparing the soil, the box, and the plants or seeds. Knowing I wanted a square-foot-garden, I turned to my favorite search engine, Swagbucks.com.

In my research, I found this plant a compact vegetable garden article from boyslife.org. This post included all the supplies and the directions.

Gathering Garden Supplies

For our Friday date night in March, Paul and I went to dinner and then headed to Lowe’s Home Improvement store. We had the wood cut and purchased the supplies. For the garden soil, we chose 4 bags of mushroom compost and 4 bags of top soil.

We then chose some of our plants, and checked out redeeming $15 in Ace Hardware coupons (a competitor accepted by Lowe’s). We spent under $100 and had most of our garden supplies.

Building our Garden

On Saturday, Paul built the box. We then laid 4-5 sheets thick of newspaper inside the box covering the entire bottom and partway up the sides. The newspaper prevents weeds from rising into the box and will breakdown into the soil, eventually.

    

Paul then poured the 4 bags of mushroom compost on the newspaper in the frame. The children and I smoothed out the compost. Then Paul added the 4 bags of top soil on the mushroom compost. With our soil complete, we began planting.

  

Planting our Garden

Once the box was complete, Paul and I helped our children plant the herbs and vegetables. Most of them were plants, so we dug a hole, removed the container, placed the plant in the hole, and packed the soil around the plant. Our spinach and carrots were the only two varieties planted with seeds.

March 17, 2012

Completing our Garden

Early the next week, we made a family trip to another Lowe’s and purchased our remaining plants. After planting them, our herb and vegetable garden was complete. We now enjoy tending the plants, misting the leaves, and watching them grow.

  

March 21, 2012

Harvesting our Fruit

Within 9 days of planting, we harvested 3 strawberries. Three days later, we picked another 5 strawberries.

      

March 27, 2012          and          March 30, 2012

After surviving two hail storms, three of our strawberries fed the birds. When we went to pick these strawberries, we found them gone or half eaten.

April 4, 2012

My oldest daughter was very sad. But there are three more strawberries almost ready, and I hope the birds forget about them. 😉

In 18 days, our garden produced 11 strawberries and lots of growth. I look forward to sharing our garden journey with you throughout the planting season.

  

March 30, 2012       and         April 4, 2012

If you planted a garden, please share your tips and tricks. As a newbie gardener, I ask lots of questions, research, and listen. In using time wisely, I love to learn from those who know because it saves me money, energy, and time. Happy savings!