We've got an organic gardening class tomorrow morning, we're starting small and only trying herbs and tomatoes this year.
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We've got an organic gardening class tomorrow morning, we're starting small and only trying herbs and tomatoes this year.
I'm sagging for a club century tomorrow. Dang if the weather is only cooperating when I have something to do away from the house. I'm sick of my front yard and gardens because my dogs have almost destroyed them. I've fenced them away from that part of the yard, so my work won't be undone! Vibing for good weather next week. pleaseohplease!
Karen
That sounds really enjoyable and inspiring. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Pax
Mimi, Enza is so CUTE.
Enza :)
Does he sing? ;)
I saw a card posted at the store down the road from a woman who sells organic eggs so I went and bought a dozen today.
Three dollars.
She lives right on top of the mountain THEN way far back in the woods! I'm driving the jeep next time.
Ooooh, I am lucky enough to get free range organic eggs from my banjo and dulcimer students! (mother and son). They are SO YUMMY! And now I even get to feed the shells to my new composting worms! :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Zen
Very cool, I used to keep a massive organic garden. I may start one this year, much smaller though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pax
Enza is a girl. (Enzo would be a boy)Quote:
Originally Posted by Zen
Bleek, my worms never ate the shells. they just cleaned them very very well.
My garden is organic too. I have organic dandelions, organic dead nettles, organic cat's ear, organic wild radish and organic wild geranium. Hey, if you just write them, it doesn't sound like i have a garden full of weeds!
It's 3:00am here and I just couldn't sleep, so I got up and absently checked my cell phone, there was a message from last night saying the class is cancelled due to low enrollment. :( I guess I better check out an organic gardening book so I can get started.Quote:
Originally Posted by snapdragen
You don't need a book to get started!
Instruction is helpful when you have specific problems and when you want to keep a garden going for years. I highly recommend Eliot Coleman's "New Organic Grower." But it's a LOT of information and your learning will expand over the years with your specific local conditions.
Just follow the instructions on the seed packets and you'll be fine. Your ag extension service's website usually has lots of information on specific crops.
If you haven't already prepared your plot, do that as soon as the soil's dry enough. Watch the shadows over the course of a day so you'll be sure you're choosing a spot that gets full sun. Mow it first, use a sod cutter if you have access to one or just plow/dig it under, then let the grass decompose for a couple of weeks before you plant.
If the grass where you plan to put your plot isn't healthy and lush now, you may want to test your soil and amend it. Just be aware that unless you're buying direct from a local organic farmer, mass-marketed animal-source soil amendments (manure, blood meal, bone meal) are NOT organic and may actually contain heavy metals and residues from chemicals that were fed to the animals. :( If you do buy direct from a local farmer, make sure manure is thoroughly composted before you apply it to the soil.
It's really not hard! (Okay, digging a new plot is hard physical work.) Learn as you go and HAVE FUN and enjoy those delicious tomatoes! :)
Thanks for the info Oak! The plot is a small one by our back door that gets full sun. The the previous owner used it for some sort of garden, so no grass to mess with. I'll buy organic fertilizer and some good topsoil from our co-op and prep the soil in the next couple of weeks...we had 32F temps again last night so I'm guessing we should wait to plant.
Kudos to those of you who have the patience to do any type of gardening. I just can't get myself to like it. Three years ago, I planted some annuals on our garden steps, so now that's my yearly contribution to our yard. My husband is out there spreading loam across a 1500 sq. foot area on the side of a hill, where we are planting ground cover, which supposedly needs little care and flowers all summer. I guess I am going to have to help with the planting when the stuff arrives. No matter what I do, even trying to think of it as exercise, I still don't like it.
I try to justify my attitude by the fact I spend the spring, summer, and fall riding my bike to local farms to buy their fresh produce!
I was thinking of Mario Lanza :o :D but didn't remember it quite rightQuote:
Originally Posted by Biciclista
I keep thinking I will garden but my patience is limited. Right now I am pleased to see my society garlic is blooming and smelling up the front yard. :p I have to replace some boxwoods I transplanted around our shed but my husband's nursery never has what I want. And it is too cheap from his work to go somewhere else. :o
I can't be bothered with ornamentals. If I can't eat it, it can just grow itself. :p
I just cannot imagine NOT gardening. I guess that's why I became a landscape architect. Today I went to the local community garden. They were having a fundraising plant sale. I got two huge Russian sages, some oregano and thyme, some obedient plant (which is not obedient, and I'm hoping it will spread!), and some black-eyed Susans...all for $15, but I gave them $20 for their fundraising. I have a very sunny slope that I plan to pack with all sorts of perennials. I'm on a corner, so it'll really be wonderful for the whole street.
Then I went to the Habitat store and bought a couple of old storm windows for $2 each for my cold frame. I already have broccoli and collards growing in one bed, and a beautiful mix of lettuce interplanted with onions in the other bed. I have several other beds to build and plant, but that'll have to wait until after Cycle Zydeco next week. I've started seeds (tomatoes, peppers, all sorts of flowers), but it's still a bit cool to leave them out all night, so I set up a grow light in the basement. I have a mouse that likes to dig up the seeds down there, so I fashioned a frame that hopefully will keep the critter out.
My neighbors invited me over to thin out their amazing hostas, so now I have 41 hosta plants to fit somewhere in my yard! I planted a few in my side yard that I've done the most work in, and it's really looking great. The columbines are blooming, the heuchera is going wild, the Lily-of-the-Valley are poking up and the azaleas are in bud. I'll post a picture later on. It's really lovely.
Tomorrow I'll clean up the other side that I haven't touched since I bought the house last summer. It has beautiful azaleas that are just beginning to bloom, but it needs a bit of cleaning up.
It was just a great day spent outside doing one of the things I love most. It was pretty cool and misty all day...perfect!