I just had to!

Here we go! I officially bought some seeds today! I couldn't resist the sale, I had to do it! I bought Sugar Ann Snap Peas, which I grow every year and have great success with, Nasturtiums, which I am positive I will be planting, and Stringless Blue Lake Bush Beans, which I am also sure will be in the garden. I think the only other plant I will be planting fore sure this year is Rhubarb, which is the subject of a whole other post!

I decided that I need to increase the depth of my raised beds this year, as the ground below is completely gravel, and I think the shallow soil hindered growth last year. (The roots hit the gravel and simply stopped growing.) I have two beds that are triangular and of equal dimension and two each of two differently sized rectangles. If I turn the 6 shallow beds into 3 deeper beds, by stacking the frames on top of each other, I should have better luck. I can always build one or two more each year until I really have what I want.

As far as dealing with the nutrient-poor soil, the plan is to remove all the soil from all the beds and mix with the finished pile of compost and some aged steer manure. This will be my first year using my own compost, so I'm excited! And soon it will be chicken fertilizer going into the fresh compost rather than buying steer manure.

I have to admit, I will be doing a little bit of planting today, just to scratch the itch a bit more. I bought some organic potting soil and few pretty little pots that fit perfectly in my kitchen window. I will be planting Basil, Thyme, and Rosemary. I'm a sucker, what can I say!

Already thinking about next years garden...

So, with the exception of a few plants, this years garden has been a real failure for me. I need to start thinking about next years garden and what I will (and won't) plant in it. I'll start out with a list of what grew and what didn't.

Grew Well:

Snap Peas
Cucumber
Onion
Strawberries
Rhubarb

Didn't Work Out:

Beans
Zucchini
Broccoli
Carrots
Radishes
Spinach
Kale
Cabbage
Eggplant
Peppers
Tomato
Beets



I have to start by asking myself how much of the failure could have been prevented? I need much better soil in the raised beds, that would make a difference all the way around. I neglected my garden for 2 weeks during the beginning of the hottest part of the summer. This was due to Lily being born, but it was neglect all the same.


So, what am I definitely NOT growing again next year? Eggplant, Peppers and Beets for sure.

What am I definitely GROWING again next year? Snap Peas, Cucumber, Onion, Strawberries and Rhubarb, for sure, obviously. But what am I not willing to give up on quite yet? Cabbage, for one. I love cabbage, I cook with it all the time, and Alaska is know for its ability to grow prize winning cabbages, which tells me that I am just doing something wrong. I also know that even if I say I am not going to, I will end up with at least 2 tomato plants again next year. I think I will try Zucchini again as well, as this is just something I really want to have an abundance of in the fall. I think that next year I just need to scale it down a bit, and try to focus on a few so-far-unaccessable-to-me vegetables, and a few tried and true favorites. I will not give up, and sooner or later I will have an amazing vegetable garden every year to feed my family!

Time flys...

Hard to believe that Lily is almost a month old already! I've severely neglected my blog! Here is a quick garden update...

The broccoli and spinach bolted, due to the 85F+ temperatures. The cabbage hasn't grown at all in the last month. The peas are blooming and the beans are doing well, as are the carrots. The radishes have met a similar fate as the cabbages. Cucumbers and zucchini are looking good, and I have 1 tomato. The peppers are covered in aphids and the eggplant seems to be a wasted effort. The onions, beets and strawberries are looking good, and the rhubarb is ready to harvest again! This crazy weather has just messed with the garden too much this year, but next year will hopefully be more productive! I'll post some more pictures next time!

Garden Happenings...

Here's some photos of the progression of the garden so far...

Mixed Radishes

Wild Raspberries

Sitka Roses (behind them is where my Rock Garden will eventually live)

Lots of Cabbages!!!

Snap Peas

Broccoli

Zucchini

Rhubarb

Spinach

Kale

This is not everything in the garden, obviously, but gives a pretty good representation of how things are doing.... And remember, its only June 4th, and this is Alaska... I have no complaints so far!

More happenings in the garden

The snap peas and the green onions are poking up all over the place. They seem to have appreciated the last 2 days of rain. It isn't raining at the moment, and I can see a little bit of blue sky in patches here and there, so we might be back to our warm weather within a few days. It also appears that 2 of the 3 Blue Shrimp Flower seeds that I planted are finally sprouting! They have been at my Mom's house, where she has kept them inside. She forgot and left them outside last night, and sure enough, they seem to like the colder weather! Hopefully I will be able to do all of the seeds at my own house next year, and have a little more control of what happens to them. I need to go back to the Alaska Botanical Garden (where I got the seeds, while volunteering) and ask them a few more specifics about the shrimp flower. They are such a beautiful plant, and I want to make sure I take proper care of them!

One more and I'll be done!

Everything except the radishes got planted today! I planted 4 red cabbage, zucchini, pole beans and carrots... and the snap peas are already starting to poke above the ground!!! The spinach and kale are making an appearance in the greenhouse as well. All in all, a very productive Saturday! Tomorrow I'll plant the radishes, and the garden will officially be in!

A little more each day...

I just finished planting the Snap Peas and the Green Onions. The Snap Peas went directly into one of the raised beds, and the Onions are in containers in the greenhouse for now. I'm really starting to feel like I'm getting something accomplished! The Broccoli and Cabbage will be spending their first night truly outdoors tonight, in preparation for planting them in the raised beds... hopefully tomorrow! I'm a little nervous, not wanting to loose any plants, but it hasn't frosted here in several weeks and I'm sure they will be ok. If all goes well, the majority of the rest of the vegetables should be in this weekend, weather permitting of course!

I am contemplating whether or not I want to weigh and record the amount of produce I get from the garden this year. It would help me realize how much cost savings I get from growing my own, but as this is my first year of serious gardening, I don't want to get carried away either. I have time to decide, obviously, but the more I plan things ahead, the more likely I am to follow through. This year I have definitely put more thought into planning the garden than ever before, researching, organizing, and researching again... and I hope it really pays off. Everyone has to start somewhere, right!?

Got some beets planted!

I just finished planting the beet seeds I have been soaking for the last 7 hours or so. My garden layout continues to get tweaked a bit as I go... no big deal. I decided to plant the beets in the barrel I had delphiniums in last year, and they will be accompanied by the sunflowers that my son has started in the kitchen window. I decided to plant them here because the foliage is so pretty, I figured it deserved a bit more of a prominent place in the landscaping. I also purchased some radish seed and some green onion seed today. The radishes will replace the beets in the raised bed with the snap peas (which I am soaking tonight to be planted tomorrow,) and the onions will be planted in containers (I don't know where I will have these yet.) I think that it will be safe to officially plant the raised beds this weekend, but I will be watching the temperatures overnight for a few more days, just to be sure. If I have to wait one more week to be safe, so be it!

Seeing as how I am trying to save my family some money by growing our own vegetables, and some of the motivation is due to the current financial crisis, I think I can classify my garden as a Victory Garden, or maybe a Freedom Garden would be more appropriate. Here's to freedom from pesticides, high food prices, and letting others dictate what chemicals go into my family's bodies!!!