Friday, March 04, 2011

Our 2011 garden... so far!

We've mentioned in passing a few times now about the garden we had hoped to put in the backyard since we moved out here to Charlotte. We finally got our act together this year and made it happen! We put the plan in motion last fall, marking out four spaces and building the boxes - this gave us a jump start and drive we needed to get it done early!

To make this go easier (not to mention, much quicker), we rented a husky tiller and went to town tearing our plots up! We, meaning me, because Jeff hasn't been cleared to do much work after his surgery - he decided to hang out and take pictures.

Here are the beds all worked up and ready to go!

We did come across one surprise while getting our garden area ready - Jeff saw this first, then called me over.

We knew exactly what this was going to be!

Apparently the previous owners buried one of those St. Joseph statues in hopes of selling the house quickly!

We've been tempted to do this in the past when a couple of our former homes took a while to sell, but never ended up doing it. I hope this doesn't bring us a bout of bad luck!

Back to the garden. In our first bed, we planted a row of spinach - they are just about ready to to be thinned out. I think we'll try and place some of the thinnings in pots for a bit of edible greenery around the back patio.

Sitting next to the spinach is lettuce - we may have been a little over zealous with the minuscule seeds though. I need to get one of those handy seed spreaders for better control!

The final row in this box is Swiss chard - these took a few extra days to peek out from the soil, so they are just beginning their journey.

In the second box, we've only gotten one row plated so far - kale! I'm excited to see how these turn out as this is our first time with them. I think a selection of our most used herbs will end up in the remaining spots in this bed.

Speak of herbs, we randomly planted a thyme plant last fall we picked up at the farmers' market. I ignored it when it started getting cold, thinking it would die off and we would replace it in the spring. However, guess what jumped back to life with vigor when the warmth started?

The third box has nothing to show as we just planted carrots and two types of potatoes - we'll do another update soon and hopefully they will be included! The last bed will be for tomatoes, perhaps peppers and a row or three of sugar snaps - it will be a few weeks before we plant the tomatoes, but our plan is to get the peas in tomorrow.

Here's to a bountiful garden in 2011!

14 comments:

  1. Oh, showing garden pictures is just not fair! With temps still 20* and with at least 2' of snow on the ground we are a long, long way from seeing any bare soil much less sprouts!

    So not fair... ;)

    I did Kale last year and absolutely LOVED it! So superior to anything you can get at the store. Very versitile as well - and when it starts to get near the end of the season, try drying it and adding it to dishes over the summer.

    Will you be doing strawberries again?

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  2. There is going to be some GOOD eatin' at your house this summer.

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  3. Hey Joe:

    What do u use to keep the bugs off your plants?

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  4. Will definitely be some good eating soon!
    Living in AZ, I was able to keep my two tomato plants producing (with a little help from flood lights and a big plastic bag when it got really cold). I just cut them back to sticks, kind of like what you do with roses. I did this in fall and got a huge crop. Do you think they will grow back again?

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  5. I am so jealous. I'm watching it snow. You can dig thyme out of the snow to use. I have that and lemon thyme. Oregno, parsley, sage winter savory and mint are also winter hardy. I live in zone 5.

    Karen

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  6. Oh the green eyed garden jealousy monster has reared it's ugly head. Here in the Frozen Northeast Ohio we can't even think of planting anything for another 6 weeks minimum, unless it is pansies.

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  7. fabulous, wish I had the space for a big garden.

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  8. Love seeing the garden photos! (Although I have to agree, not fair that you're starting so soon. Still snow on the garden here.

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  9. Kristin - Oh, believe me... I remember the winter back there! I am definitely glad we missed it this year though. No, I have no desire to mess with those berries fora while!

    Dee - We hope so!

    Judy - Depends on what bugs we will face out here! We had no problem using soapy water back in MN for most bugs.

    Jan - Good question! I'm not sure, but do let us know what happens!

    Karen - Good to know!

    Debbie - Here to thawing soon!

    Marvelboy - Sorry! Have you looked into square foot gardening?

    Kalyn - I couldn't believe how early we could start!

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  10. How exciting! Can't believe it's gardening time. So anxious this year to get mine going! Love your blog :)

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  11. Joe, this garden is going to be AWESOME!!! The photos are great - and I can't wait to come beg for, I mean SEE the finished products!

    Looks like the St. Joseph statue worked! That is too funny that you dug it up!

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  12. good luck with your garden. It looks good already. We are behind, still some snow in the yard. I am glad I saw the St. Joseph's Statue there, I did not know about it, but will certainly buy one when we get ready to move.After all it was the winter of discontent here, every body wants to move south.
    Rita

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  13. We have quite a garden going here in Texas as well. Yours looks and sounds very promising. We started seeds indoors and then after they sprouted took them to the greenhouse. We have tomatoes, peppers, and squash waiting for their planting date. We also started brocolli and have them in the garden. Other seeds like beets, radishes, kale, spinich and carrots were started in the garden and are doing well. Next weekend we will plant beans, and herbs. We are really enjoying our new gardening "habit"!

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  14. PT - Thanks! When will you begin yours?

    Melissa - We hope so! It will be a fun adventure. We've gotten too much rain in the last week though!

    Rita - Good luck!

    CLS - Awesome!

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