Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Time for the 2010 Garden!

Yay garden season!

I have to share a funny story about my "farming" obsession. The number one thing I have wanted in my backyard is a chicken coop. Full of chickens of course. I'm not talking a thousand chickens or anything. Like five or six. Cute ones. A normal "white" chicken, a few black ones, one of those really ugly uber feathery ones. Ya know, a bunch of different ones!! Anywho, this whole gardening thing was my big idea. I wanted a garden. I had been begging Jenn's parents for years for one! So...I asked (begged, pleaded, got Avery attached to the idea) Lyz and Chris if they thought they could spare a few feet of their backyard (now a 20x25 foot section) to plant a garden. And, I got my wish!

So this year, I thought I would try for the chickens. I mean really...getting the garden was easy, what could be so hard about chickens? The CLAD backyard is ginormous! Who would notice a few chickens back by the tool shed, not in the middle of the horseshoe pit of course. So a few weeks ago, I asked Lyz. Lyz's reaction? Hysterical laughter. I let the subject drop for a bit. On Saturday I graphed out the 2010 garden plans. Actually, two plans. Ya know, just in case Chris wasn't impressed with the first one. Chris had come with Jenn to pick me up for work and I showed him the plans. (He picked plan two just in case you were curious.) On the car ride home, I decided to ask Chris about the chickens.

Heidi: Hey Chris. The garden was so much fun last year, and we're doing it this year...what if we improved on it a bit?
Chris: What do you have in mind?
H: Well, I was watching Martha (insert and eyeroll from both Chris and Jenn) the other day. We can get a whole started kit for just over $100.
C (in a very leary voice): Starter kit for what?
H: Well, chickens!
C: Dead silence. Um. No.
H: But it would be so fun!
C: They smell. They are a pain in the butt.
H: But they lay fresh eggs! And then we could have bbq!*
C: If I was going to add any animals to the backyard farming project I would do rabbits.
H: Ok, fine then. Can we build a grape trellis and grow grapes?
C: Fine me some good plans for a grape trellis and we will grow grapes.

In all reality this conversation went much longer than the above. But it was fun! When we got to CLAD's, we walked in and heard Chris saying to Lyz "She wants CHICKENS! I compromised and we are doing grapes instead." Lyz's response? "Maybe she tricked you. Maybe all she wanted was a grape trellis, so she thought she would start with something more complicated so that the grape trellis would seem simple and doable." Lyz is so smart. So next year I am going to beg for a cow. Maybe chickens won't seem so complicated then!

So....Here is Garden 2010. We will also be using http://www.thinkingmiraclegrow.blogspot.com/ blog this year, so feel free to bookmark it too!

This year we planted:
Cucumbers (from seeds)
Watermelon (from seeds)
Big Pumpkins (from seeds-not planted yet, we want to wait a bit. Last years pumpkins rotted way before Halloween)
Little Pumpkins (from seeds-not planted yet, we want to wait a bit. Last years pumpkins rotted way before Halloween)
Snow Peas (from seeds)
Lettuce (from seeds-2 rows)
Broccoli (from seeds)
Brussel Sprouts (from seeds)
Radishes (from seeds)
Potatoes (from seed potatoes)
Strawberries (from seedlings)
Tomatoes (from seedlings)
Corn (from seeds-4 rows)

We are so excited!! I cannot wait to see things starting to grow. We are going to have a Summer full of yummy salads and stir fries! And of course, I have some pictures to share!!!
Planting potatoes (the other little girl is a friend of Avery's from Preschool):

Tomatoes and the Snow Pea fence:

Planting Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts and Radishes:

Planting Corn:

Watering/Playing in mud:

No comments: