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:

Weeding and Replanting

Those radishes are some easy things to grow. Or maybe Chris just used his Mennonite heritage when he planted them. Over the last few days the one row of corn that Avery and I planted have really grown. And the carrots!! Two rows of them are really taking shape!! Go Lyz!

Over the last week we have spent some time here and there weeding. Or degrassing would probably be the better description. Lyz is turning 30 on June 6th and we are planning a big party at their house to celebrate. We want the garden to look very good when people come visit it. We want to be impressive. As of right now, only those radishes are impressive!!

So Jenn and I went over today to finish degrassing and to replant the things that aren't growing. We filled in the two rows of corn that just don't seem to be sprouting. We planted two new rows of green beans since they didn't come up at all. We had 6 sweet pea plants that grew, so we filled in there. And we filled in the carrot rows where there were big gaps.

I must say that the garden looks quite beautiful!! See:

You can see the plentiful radishes on the left...next the carrots, and a few of the pea plants. In the back is the corn.

More pictures:




Oh...and have I shown you the triplets?

The rain held off...SO WE PLANTED!!!

After I got off work we all decided that the rain was holding off, so we could just plant today and get our little seeds all started! So exciting.

We had no sooner got in the car then Avery called Jenn to tell her just how excited she was and that all the seed packets were ready and waiting!


The first seed to go in was corn. Avery and I planted one row and Jenn and Lyz each planted a row, while Chris planted radishes:



We also planted snap peas, carrots, cantaloupes, cucumbers, pumpkins and GIANT pumpkins.


Putting in the GIANT pumpkin seeds:


Once everything was planted we gave the garden a really good watering:


After we were finished working on the garden, Jenn and Chris decided to pull some huge bushes out of the front of the house, Joni wasn't thrilled:


Chris's truck did most of the work:


And then they were gone:


An hour after all the planting was done Avery already wanted to go outside and check and see if anything had grown yet. It will be one to two weeks before we start seeing sprouts, and if all goes well, within 45 days we should be harvesting our first radishes!!