Signs of Life

I started some seeds on 3/19. Already two are sprouting!! This one is cucumber. I've never started from seeds before, so this will be fun to watch. Every day I find myself eagerly checking to see if something new is happening. I think this is such a better way to teach kids biology and botany than reading from textbooks. I wish I had gotten to do more stuff like this in school.

Anyway, I'm like a little kid with my science experiments! Here is a photo of my first little sprout.

Composting

Well, I have to tell you about my composter!

This is the first year I am composting. I've only been at it a few days and already I am astonished at how much organic material we generate that can go in there. Lots of food trash from the kitchen (no meat, dairy, dog poop, etc. though). This composter is really cool. It came in three huge boxes and I followed the instructions (with some help from Mike) to put it together. It was like assembling a small rocket ship!

It has two chambers. You fill one chamber right off the bat, and let it "cook." then you fill the other chamber a little at a time, with daily garbage. Ideally, when that side is full, your "cooking" side is ready to go. It says it can produce ready compost in as little as 2 weeks; we'll see if that's true. I'm sure I'll make mistakes the first few times: not enough of this or that, too much or not enough water. It's sort of an experiment.

I started on March 22 with a bunch of rotten old leaves that had already begun to decompose. I read that you should have 30:1 carbon to nitrogen (the leaves being a source of carbon), so I put in some green weeds I pulled from the yard. Yes, it says weeds are okay, too, because temperatures inside that thing reach 170 degrees, so it kills any weed seeds that are in there. The metal absorbs heat from the sun, but the microorganisms that are decomposing the material also generate heat in the process. That is pretty darn hot!

I also put in some kitchen food waste--asparagus spears, banana peels, apple cores, etc. I threw in some wood chips for ballast, but mostly it is the dead leaves. I don't have any grass clippings yet; they said that is the best thing to add.

So we will see how it goes....

what I've planted so far

Seeds started on 3/19:

• cucumber
• broccoli
• yellow squash
• zucchini

Seeds started on 3/22:

• Nicandra (flower that exudes an oil on its leaves that supposedly sterilizes flies!)
• lemon cucumber

I am doing a lot more from seed this year. In the past I went to Lowes or a garden center and purchased plants. They have always done well, but I found that sometimes I didn't get what I thought I was getting, especially with tomatoes. I'd get a different variety than I wanted. Or squash, sometimes it's crookneck when I wanted straight, or I got pickling cucumbers 2 years ago instead of slicers. So I thought if I go from seeds, it will be more certain what I'm getting.

However, I fear that the plants won't be strong or hardy enough. I will have to really make sure to harden them off properly; I have read about how to do that, but haven't ever actually done it. So that will be a challenge. I'm starting a lot more baby plants from seed than I need, in case something doesn't do well once I transplant it. And if I have extras, well, we'll just have plant abortions I guess.

glad it's spring

I have always threatened to keep a gardening journal so I can remember what I do from year to year. This time I am going to do it, because I can keep it on the computer rather than on paper!

It is already March 23, and I've done a bit to start the process this year. At my old house, I had a raised bed garden for two years with topsoil that I purchased and brought in, and I used railroad ties to keep it closed in. Now we have moved. Last summer we had just moved, so it was too late to put in a new garden, so I grew tomatoes in pots, which was actually very successful. I didn't think it would work too well, but it did!

This summer I plan to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce and squash. I am going to use raised beds again, only this time I am going to use cinder blocks instead of railroad ties. I can lift cinder blocks, and they don't leach creosote into the soil. I haven't bought the blocks yet; have to wait on a cash influx. Anyway, there's nothing ready to plant yet, so I'm okay.

As for the dirt, I am going to try a new mixture. Before I got a load of dirt, basic topsoil. I mixed that with some manure and fertilized it through the summer. I am now of the opinion that if you feed your soil, you will have good plants. I am not going to spend money on chemical fertilizers. I am going to try a mixture of sand (I need better drainage), compost and peat moss. Yep--no actual dirt. The topsoil I bought last time had so many weed seeds in there, I was getting weeds I'd never even seen before! (and no, they weren't plants!)

I'm also going to try planting some complimentary plants that will hopefully reduce or eliminated the need for pesticides. Agastanthe (I think it's called) will attract wasps and bees, and marigolds will ward of some bad insects....can't remember which one. I also believe that if the plants are really healthy (because of good soil) they will resist disease better.

I also need to make SURE that this year I know the difference between mites and aphids...that keeps tripping me up!!

So anyway, I'm going to try to avoid pesticides this year. Not promising an organic garden, but I'll try for it.