Thursday, May 26, 2011

Let the Gardening Begin: Planting day One!!

I've decided to start year two in our new house off to a great start. It began last fall when my mom and I planted lots and lots of bulbs around the yard. When we moved in there were two huge shrubs in the front and not much else in the way of color or greenery.

This spring, we dug up some of the many plants from my mothers beautiful gardens and planted them in the front. This is when I started getting the garden fever. So.... after a consultation with my husband, we decided to start a huge veggie garden in the side yard. I guess it's not that huge compared to some but it's about 10'x20' which to me is big since this will be my first veggie garden undertaking ever!


 So here's some before pics of the space:



Yesterday we tilled and after a soil test, added some bone meal, blood meal, manure, peat mixture and dried up leaves from the lawn last year. Then mixed everything in.


And today I planted everything!!! From the back to the front of the picture I planted Lettuce greens, basil, spinach and broccoli rapa. Then a row of celery, two kinds of tomatoes, one called 'early girl' so I guess we'll be picking those first :) After the tomatoes there are a couple of watermelon mounds and two rows of sweet corn. I also planted cukes, yellow squash and baby pumpkins along the fence so they can grow up instead of on the ground.




Planing tomatoes on their sides will give you a bigger area for root growth and a better harvest. 



After the planting I gave the garden a good soak with the hose and some fish and seaweed fertilizer followed by another evening watering.

I was warned by some to not plant so much but I'm not the kind of girl that likes to do things in moderation ;) I'm just so excited to see what grows and what doesn't so I can learn more for next year. I also can't wait for lots of tomato and pesto salads. Yum!!!!


I love to hear your thoughts! What did you think of this post?

3 comments:

Pat Barry said...

That IS a big garden! I didn't know that about planting tomatoes on their sides...

LonMower said...

I like the last photo...cool shot. Looks like your garden will get plenty of sun. Here's my comments...the corn will not pollinate with only two rows. Google "hand pollinating corn"...to find out what you will need to do about that. I have never planted tomatoes on their sides, but I do know that that method requires you cover the stem of to the first whirl of leaves for roots to grow. Google that and it should give you some good advice. Tomatoes can be planted deeper that they were in the pot. There is no real advantage to side planting if you just dig a big hole (vertically)

Anonymous said...

nice! and yes you have to bury the stem of the tomato on its side and you will get better root development.

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