2015 Garden Journal - Feb 8

Preface: My "Daily Bible" app's verse of the day this morning was Proverbs 12:11 - "Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense."  My first plantings took place yesterday...now how cool is that?

A few days of warm weather over the past couple of weeks have brought out the desire to get the vegetable garden going again for the coming growing season.  Last year's "garden experiment" was exactly that.  It was undertaken with a variety of plants and herbs, with the intent of seeing what went well and what didn't do so well.  Lessons were learned, and the past week or two have been a great time to get my plan together for this year's gardening.

Last year started with two raised beds, 4x8ft and 8 inches deep.  Later I added two wrapped and potting-soil-filled forklift pallets similar to these (although I kept mine flat instead of standing on-edge as is shown in the article).  Aside from a little bit of lettuce and peas, I didn't use them very much, instead focusing on the larger raised beds.  I'm planning to set out some shallots in the pallets in the next few days.

So on to this year!  Two new raised beds were added, 4x4ft and 8 inches deep.  One of those has already been planted with about 30 seed potatoes.  The second 4x4 box will soon get cabbage plants in the center, followed later by two rows of cucumbers along the outside edge.  An A-frame type trellis will be placed for the cucumbers to grow on, and to provide a little shade for the cabbage.

As of today, February 8, the following have been planted:

• 30 potatoes
• 72 onion sets
• 2 squares of radishes (12-16 in each)
• 1 square of mesclun mix
• 1 square of green leaf lettuce

Over the next 6 weeks, more radishes, mesclun and lettuce will be planted, along with spinach and arugula.  These will be planted in stages every two weeks so that we can enjoy them over a longer period of time.  As previously mentioned, shallots will be started in the two pallets.

Once the danger of frost has passed, I'm planning to add these to the rest of the spaces:

• Peas (black eyed or cow peas)
• Corn
• Pole Beans
• Basil
• Peppers (hot and sweet)

I haven't decided yet about any summer squash.  I've got two spaces set aside for them, but they may get replaced with peas.  I do enjoy fresh summer squash, but we consume quite a volume of peas.

Have you started your garden yet?  Here's a few pictures that I'll keep updated as things progress this season. (Wire is to keep neighborhood cats from fertilizing my spot.  I appreciate the fertilizer, but don't appreciate them digging up seeds and seedlings!!)