Gardening time is here at last!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 I am hanging my head in shame right now. Literally! I've gotta pick my chin up and tell you the truth... I'm having Internet issues and time management issues. All that being said, I'm vowing to myself not to be a blogging dead beat. I can do it ALL from my amazing 3G iPad!!
Many of you may see the date of this post and shake your head in disbelief at the post title. But let me tell ya, it was 75 beautiful degrees here in south Texas today! I polished my toe nails and got out my favorite pair of flip flops!! It's been this way for a week and the weather dude says it's more of the same for the foreseeable future!
Please don't hate me because I'm not freezing in February. Believe me, I'll be whining about the heat beginning in July and ending around mid October. But for now, I'm loving it. My boys are loving playing outside, the hubby is loving giving our little one wagon rides in the pasture, and I'm loving digging in the dirt.
I've been planning my garden for a while now. You see, I haven't had the space or time for a garden for about 5 years. I'm itching to plant. Our new house has lots of flower beds and even has several raised vegetable beds that were practically ready to go. I started weeding and turning the soil and was pleasantly surprised to find soil that is loamy, full of organic composted material, and teeming with earth worms. The abundance of earth worms, tree frogs, and geckos around the yard tell me that the previous owners were not heavy pesticide users. That makes me happy! My goal is to have a totally organic garden for my family.
However, there is an issue tugging on the reins of my gardening excitement: just about the time my garden will be in peak production, I will be producing a little something of my own... Another sweet little baby boy! So while I will and now do have a garden, it is not an overly ambitious effort this year.
Since the beds were already worked soil that only needed to be weeded and cultivated, my sweet husband got me a Black and Decker 18 volt cordless cultivator to use. It's absolutely awesome! So I prepared the soil with some of nature's finest fertilizer (did I mention that I have chickens?) and worked it in with my spiffy power tool. I got my Texas 1015 sweet onions and my red onions planted today. I cut my seed potatoes into planting pieces today, so I'll wait a week to plant them. Their cuts need to "heal" so they won't rot before they sprout. I'm planting red potatoes because I love them. I also went a bit nuts at the feed store when I saw their tomato plants. I bought 16 Romas and 16 Better Boys. Both varieties do very well in my region. I'll let you in on my secret to starting tomato plants early in a few days! I love canning my own tomatoes, so that's why I went so nuts. I guess I'll can until the new baby gets here and then share what we can't eat.
So along with recipes, I'll be posting about my garden. I promise to share the good and the bad. I'm trying to keep a record of what I do so that I can reflect and improve. It IS my first time to do a totally organic garden, so if you have any pointers I'd be glad to hear them!
What are you going to plant this year?
Keep lovin' and keep cookin'!
Reader Comments (4)
You work the garden and I'll provide the background music! Wonderful blog post Lara. I enjoyed it very much. You should tell about that organic fertilizer recipe you were telling me about earlier today. You looked like you were having so much fun today! I love it!
Lara! I'm soooo excited for you...so happy that you love to garden! I do too...and even though I am so very envious that you have the space that I don't have right now, I'm cheering for you! I pray it grows a bountiful harvest! I will just have to come down there to help you with your lil fellas, and help you bring it all in!
Thank you, BP! I love working outside while hearing birds singing, little boys playing, and my sweet husband's beautiful guitar music!
Thanks, TA! I wish you were closer, too! I know you could teach me a lot! The boys and I would love to see you down this way again. You can play in my dirt any time! ;-)