Spring 2001!

It's the first day of spring and with the help of Grandma Britcher and Derek (Adam's 16-year old cousin), we got so much accomplished today in the garden.  First we got the strawberries planted.  They don't look like much right now but give 'em time.  Just give 'em time.  Soon there will be 18   strawberry plants with runners going in every which direction.  Adam got us both June bearers & Ever bearing varieties. 

The we got around to planting our first batch of red beets, radishes (including the  French Breakfast variety), turnips, and two kinds of carrots.  We'll plant the other half of the 5X8 ft raised beds in a couple of weeks.  The red beets and the regular variety of radishes were purchased at our local farm stand (Butcher's Farm Market).  The French Breakfast variety, Turnips (Purple Top White Globe) , and one variety of carrots (Nantes Scarlet Half Long) are from the Beekman1802 seed pack I purchased at work (Williams-Sonoma).  And the other variety of carrots (Kaleidoscope) is a certified organic variety from Burpee. 

Next we worked on our lettuce bed.  We put in some Arugula, a Burpee looseleaf Lettuce Blend, an Heirloom Four Seasons Lettuce, Baby Spinach, Baby Choi, & at Adam's mom's request, a strip of lettuce that apparently produces head lettuce.  Holy Cow!  We're going to have so much salad this year.  I briefly contemplated becoming a vegetarian but then I remember that a good salad goes great with a juicy delicious steak! 

Finally,  we worked meticulously to put our peas in perfect rows.  Spacing each row 36" apart, we successfully put in 4 rows of Sugar Peas & Snap peas.  We will work on trellising them this year so that we don't have to watch rows of peas grow on top of each other and into the rows.  We decided on 36" inches apart because our rototiller will fit between each row making it easier to weed. 

To Shell or Not to Shell, That is the Poll

So last year Miguel wanted to grow dandelions... and that was quickly put to a halt.  This year though, the subject item is more reasonable.

Miguel wants to grow the types of peas that you have to shell.  While I don't mind trying something new, i.e. rhubarb, I think we purchased one bag of peas in the last year.  Plus I am not one for the extra work of having to shell peas.

So the new poll is, should Miguel and Adam plant the type of peas you have to shell?

Which Came First?

So shortly after Miguel and I decided to start a blog about our garden, we discovered the Fabulous Beekman Boys.  The Beekman Boys are two city guys that moved to the country to start a farm and raise goats.  There are several parallels between the Beekman Boys and Miguel and I, and I still claim that we are more fabulous and pre date the Beekman Boys, but oh well.

Despite ranting there for a bit, we have decided to purchase their seed set that is being sold at Williams-Sonoma.  Mostly because Miguel likes to shop and he works there, but I guess because they are some good seeds.  Below is a link to the Beekman Boys website where you can get more information about the seeds.

http://beekman1802.com/garden/grow-with-us.html

Plowed!

Despite the chilly temperature this morning, we got the garden plowed.  The soil looks amazing and tomorrow we will sow our peas.  We're only a few days off from the traditional St. Patrick's Day date, but the garden was too wet to plow and yesterday's 70-something weather helped bunches.  Adam & I got the onions in their bed today as well as some leeks.  Surely, these beds will allow our root veggies and onions to be the best they can possibly be.

2011

So let's try this again.  2010 Garden was very successful and we will be giving updates in future posts.  Unfortunately, the weeds started to take over right around the posts stopped.  This was due to the fact Adam had to study for the PA bar.  He passed so I guess the garden suffering some is an ok loss.

We've already started some things inside for 2011 Garden and we built some new raised beds to try some new things.  Our future posts will show some of these new experiments.

Good luck to all the other gardeners out there and hopefully we will have a great 2011 season.