First Week

Just wanted to post some pictures of the first week in my garden.

these are my sugar baby watermelons. i was starting to think that they weren't going to sprout, i saw my peas and lettuce coming up but my watermelons and carrots weren't doing anything. then yesterday morning i went out to water and there they were. popping up left and right.




and my peas. which have been coming up since wed.



i'm so excited!!! i know it's still too early and that they could all die out last minute. But right now every day is like christmas.

Fingers crossed!!

I HAVE SPROUTS!!!!.

i took a couple of pictures, but honestly, it's kinda pointless to post them. They didn't turn out that well. they are very tiny sprouts.

one window box of lettuce has several tiny sprouts (unless bird seed got in there then i have no idea what it is)
the other non. so i moved it next the growing one.

my peas have germinated and are poking a bit.

no sign on the watermelons or carrots.


I'm uber excited. I know i shouldn't get my hopes up its waaaayyy too early.

This is going to be interesting

It's the end of the evening and I'm ready to collapse. Or at least get a good foot rub. To be honest i had forgotten how physical working in the yard can be, and in the gentlest way, let's just say i am anything but physically fit.So, i got offline earlier and headed down to the garden center. got three bags of 2 cubic foot gardening soil for veggies and plants. I wanted to get the "organic soil" but a) i don't know if it really is organic and b) i got twice as much for the price spent. Considering this is my first true effort, i went with the cheaper choice. Also, the difference between garden soil and potting soil for any who wants to know. Potting soil has those little fuzz balls in them that help to retain moister a bit longer since containers dry out faster than ground dirt. So you can pay twice as much for half the bag size, or just make sure to keep your containers well watered. Which ever is easier for you




.Once i got home i lugged the bags around to the back of the house and pulled out several containers to use. I also grabbed a couple of seed starting trays i had along with peat pellets.




*I want to take a moment to explain something here. This attempt of mine is not in anyway the "proper" way to go about gardening. A veggie garden should really be well planned. If you plan on out for several season you can yield wonderful crops. Also, proper seed starting should have been done months ago, esp down here in the south. I am kinda going trial and error here, but in no way am i dependent on the success of these crops, so it's OK.*





Alright with that out of the way lets continue. So i soaked a couple of peat pellets to get them to expand. Like i said i know it's too late to really be starting seedlings, or this whole process really, but I'm still trying. So then i moved on to the pots. I filled each pot with as much dirt as possible. I made sure to crumple up any chunks. Hint: hard soil and rocks are what stunt and deform carrots. you want soil that isn't too compacted so they can easily grow their taproots and you can get larger straighter carrots.I started by sowing in my peas. I made a little spiral in the dirt just so i could keep track of spacing. Placed my seeds as directed (minus the whole not being in a row in the ground). And then took one of tools and made little holes in the dirt right behind them. This worked wonderful because the hole was just the right size and when my garden fork came out the pea just popped right in. All i had to do was cover it. Then I started on the other pots. By the time i had them all filled with dirt and seeded my peat pellets were expanded. So i took a few out and put them in the tray and put a couple seeds in.Then I placed the containers were i know they will get full sun, which means at least six hours a day. Then watered them really well.





Now I just have to wait and see what happens. I'll keep an eye on the pellets and see if anything comes of them.Since this is all really new to me there will be times I'm wrong and i encourage you to correct me, in the nicest way possible of course. What i would like to do though is that since i am new i have a bunch of questions that are stupid and second natures to some and just as obtuse to others as to me. I would like to be the robin hood of garden know how. Whatever valuable info i come across I will gladly post so it can be shared.All and all it was a wonderful day. I spent several hours out doors in the sun and got really dirty. I felt healthy and happy for doing something productive as well as good for me. I hope i can stick with it. So enjoy and wish me luck.

Monday and I'm Off

Slept a bit later than i had anticipated but that's OK. One of my friends is supposed to be in town but she "over slept" too so i may or may not see her. Kinda bummed about it, kinda new there was a chance though.

So instead i will be heading down to my storage unit, paying the bill then grabbing some of my pots out of it. I can't control it any more. I must plant something. Granted this is in no way a guarantee that i will grow anything, but i must at least try. Unfortunately, this means i have to go into work to get my seeds and dirt. Something i would have rather done yesterday when i was there.

But i'm going to try to grow some stuff, if only three or four things. I'm new at this really. So that's more than enough. But judging on how many views came yesterday at just the mention of gardening i realize there are probably many people out there just starting out too. So you can watch me and my deadly plant mistakes and I'll pass on any info i garner.

Let's grow something !!!(just not weeds)