We received
twelve inches of snow earlier in the week, and yesterday we had well over a
foot with steady wind. The snow blower
could barely manage the depth and I had to shovel out our gas tanks that were
buried.
A year ago we moved from our cabin in the woods to a more manageable home.
We loved our cabin, but heating with
firewood, and the physical requirements of maintaining our place during the
Maine winters, was getting a little much for an octogenarian.
The downside
of living surrounded by woods was there was never enough sunlight to grow a
garden. I missed gardening.
The place we
now live in has a large open front yard with plenty of sunlight. This spring I intend to plant a starter garden
– something small, just a few plants.
Along with the prospect of fresh vegetables, a garden gives me something
to plan during the dark days of winter.
For the first time in years, I am ordering seed catalogues and watching YouTube bits about gardening. I am not planning to plant an extensive garden or build raised beds. Just limited planting in containers and grow-bags. Grow-bags are something new, and seem ideal for an urban gardener.
Our yard is
full of ants. It is my belief that when
man finally manages to bring total destruction of surface life on earth, it
will be the ants, not the cockroaches that survive. By using grow-bags, I can plant on our steps,
in our parking area and avoid an ant problem.
I am
thinking about planting one zucchini and one yellow squass (zucchini produce
all summer), three tomato plants (one cherry, one determinant and one
indeterminant), a cucumber plant, radishes and a large planter with herbs. But in my mind, the garden keeps getting
bigger.
Maine has a
short growing season so I will buy tomato plants; but I am also thinking about
purchasing a small greenhouse to start seeds and seedlings early. When we lived subsistence, off-the-grid,
while attending college, I started my plants in solar heated hot-boxes that I
designed, and had plants producing weeks earlier that the locals.
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| $39.00 at Tractor Supply |
Maybe I’ll
grow some carrots. Scallions are a necessity. Then there are peppers - I like peppers; I understand potatoes
grow well in grow-bags, and so does lettuce, eggplant, broccoli, beets, bush
beans - I have heard you can grow corn
in grow bags - broccoli and cauliflower…
the
Ol’Buzzard
It looks like your theoretical garden is morphing rapidly from a handful of grow bags with a single tomato or squash plant in each into several acres of row crops. My plan for this coming summer is containers and two small raised beds. I bought some tomatillo seeds last week and plan to start them in mid-March. They'll go into one of the raised beds.
ReplyDeleteI still miss gardening after over 24 years away from it. My favorite part of gardening was fruit trees. #2 was growing antique fragrant roses.
ReplyDeleteLoved the videos. We also don't have a lot of space for gardening... and where there's space, there's too much shade and not enough sun. I was planning to buy a raised veg trug this spring to put on the south side of the back drive, but now may also try some grow bags. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteyou should watch the veggies on youtube.7 generation family farm. I love it so much. Also like living traditions homestead and country life vlog from Azerbaijan.It's like zen for me. I think of that part of the country as being a bombed out hole in the ground..but Azerbaijan is so incredibly beautiful. I have Baker Creek seed catalogue. It's my favorite. I get such great ideas from all of these youtube videos.
ReplyDeletethats veggie boys
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to see you have a passion for gardening! Have fun making plans for your veggies!
ReplyDeleteI've been using grow bags for years. Best thing since sliced bread. Just to let you know, Jackie Sue, (Yellowdog Granny) is now:
ReplyDeletehttp://yellerdawggranny.blogspot.com/
thanks Leanna
DeleteI have given up on a vegetable garden and have let my yard grow as a meadow of native plants. Whatever got at my tomatoes would grab them at the first sign of ripeness, take one bite, and leave the rest on the ground. Now I grow milkweed.
ReplyDeletePotatoes grow well & the ones not eaten but sprout make great seeds for the next season. Zucchini grows out of control for sure.
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky enough to have a big sunny spot for garden. But I SO wish for raised beds, as bending over to plant and weed is getting painful. I also wish the garden wasn't so blasted far away from the house for watering or power, and just keeping an eye on it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you keep us updated on how your gardening goes this year.