I can't wait for the weather to warm up. As we are expecting snow this weekend, I might have to be patient a little longer, but I got to start my garden inside yesterday, so now at least I have reminders that one day it will get above the 40's outside.
I'm hoping to make a deck garden on my apartment porch, as well as taking my friend Angela up on a generous offer to share her backyard garden. She only lives a couple blocks from me, so we'll be able to share her backyard plot. I'm excited for when we start prepping it in March. Her soil is heavily sand, so we'll mix topsoil and pony poo in to make a more rich environment. Luckily, I have the connections needed for free horse manure, so we won't lack for fertilizer!
We are also starting different plants right now, in hopes that we'll both get hardy starts, and we can mix and match, share our bounty. I'm really hopeful that we'll get a good enough harvest to feel like our efforts were worthwhile. No more repeats of last summer please- I still feel damp remembering the constant rain storms and wearing sweaters through June.
So, now what I'm growing:
Heirloom tomatoes: The most delicious of all tomatoes, I bought a variety pack and started a bunch inside yesterday. The hopes is that I'll get lots of starts that I can save for myself, Angela, my dad, and my grandma, then we can share our varieties this summer. This is my first time growing tomatoes from seed, so I'm hoping it works. I have always bought starts at the farmer's markets later in the spring, but I figure I'll still have time if this experiment fails.
Rainbow carrots: These are also heirloom varieties, including red, orange, yellow, white, and purple carrots. When I worked at Nunhems I learned that orange carrots were developed from other varieties in honor of the king of Denmark (royal color is orange) and they became so popular that they became the main variety. At Nunhems they would do food competitions with the different colored carrots- I heard about a multi-layered carrot cake with each layer using a different variety of carrot. I wish I had seen it! My carrots will be sown directly outside in about a month.
Rainbow chard: At this point you can probably tell I like color. Swiss Chard is pretty easy to grow, and it is so good for you. You can use young leaves in salad, and saute up the adult plant for deliciousness. I went ahead and started these inside for fun, even though I could sow them directly when I plant the carrots. I got a little carried away yesterday.
Tricolor beans: I planted yellow wax bush beans, blue lake bush beans, and burgundy bush beans. As well as sharing my plants with others, I feel these will do well on a deck garden, since they grow up on trellises.
Hot pepper varieties: I was going for a lot of color, and feeling nostalgic for Nunhems. I don't know that peppers will do very well here, but I'll try to do tricks like black tarps on the tops of soil to trap heat. These delicate fellows can't go outside until May.
Green onions: These are easy, and I'm just going to plant them around the borders of pots that will have other plants in them. Or give them their own herb pots. I went ahead and started them inside, because I have no self control.
Cucumbers: I got a long trellis climbing variety. These will get planted when it warms up much more, but hopefully will do well for my deck garden.
I was given a little corn seed leftover from last year, so I might see if those can grow at Angela's place. She's growing onions, garlic, broccoli, a couple different lettuces, chives (which I plan on stealing when I have my set up going), and several other things. I'll also be growing herbs. From last year I have a thriving rosemary plant and parsley, but I think I'll buy the others as starts from Molbak's or the farmer's market when it warms up a bit.
I'm brainstorming cheap containers for my deck garden. I have room trash cans I have used in the past for tomatoes, and many small pots for the herbs I grow. I think I'll cut the tops of milk jugs for little herb pots, and see if I can't find cheap plastic bins at the thrift store. Using these sorts of containers is just so much cheaper than growing in actual pots. It's also nice because they weigh less typically than pots, so easier for me to move around.
I have my little greenhouse starter system in front of my kitchen window. I'm hoping to see some little green tendrils poking up in a week or two. Then over spring break we can start prepping Angela's set up, and I can prep my deck containers for transplanting later in the spring. I'm just so excited, I can't wait for summer!
