For those of you following my gardening journey you know I’m learning as I go grow.
- First I built the raised beds
- Then I added dirt
- Then I added plants
- and for fun, we created a DIY Worm Compost Bin
And then we sit back with our sweet tea and watch it grow, right?! If only it were that luxurious and easy, everyone would have a garden! I’ve made no claims to be an expert, but I thought I had a good thing growing. . . and well I do, but it did need some help.
In comes Mavis to save the day (and my plants). Gardening superhero, sometimes pilgrim (see photo), super star at Albertsons and she feeds her family on only $100 a month. She is pretty amazing and I was so tickled when she came to my place this weekend to take a little garden tour and give me some garden advice – in exchange for a frozen turkey. I was happy to see the turkey go (it was making me feel guilty hanging out in my freezer) and she gave me some seriously “meaty” advice in return.
She said, “um you should separate those” pointing to a corner of my raised bed. And I said, “what, they don’t like each other?” Haha. She kindly pointed out that I planted all my vegetables in clumps – like, um, right out of the container. I didn’t realize that I had to separate the 20 million leeks before planting them – or the radishes, or the carrots, or the chard, or the broccoli. My, oh my. Some people preach the square foot garden method and apparently I’m doing the square inch gardening – with as many plants in one inch as possible. Oye! It’s not like these things come with instructions.
I have such a green (novice) thumb. She just chuckled and shook her sweet pilgrim head at me. Then she got down and dirty, wasting no time – moving plants and making things better. Picture this – Mavis, the pilgrim, “there, over there (pointing across the yard) – broccoli likes the shade” and then before you can say “broccoli” three times fast, she’s sprinting across the yard and planting it in the shade. Which also gave my zucchini the room it apparently needs. Brilliant.
So I’ve got my work cut out for me. Must separate plants. Which means I have a good excuse to build some more raised beds because apparently they all need a little more space.
If you want to hear Mavis’ side of the story (or want really awesome garden and/or cooking advice) check out One Hundred Dollars a Month.
What’s your biggest lesson learned in the garden?
Jenny says
Oh my gosh, I just looked at your “bad” picture and did a mental head slap–I totally just planted things that way over the weekend! Sigh… Guess I better get out and replant a few things (with room this time). 🙂
Patty says
“square inch gardening” = so funny!!
Jen says
She is so awesome. She makes me want to start gardening…probably too late this year so hopefully we can get organized and ready for next year! 🙂
Karinna says
I spent the winter reading lots of books and youtubing of course, lol, and one thing I learned is to water your tomato plants early in the morning. This will give them the moisture they need before the heat starts beaming down on them and it will help them to not crack. Not like we’ve been getting sun but its a good rule of thumb. I also trained myself on companion planting. Carrots are a great crop to grow around tomatoes but did you know it kind of stunts their growth? Who would have thought. Basil next to a tomato plants gives it better flavor. Alliums (the onion family) can be used to keep away certain pest. I guess pest are like dracula and hate garlic or anything in the onion family and apparently beans and peas are enemies of the alliums as well. Geesh. Such feisty veggies.
Here are two links that helped me:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants
http://www.growveg.com/growguides/companion-planting.aspx?gclid=CIqLmdnPxLACFYYZQgodxFm4UA