Garden Surprise

A few Sundays ago, I finally began transplanting the plants I grew from itty bitty seedlings into our new raised garden bed.  I was so excited that we had made it that far, we had some durable plants to continue growing, and we were on our way to more sustainable living at the James's family household.

HOWEVER, just as quickly as I put everything into my garden on a warm Sunday, Utah's weather took a bit of a turn the next morning...

This was a BIG surprise!  Not even the weather man predicted this one.

So, in turn a few of my plants didn't survive the storm.  I lost a few cucumber plants but that was it.  I covered everything with sheets and the tomato plant's cages made sort of a tipi structure which kept the snow off everything.  We were lucky that the snow melted by the afternoon...and Home Depot was SUPER lucky since everybody was running back to purchase replacements!

Gotta love mother nature:)  All is well now in garden land...

~Curious Mommy

Thinning out your seedlings

If any of you gardeners have begun planting you seedlings indoors (or outdoors), you may or may not have some sprouting occurring.  If so, apparently (I say this because I am clearly a rookie) you must thin out your seedlings once they appear strong.  You do this to allow for one plant to grow healthy and strong instead of a couple fighting for nutrients and space. 

In order to do this, you need to choose the strongest growth and cut back the others at soil level so you end up with one strong seedling per container.

In the meantime as my little veggies babies await transplantation into the garden bed outside, they stay in a super sunny and warm window nice and moist in rich, fertile soil.

I am so proud of my new little seedlings.  I can't believe how fast they grow!  As stated earlier, I am a rookie at growing anything so any input or advice is much appreciated!

Mommy Bridget

Spring is Here, Time to Start the Seedlings

I am so excited about spring being here (as if it isn't obvious enough with my daily babble about that fact) not only because hello, the warm weather in Utah is on its way but because for the first year ever, I am going to embark on a new adventure...vegetable gardening!!!  This is not to take away my weekly visits to the local farmer's markets nor is it to replace my commitment to buying and supporting locally, but it's going to hopefully not only save us a little money but also ensure that my veggies ARE organic.  In addition, I'm hoping that having veggies readily available will increase our healthy food intake because let's face it, we don't always choose the better to eat:)

So here in Utah, if you want to grow a vegetable garden from seed you need to start now if you haven't already.  In the last week, I've begun this task.  I purchased organic seeds and organic soil good for growing vegetables. Although buying organic is more costly than the alternative, I gratefully have a ton of seed left over for next year's harvest. 

I can't wait to see the little guys grow!  This was actually so much fun for me to do and Park loves to help me water them.  I have them sitting in a window that stays bright most of the time.

In addition, we are planning a raised garden bed.  We are gathering the supplies we need to hopefully, HOPEFULLY, build in the next couple of weekends (pending my very busy husband;)  I have a few fantastic web sites to help us with the construction details: 

http://www.wikihow.com/Construct-a-Raised-Planting-Bed
http://erincovert.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/how-to-build-a-raised-organic-vegetable-garden-planting-bed-part-one/
http://www.casasugar.com/DIY-Build-Your-Own-Garden-Box-1550067   (thanks Jenny!)

One more thing, we are also beginning to compost.  Yay!!!  I can't believe it has taken me this long to start but in my defense, I've been waiting for a house with a proper yard for such.  This compost will be rich and fertile to help my veggies grow (probably not this summer but for years to come).  Below is a good source for a basic introduction to composting:

http://vegweb.com/composting/                                                     

Just another day workin' on a sustainable life:)  Ok...more later.  Wish us luck!!!

Mommy Bridget