... messing it up is a way of learning, as long as you don’t get disappointed. And there are many ways to grow every food crop. You may find a new one that works best for you by just getting into the dirt and trying.Anyway, I wanted to post an update, since Juha sent me an email today about his progress.
Most important is soil preparation, water and sunlight. Make sure your location has full sunlight. Mark it off. (If there is a chance it has toxins in the soil, like lead from flaking house paint, do a soil test.) Bring in a load of rich compost, enough so you can spread it 2 inches thick over the garden space. Turn it under, rake it smooth, then plant. What and when you plant depends on where you are located. Check the back of the seed package or buy seedlings. Ask when you buy if the seedlings can be planted yet. Check the seed package or online to see how much space you need to leave for the plant (I always put them closer than is recommended because my space is small).
If you have deer around, put up a 5 ft fence; rabbits or woodchucks, a 3 foot chicken wire fence. No fence will keep squirrels out of your garden. They run all over my garden and don’t usually do too much damage, except to eat ripe tomatoes if the weather is dry.
Hey Kathy! My gardening project is going well. Today I got all of my seeds planted. Just in time, since the weather is starting to warm up here in Finland! I devised a little challenge for myself. My goal is to prepare a meal for my family using produce from my garden and the wilderness :) To add some pressure I made it public on my blog http://www.juhakardo.com/food-sovereignty-challenge/ -JuhaI always love to hear about garden projects. This one sounds fun. I would also like to try the challenge of making a meal completely from items I have grown, foraged or caught myself too. I'm looking forward to doing some fishing this summer, and of course, lots of gardening. Maybe I should try some fermenting too if I'm doing an entire meal....
My reason for doing this would be that it reduces my ecological footprint, the food tastes better, and mostly - it is personally satisfying.
that's quite a challenge for such a new gardener. i hope he succeeds!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, that is a challenge and a half! I felt quite exhausted reading the list of anticipated achievement. I would fail on the hunting part, there isn't much hunting to be had here in East London, unless you count the odd squirrel or two in the garden! But if they put on their, "I am only little and fluffy" face, as I was aiming at them, that would be it ... no Squirrel for dinner.
ReplyDeleteMarian(LondonUK)
haha.. yea I know. I hope I'm able to pull it off :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a great goal. If I tried that where I live I'd have to get particularly creative with edible weeds. Good luck, Juha!
ReplyDeleteVery exciting! In summer we live near the sea so hunting up clams and fish are on the docket. For now, salads galore from the garden. Best of luck to Juha!
ReplyDelete"My reason for doing this .... it is personally satisfying" Yea, an honest woman! We give so many practical reasons for doing what we enjoy doing.
ReplyDeleteKathy, your gardens look better every year. I hope it's easier to grow in the enriched soil too.
Last year, I started a new kitchen garden to see if I could grow vegetables in windy conditions closer to the house but > 200' from the Bay. The new garden was more successful than expected so I doubled size of the beds this year. Huge amount of work, not done yet. Pete built frames for the beds so I'm committed unless a tropical storm causes major flooding.
Have a great gardening year!