First "true" Sqft garden...
I've been subscribed to this list for several years now, but due to
frustration at never seeming to be able to get a garden together, I'd
stopped posting, and have been lurking now for a while. It seems that I
was always waiting for the friend who promised to come and plow the
garden area for me, and invariably their tractor would break, or by the
time they came, we were so far into the season, that it was really too
late to garden (Zone 4, with frost-free season basically June
1-September 1)...
This year, I had decided I wasn't going to even bother, I wasn't going
to buy seeds... well, in early June, I had a change of heart, I went to
Kmart and bought two wading pools, and then to Home Depot where I bought
bagged dirt & humus (they were all out of bagged compost). I took them
home, mixed them all together, with some bagged dirt I bought last year,
and some "worm dirt" I had purchased...
In these little pools, which measure 40" in diameter, I have planted a
grape tomato plant, 6 leaf lettuce plants, 3 basil plants (that wasn't
actually to square foot recommendations, but I figure when I harvest the
lettuce, I can always give the basil a little more space) 3 broccoli
plants, one of the pools has a sugar baby watermelon plant and a square
of carrots, the other has a cantaloupe plant and a square of beets. I
let the kids plant the beets and carrots, and it now looks like I'll
probably end up with two of each... LOL!! I may try to replant the
beets for a fall harvest.
The plants are thriving, and beautiful... We've already harvested some
of the lettuce (outer leaves) and used it on sandwiches, and salads.
The grape tomatoes have flowered, the broccoli is starting to show the
beginnings of the head of broccoli. The vines were very slow for a long
time, but are finally starting to show some growth (the plan is to let
them sprawl on the ground alongside the pools, until we harvest the
broccoli and lettuce, and then we should be able to move the vines onto
the pool.
Just thought I'd share our results for our very unconventional garden!
Dawn G.
Zone 4
Northern Michigan
_______________________________________________
Sqft-l mailing list
Sqft-l@xena.pkiclue.com
http://xena.pkiclue.com/mailman/listinfo/sqft-l
