He fills my life with good things.
-Psalm 103:5
I don't know about all of you, but my favorite part of summer is the first taste from the garden. I did not start out with a green thumb- actually my thumb was VERY VERY brown. Coming from the desert I did not grow anything outdoors and even a house plant would live a maximum of 2 weeks. My family grew mint and rosemary for aesthetic purposes and not consuming. But I always dreamt of having an enchanting garden. We built the garden 4 years ago this year (raised beds were put in 3 years ago) and every year we learn a little more. The garden is a fantastic tool for food styling, eating fresh in the summer and storage for eating into the fall and winter. I am in hopes that this will be our best year!
So here are a few things I have learned for early spring and where we are at now in the garden. I would like to also highlight that our boys help plant and grow everything. Planting gives you a feeling of accomplishment and this aids in them eating produce- kids do eat what they grow! In our home we all work together in the garden and cooking the fruits of our labor.
Early Spring Planting
4 - 6 weeks prior to the last frost date
- Weed all planting areas or beds. This is truly the hardest part of gardening and I actually start this in January (it takes me till March to accomplish clean beds!)
- Start your Pepper and Tomato seeds first (6 weeks prior). These guys need LOTS of time and heat. Best results are met with a warming mat and we have an indoor tent. Tent pictures are below with our starts from 4 - 6 weeks ago.
- Start your flower seeds, herb seeds and other veggies such as cucumbers at 4 weeks. These also like to germinate with warm mats and being in the tent. The tent creates a nice humid environment keeping the soil moist for germination. However, mold can begin growing. Once I start to see mold on the pots, I know it is time to start opening up the tent in the day and taking out plants into the window light for fresh air.
- Seeds are like babies: they need constant feeding, attention, care and love. I talk to them, Micah pets their little leaves and Noah checks on them to let me know whether they need to be fanned or watered. Their care needs to be added to the daily schedule.
-Starting seeds: We have been starting seeds in the starter peat pots for the past 2 years and they work great. We tried the peat pellets a few years back and they were terrible, did not drain well and ended up a moldy mess. Start in the peat pots in a drip pan (or you can use an old sheet pan) with seed starter soil. To water we use Superthrive, a nontoxic vitamin solution to promote plant growth. Only use this once ever 2-3 weeks. Rest of the waterings just use luke warm water. Also, soak the pots by watering from below and not above. I fill the pan about 1/3 and then place the pots in it. The water soaks into the pots from the bottom and then we mist with a small sprayer for top just to moisten (kids love the misting part!).
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
I am constantly trying to reuse and recycle products in our lives, whether it is cardboard for a kid project or painting picture frames to give a new look in the house. For planting, we have collected the plastic pots from the plants we have purchased and once the seedlings become small adorable plants with true leaves they are then planted into the larger pots with soil. We will show off this step in the next post, along with a list of what we are growing and which plants have made it to true leaves- so far it's looking good.
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