Ponder More Planting

3/27/2009 – On Friday evening I did some more planting in the part of the garden that is sort of shaped like the state of Florida. One cabbage at the tip with rows of carrots spreading north followed by plantings of kale, collards, ruby red beets and romaine lettuce. I also inter planted a Persian herb that tastes kind of like water crest between the potato plants and near the squash.

Spacing things out in a more visually appealing manner so that it looks landscaped rather than strait rows seems to take more space than I had originally thought. I have a feeling that next year’s landscape garden is already going to be better as I start to see how things come together. One editable beauty that I am certain that will be a recurring favorite is chard, Swiss and rainbow. The deep red, vibrant orange, bright pink and stunning yellow stems contrasted with dark (and mouth watering) green are a must for my flower beds from now on.

White House Lawn Becomes a Garden

Here is one change in Washington that gardeners everywhere will like, Michelle Obama has decided to plant a garden in the South lawn of the White House.

Here is a link to the White House Blog:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/20/Spring-Gardening/

Here is a link to the White House garden planting layout

http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/garden_layout.pdf

Here is a link to a CNN story with more details, including the interesting fact that the Obama family is the first family to plant a garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt planted a Victory Garden during World War II.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/20/white.house.garden/?iref=mpstoryview

I also liked the part about the swing set being added for the Obama girls. Sign me up for a federally funded swing set and gardener too! I don't think there will be any forthcoming pictures of the president pulling weeds on Saturdays.

Ponder Planting Log

One of the purposes of my blog is to log when and where things are planted so that next year I can look back and learn from my mistakes.

3/7/2009 – I planted most of the potatoes in the front yard. The potatoes came from starts that I bought with the hope that they would do better and grow bigger than if I had used potatoes from the store. They’re planted in the softest part of the dirt in the front yard that has much more of the mulch from last year mixed in. The soil is tilled about 20 inches there because I mounded it up so there should be plenty of air space for the potatoes to grow. Potatoes can be planted here (Sunwest zone 14 or 15, we’re right on the border) in February so I’m a little late getting them planted.

3/7/2009 – I also planted four broccoli spots and two cabbage spots in the flower bed in front of the potatoes right by the sidewalk. Both of these are from seeds so we’ll se how fast they sprout.

3/12/2009 – I transplanted the two tomatoes that some how survived the kids dumping the seeds I started in the dining room window in January. We’ll see how they do. I have never grown tomatoes from seed before and had them produce much. I think both of them are beefsteak. I plan on planting two or four more tomato plants. After loosing most of last year’s crop to my son throwing green tomatoes over the fence at the back neighbor’s dogs, I want this year’s tomato crop to be huge. They’ll be growing in the front yard so my son will need to find something else to throw at the dogs in the back yard.

3/13/2009 - In the front yard in the section between the neighbor's pine and the pedestrian sign I planted our soon to be okra fence. I am looking forward to having those tall plants separate the neighbors kids and balls from my veggies. I also planted climbing peas, two I had started indoors, the rest from seeds. They will be climbing on tree branches from the tree I cut down in the back yard. I planted dill, beets, cabbage, oregano, radishes, two spots of lavender, patipan squash and early yellow squash.

As of today, 3/21/2009 the radishes are already out. My broccoli and cabbage from 3/7 are sprouting. The apricot tree is in full bloom and the cherry tree in the back yard is just starting. This is the second year for both trees so I don’t know if there will be much fruit. I can say one thing for sure, the cherry blossoms smell like a delicious blend of cherries and spring time.