Hello! I'm sorry for the month-long hiatus. A sick dad, mama, and baby boy have needed some extra down time. Now that we're almost all feeling 100%, I am going to try to do some catch up blogging about something I am SO looking forward to working on: our garden! When I looked at the calendar and saw the words "first day of spring" I just had to welcome it by purchasing seeds for our garden. Last year, we learned quite a bit by trial and error so this year will definitely be more successful than last year (pending a summer that isn't more hot or dry than last summer of course)! Here's a little run down of what we're planting this year:
Yaya F-1 Carrots
Roma Tomatoes
Celebrity Hybrid Tomatoes
Jalapeño Peppers
Chinese Giant Red Bell Peppers
Marketmore 76 Cucumbers
Solitaire Hybrid Watermelon
Candy Hybrid Onions
Red Onions
Organic Russett Norkotah Potatoes
Romaine Lettuce
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Almost everything we're planting this year is different than last year with the exception of the Celebrity Hybrid tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions. We're sticking with that variety of tomato because it actually tasted like a fresh homegrown garden tomato despite the heat and lack of water. The cucumbers and red onions also turned out perfectly for our favorite summer salad (hint: the main ingredients are sliced cucumbers and red onions, vinegar, salt, and pepper and a photo of it can be found by clicking
here).
I decided to go with different varieties of everything else to accommodate our taste buds. :) For example the Roma tomatoes will work great for canning sauce and the jalapeño peppers will add a little kick to homemade salsa.
Last year we didn't plant nearly enough onions or potatoes so we're doubling the amount we planted last year so that we can enjoy them further into the fall and hopefully winter!
As soon as I find time, I am going to get the peppers, tomatoes, and watermelon started indoors. I've learned that it is recommended for those of us in zone four (click
here to lookup your zone) to start the seeds indoors anywhere from six to eight weeks before the last frost.
To free up some precious garden real estate, I might plant a container of herbs (cilantro, basil, and dill) and just keep it on our back porch. I haven't quite figured out this part yet.
I hope this post has inspired you to "think spring" and ditch those winter blues! If anyone has any questions just leave a comment and I'll be more than happy to ask my mother-in-law. :) Ha! I'm just a rookie!
