Houston, arugula has landed!!! . . . .

. . . . or as Sam said before a big, corny hug "We made life!!" (don't read into that, this post is still just about veggies folks).

We had a good amount of rain this weekend. I was happy not to have to fret about watering all this stuff that we are now responsible for. That being said, we didn't poke around much in the yard but tonight . . .while Sam was taking out garbage and recycle he spotted our very first hope of all this gardening working out. We saw a small sprout the other day but assumed it was a weed. Now there are 6 sprouts, each in the center of the squares where we planted them. Arugula - we can hardly wait!! So exciting :)

dirt is still yucky/home depot workshops

So I was able to 'suck it up' when working on a garden project for a long period of time (digging, planting, etc.) but I'm NOT enjoying the feeling of being dirty on a daily basis. I have separate shoes for gardening but it's not enough. My socks are dirty and my feet and I don't like it. So today I admitted it to Sam . . . I'm now in charge of telling him when things needed to be watered and he's doing it. We'll try to be diligent about watering the lawn this year since we're actively trying to grow grass in many areas in a variety of different stages. Hopefully this won't be something that's part of our day forever.

Today we're having company but tomorrow we plan to visit Agway and finish the overseeding.

Part 2 of the posting is that I heard an ad on the radio for one of those Saturday workshops that HomeDepot and Lowe's put on to teach you how to do stuff (so that you'll buy the supplies there). This weekend their focus was veggie gardens!! I wanted to go . . . but Sam and I were both pretty tired from all that we've accomplished this week and we just weren't willing to wake up early. But I am intrigued by these and wonder if anyone has attended one of these workshops (on any topic).

rain??

Well, the rain never came. I know we heard it was going to rain last night (and it sure felt like it) and I know Sam said we were getting thundershowers today . . . but it didn't happen so I'm out to water the lawn/plants. Not happy about it because in my mind we were going to get to skip watering today. No updates other than that. Haven't had time to buy more fertilizer and grass seed so for now I'm jut concentrating on the stuff we already have planted not dying.

Updates on grass and peas

This morning Sam mowed the grass (1st time using the new lawnmower). We had intentions of overseeding but ran out of fertilizer and grass seed after doing about 1/3 of the lawn. At least some of it is started before the nice rainstorm we are expecting tonight. We'll take care of the rest by the end of the weekend if at all possible. I'm proud of us for keeping up with the watering twice each day.

The pea fence was delivered so we went out after lunch to set it up. Soil was amended and moistened, weed paper was cut and laid down, and the pea fence was poked through. Next, I planted the seeds while Sam secured the fence with stakes and twine. We went through and checked all of the weed paper in the garden and tried to make sure it was moist and secure. Tonight will be the test - a nice windy rainstorm vs that paper that is supposed to be able to survive an entire season. Hoping for the best!!

So the summary of what we have planted is arugula, 5 kinds of lettuce, and peas. Patches of grass were seeded and 1/3 of the lawn was overseeded. Anxious that vacation time is running out, but excited for what may . . . . or may not . . . . .grow in our backyard.

Well we did it - today the plot was finished and ready for planting. We made that paper plan a reality today by using landscaping stakes and twine to mark off the walkways. I read that it was important to have walkways so that you don't compact the soil the plants will be searching for nutrients in and so that you don't spend money on soil amendments for areas where there aren't even plants. Next we amended the soil where they lettuce and arugula was to be planted. After that we cut and laid down biodegradable weed blocking mats/paper. Supposedly these will block weeds from growing but allow our veggies to grow and at the end of the season you can just work it back into the soil. Finally we planted the lettuce and arugula. *Note: The strange looking space leftover in the arugula patch is for subsequent plantings. We plan to plant some more in 3 weeks.*

That weed blocking paper sure makes our garden look silly. Hope it works. And we hope this garden grows some veggies because right now it looks fairly ridiculous.

The Plan

The late May planting plan

The previous post listed what I hope to plant this week. After Sam's birthday (aka late May) we plan to plant Butternut Squash, Zucchini, Peppers, Tomatoes, and Sunflowers (Sam still thinks they will look ridiculous but he seems less outraged when I speak of them). I will list information when I have it all. The peppers and tomatoes are coming as transplants so I won't have them until the mailman brings them . . . likely around May 19th.

We ordered from Seed Savers Exchange. We ordered the variety pack. There will be 6 kinds of tomatoes and 6 kinds of peppers and we do not choose them, the supplier does. Hopefully they will choose kinds that grow where we live and hopefully they will choose yummy kinds. Arugula, 5 kinds of lettuce, and this wild variety of peppers and tomatoes?? There could be some AMAZING salads in my future later this summer.

If you are following this blog and don't know that Sam and I have issues, we've attached a picture of our garden planning bulletin board. All the cool kids have garden planning bulletin boards.

I'll have Sam rotate the picture of the actual veggie garden layout and try to get it posted in the near future. Thank goodness for school vacation!!