An Elm City Veggie Garden

Oh, right I have a blog.

Steve — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 22:39:36 +0000

Well I’ve been neglecting my blog, but I have a good excuse. My wife had our baby last week. So the garden and the blog both look kinda bare.

I killed most of my seedlings this year, but I feel I have recovered pretty well. Thank you to the local farmers market. Oh and don’t worry about the rabbits they’re still eating everything in my garden.

I’m going to take a hiatus for a little while and then come back like a crappy hollywood reboot. New, improved, and probably worse then the original.

So I guess I’ll catch you guys on the flipside. Peace.

What kind of guard dog…

Steve — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:58:51 +0000

doesn’t protect my garden from Thumper (who clearly got fatter over the winter). Rocco the wife’s dog failed to even notice the large rabbit loitering in the yard.

Lucky for me none of the seeds have sprouted and I haven’t moved any of my seedlings outside. Which I need to pretty quick. I’m running out of real estate on the racks.

Plans for 2010

Steve — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:00:44 +0000

This year I plant to do a few things differently. Here is the run down.

1. I’m not planting any more dry beans. They’re cool to grow, but a pain to thresh and I can buy them bulk at the co-op for $1.99 a pound. Also they don’t really help with the second item.

2. I’m keeping score. Every activity in America is a competition and the better you are the more you’re a winner*. In the gardening world outside of giant pumpkins and potatoes. It’s poundage grown in your backyard and since I have a fair amount of square footage dedicated to vegtable gardens I’m going to attempt to keep track of it all. For bragging rights and… I guess that’s it, just bragging rights.

3. I’m not going to get mad at myself when I fail number 2, because I’ll get lazy and just guesstimate poundage. I usually fail at keeping a good garden journal, which is always annoying the next summer when I wish I wrote things down.

4. I’m going to role like the Native Americans. I’m going to plant the “three sisters” this year. I’ll plant the corn in hills of 4 and at the base I’ll plant some squash. Then around July 4th I’ll plant pole beans to climb up the corn. It should be pretty cool.

5. Grow a ton of veggies.

*You’re only a winner if you get all the hot chicks.

Peas in the ground

Steve — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:49:57 +0000

I’d get a picture, but I’m entirely to lazy and it’s raining. Last night I planted peas, beets, carrots, parsnips, kale, and chard.

I would have planted everything earlier (because this spring has been crazy warm), but this winter rye is like an evil weed that just won’t die. I keep mashing it, mauling it, and tearing it up and then turn around to see it growing upside down with the entire root ball exposed.

Clearly I didn’t read the fine print when planting a cover crop. Anyway I’ll go get some pics of the mess and post them later.

Oh, you little dink

Steve — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 23:30:32 +0000

We’re not even out of April and they’ve already started. Thumper decided my fence was inconvenience to him, so he dug under it. If he wants to dance we’ll tango.

Winter Rye…

Steve — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:35:14 +0000

Note to self when planting winter rye. Use less of it. I spent a couple hours with a long handled cultivator ripping it up and quickly realized you need a rototiller to flip a cover crop. I can’t really complain though, because we’re having a heat wave right now.

As you can see below I installed a new fence. It should keep out public enemy number one. Rocco the red zone dog. Well technically he’s number two now. The rabbits are number one.

Seedling update

Steve — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:26:44 +0000

Onions and Celery at about 3 weeks

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, and Brussels Sprouts at 12 days

Brassicas planted

Steve — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:21:41 +0000

I planted my broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and cabbage tonight.

And my onions showed up. Now if spring would just get here quicker.

First seeds planted

Steve — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:10:40 +0000

I finally got some time to start planting seeds. I planted my onions and celery seeds tonight. The celery is a little early, but I had some trouble with them last year.

A couple seeds go in each tray spot and then I set them upstairs in the south facing window. I’ll be planting my cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage next week.

Yes, page 2 on a google search

Steve — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:38:52 +0000

I forgot the name of my blog for a moment and decide to Google search it. To my surprise if you type in an elm city veggie garden blog in Google, I’m on page 2.

This blog is officially big time.

Anyway seeds are coming in. I’ll start planting stuff at the beginning of March and post way more then I have been.