Monday, April 27, 2009

Garden II (Planning and Planting)

Managed to get the first of my three gardens planted over the incredible weekend. Used a modified version of the French Intensive Method that has you placing plants in very close proximity to help in eliminating excessive weeding and maximize available space.

I have to admin as I started preparing the soil to place the first seeds I felt very apprehensive, like I was going to do something wrong or somehow screw-up the planting. Not having gardened since I was a small kid had left me thinking that this stuff was a lot harder than it really is. As usual I was OVER THINKING the situation. Within about 1/2 an hour I had settled into a planting routine and was able to relax and begin to see how much fun planting and caring for a garden can be.

While I was planting my little ones watched intently and I was even able to coerce the eldest away from playing with his dinosaurs for long enough to help me plant the red onion bulbs! It is great to see him developing an interest! *One thing I learned is that most of the early season plantings (lettuce, spinach, broccoli, carrots, etc.) are extremely difficult for small uncoordinated hands to manage effectively. Onion bulbs, peas and later season plantings such as beans will be much easier.

Here is what the book recommended for spacing:

Spacing
Broccoli - 12” sq – 1 Plant
Broccoli Rabe & Carrots – 3” in 12” sq – 16 Plants
Spinach – 4” in 12” sq – 9 Plants
Lettuce – 6” in 12” sq – 4 Plants
Peas – 4” in 12” sq – Separated by chicken wire

Basic planting guidelines around Garden #1 (April)
North
Row 1 - 4/25 Peas from seeds (supported w/chicken wire)
Row 2 -4/25 Peas from seeds (supported w/chicken wire)
Row 3 -4/25 Broccoli from seeds
Row 4 -4/25 Broccoli from seeds
Row 5 -4/25 Red Onions from started bulbs
Row 6 -4/25 Broccoli Rabe (one entire packet used)
Row 7 -4/25 Carrots from seeds
Row 8 -4/25 Spinach from seeds
Row 9 -4/25 Lettuce from seeds

Side Garden
Row 1 - 4/25 - Garlic (13 bulbs) and 20 Red Onions

3 comments:

  1. That is something I grew up with and that is gardening. I wish I had enough room to have a garden but I don't think my yard would sustain a garden.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fun!!

    We probably won't let Monkey help plant this year - but she sure will help harvest! lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. Potatoes!

    Where are the potatoes? Potatoes grow nicely, and the kids love to dig for them. They also taste better than any store bought ones.

    See about getting plenty of straw for the broccoli. If memory serves me right, they like cool feet.

    Regards,
    Albert
    The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles.
    The Range Reviews: Tactical.
    Proud Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for posting a comment. Your thoughts and suggestions are much appreciated!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...