Saturday, February 25, 2012

Tired of Waiting...

There are many more seeds where these came from.
We managed to get all of these into the ground though!
I just can't stand it anymore. I miss the overgrown rows of vegetables, the endless green, the daily checking of the garden to see what's ready to be picked. I was going to wait until March, but I AM TIRED OF WAITING! And I have all these seeds and this nice teenager friend who was willing to help me with my crazy drive to play Mother Nature. We planted half the rows this morning with garlic, and seeds: pumpkin, cucumber, carrots, romaine, peas, spinach, and two thick handfuls of yellow onion sets.

Everything was laid out in a very random way, following the permaculture theory that interplanting helps deter pests. (If you want random, enlist the aid of small children too!) The idea is that the variation throws pests off course and I shouldn't end up with a row of radishes that have been eaten to the stubs. We'll see if it works.

Here you can see the wider rows covered
with lots of organic matter. We did not
till the ground, in keeping with the permaculture
ideal of building soil by adding to it instead of
turning it each season.
Last year's rows were 1/3 the width of this year's so interplanting was a strange, haphazard attempt that led to a few plants growing in the pathways. I think this year's garden will be even bigger and better than before! The only downside I see is that harvesting will be a little more challenging, like an Easter egg hunt. But that sounds like fun to me.

I'm hopeful that all the dormant fig trees will wake up soon from their winter slumber. I know in the summer that the other garden plants are going to appreciate the shade those massive leaves will offer.

I'm still being patient with the plants in the greenhouse, which I will start to set into the garden next month, little by little. I tried a few zucchini plants but it was still too cold at night and they didn't make it.

If all the tomato seedlings I have started survive, there's going to be a bumper crop for both restaurants and extra to sell and share with friends and family. Salsa is starting to sound yummy already!

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