Planting with My Boys

The boys have been really into the garden this year and are Daddy's little helpers. I must say in prior years it has mostly been me trying to keep little hands from pulling out plants and little feet from stomping them, but this year has been a welcome change. More actual gardening, and less shielding/protecting/reviving of plants.

Ethan and I planted potatoes in his garden up on the hill back on 4/29. He still calls them "tomatoes", for some reason never able to pronounce "potatoes", but is nonetheless very excited about them. He still wanted me to give him instructions but insisted on doing the actual planting (digging the hole, placing the potato, cover with soil, patting down with hands) and watering all himself. And, I must say, he did a great job! They have been up for a while and are growing great!

The original plan was to give Ethan and Adam each their own mound up on the hill for gardening and planting whatever each of them wanted. Ethan quickly squashed that idea, insisting that he needed both mounds and that Adam could "share Daddy's garden". Adam didn't seem to care one way or the other, so I caved (as I too often do) to Ethan's wishes, and Ethan got to claim both mounds up on the hill as "his garden". When we planted green beans and cucumbers on the second mound this past weekend though, Ethan was nice enough to let Adam help plant the seeds (although he was given a strict quota of 4 and only 4 seeds).

It was absolutely gorgeous weather this past weekend, and I got all but the tomatoes and peppers planted in my/Adam's garden. Espada (bush) beans, soybeans (edamame), 2 varieties of zucchini, 3 of summer squash, butternut winter squash, and 2 varieties of cucumber all went in. I was planning on waiting until late May/early June to plant these, but the weather was so warm and the 10-day forecast looks good so I'm rolling with it. Plus random sprouts are coming left and right out of the compost pile I built on top of the bed where I planned to put the zucchini, summer squash, and winter squash, so I figured the compost is finished enough for planting. Okay, enough about my garden, here are pictures of me and the boys planting in Ethan's garden:

Ethan carefully placing the potato sections in the holes (back on 4/29)

Proud Ethan (and even prouder Daddy) after the planting

Planting the cucumbers. Notice the bike helmets -- safety first! :-)

Adam planting 1 of his 4 seed quota

Watering the potatoes

Chinese Cabbage (self-sown from last year's plants that went to seed)

Ethan likes to check on his "tomatoes" every day

He also likes to pick a few leaves of lettuce every day, and is very proud to share with
Adam and Mommy out of his garden

First Harvest and Many Plantings

Quick update since my last post (4/24):

• Planted Potatoes and Beets (4/29)
• I am a very bad estimator of time til harvest
• First arugula salad (finally! - 5/13)
• Planted Broccoli, Nasturtiums, Borage, and Calendula (5/13)
• Potatoes and Beets are up
• Peas, Lettuce, and Arugula growing strong (albeit slowly)

So it turns out my estimate of arugula in "a few days" and lettuce in "a week" were just a wee bit off. More like 2 1/2 weeks for the arugula and 3 weeks and counting on the lettuce. We hit a cold patch (including a couple nights in the low 20s which killed the potato, beet, and nasturtiums that I highlighted as random compost-related sprouts in last post) which seemed to "freeze" the arugula and lettuce as they just held steady and didn't seem to grow at all for a couple weeks. The recent return to warmth has gotten everything growing and moving again, and we finally had our first baby arugula salad of the spring. The lettuce is not far behind it, so we should be getting regular salads starting soon (fingers crossed). The peas are growing well, as are the potatoes I planted with the boys back on 4/29. We did one row of Green Mountain potatoes (from last year's garden harvest) and one row of an Unnamed (but delicious) potato that was leftover from the many delicious CSA deliveries we received through the winter (they started to sprout so I figured I'd save a couple for planting). Ethan also planted a couple potatoes in his garden. Both boys are really into the garden this year, and I have to keep reminding Adam that he cannot just help himself to arugula any time he wants (come to think of it, that probably didn't help in the delay to first salad :-) ).

We also transplanted the broccoli into the garden on 5/13. Two starts from my Dad (thanks Dad!) and 6 from a local nursery, I planted each one with a big handful of worm castings (finally putting the worm farm to good use), so I'm cautiously optimistic my broccoli will be more successful this year (not very productive last year, just lots of little side shoots). I also planted them in one of the compost piles I started last fall, so if they don't turn out this year, I might have to give up on growing broccoli!

Oh, and a quick note on the non-veggie plantings. I'm planting nasturtiums and borage mostly because they reportedly attract beneficial insects.  So I'm planting them right in the middle. Both produce pretty flowers (I'm particularly fond of nasturtiums which I tried last year for the first time. This is my first experiment with borage), but they are also both edible so as an added bonus we can try them in our salads! The Calendula is also a first-time experiment and I'm growing strictly for the pretty flowers to beautify my garden (not that veggie plants aren't beautiful all on their own).

Now for some pictures...

Broccoli is in!

Potatoes are up

Lettuce (Mesclun Mix)

Arugula - if you haven't grown arugula you really should - it is delicious!

Beet seedlings emerging from the ground

Suger Snap Peas growing strong

Ethan's garden (potatoes on left, chinese cabbage in middle (self-seeded from
last year's crop), and mesclun mix lettuce on right

Ethan's potatoes (closer up)

The garden from the hill

My new favorite salad -- arugula, beets, and goat cheese (yum!)

Grow Seedlings Grow

Update since last post:

• Lettuce and arugula almost ready for first harvest 
• First Peas are up
• Lots of random sprouts
• Worms going to work on compost

I was a little late in ordering my 2012 seeds and two weekends ago was beautiful weather for planting, so I couldn't wait. I used the remnants of last year's Sugar Ann Snap Peas and legume inoculant (used by the plants for nitrogen fixation) and planted the first of 4 rows. I'm using both of my A-frame trellises and putting side-by-side in one of my 4x4ft beds. Last year I used one trellis for peas (Sugar Snap Peas on one side and Garden Peas on the other), but this year I'm using both trellises for sugar snap peas only (they were a big hit last year in the Stockwell household). I planted that first row on 4/15 and they are already up 9 days later (4/24). The remaining 3 rows I planted 4/20 once the seeds finally arrived but those are not up yet. Just checked the garden today for the first time in days (deluge of rain the past couple days) and lots of random, fun things are sprouting in various places (none of which I planted). There's a nasturtium in one of last year's beds, plus what look to be a potato plant and a beet in one of the other beds on top of which I composted last year's plants when I pulled up the garden in the fall (must be where the potato and beet came from since I didn't plant either in that spot last year).

I also decided to start a compost pile on the 14x4ft bed closest to the house last Fall. I collected loads and loads of fallen leaves and chopped them up along with grass clippings with my mower by running them over multiple times. I then piled the chopped leaf/grass combo on top of the bed, into which I buried our food scraps for the next couple months (until everything froze up solid and I moved my composting effort inside into a giant garbage bin in the garage -- more on that later). To say I am a little obsessed with compost in an understatement. What can I say, composting is fun and really satisfying even if the wife thinks I'm a little nutty :-) Anyway, my plan was to let this compost pile finish decomposing in the spring to be ready to plant squash (zucchini, summer squash, and winter squash) by June 1 since squash seems to love compost. As of a couple weeks ago, I was pretty sceptical my plan was going to work, as the decomposition was slow and I was worried it wouldn't be ready in time. But I turned the pile today, there were loads of worms doing their thing, and I am now cautiously optimistic that my original plan is going to work. We will see.

Arugula back on 4/15

5 days later (4/20)

4 days after that (4/24) -- Arugula only a few days away from harvesting (hopefully!)

Mesclun Mix Lettuce (4/24) - maybe a week away?

1 row planted 4/15 (last year's seeds)

Remaining 3 rows of Sugar Snap Peas planted 4/20 (2012 seeds), with help from E & A (not pictured)

Random Nasturtium that sprouted in last year's bed (where I had squash and nasturtiums together). I'm thinking of letting it grow and plant around it.

1st Row of Peas are up (4/24) - 9 days after planting

Peas up close

Random Potato (I think) sprouting in last year's bed/compost

Random Beet (I think) sprouting in same bed/compost

Compost pile built on top of bed last fall (to be used for planting squash later in season). Recently turned and...

...filled with worms (hooray!)

Garden Prep and First Plantings

I planted the first veggies of the young season very early this year (March 28th) right after a string of crazy warm weather. Of course, right after planting it returned to normal early spring weather (read: cold and rainy/snowy) in Maine. About 10 days in and the Mesclun Mix Lettuce isn't up yet, but the Arugula came up a few days ago and seems to be doing okay so far despite a few below-freezing nights.

Ethan was pretty upset to find out I had planted some veggies without him, so we made sure to plant some more Mesclun Mix in his garden this past weekend. This is his first year having his "own" garden space, so he is very excited to take over the small garden area on the "hill" behind the main garden. It's only two small mounds (each about 6-8 sqft) but should be a perfect size for him to plant a few of his favorite veggies and manage (plant, weed, water, harvest) the area all on his own.

After 3 years of gardening (and lots and lots of composting!!!), I feel like I have finally gotten the soil to a good place (it always can be improved though of course). I started raised beds last year for the first time, so my plan is to use no-till methods where I disrupt the soil as little as possible going forward. I will add finished compost (maybe an inch or more if I can?) on top of the soil each year but otherwise not disrupt the soil structure for the most part. We'll see this year how well this works (or doesn't work).

So the soil's in a decent semi-steady state but sunlight is one area that I felt could be improved. Most of the garden gets sunlight from 8ish to 5ish but there is a gap from 12:00 to 1:30 where a tree blocks much of the garden and then another tree that blocks parts from 2:00 to 3:30 or so. There is nothing I can do about the second tree (too nice to consider removing) but the first tree has been bothering me for a couple years. I decided this winter that it can be sacrificed for the greater good of the garden. I had mixed feelings about killing a perfectly healthy tree but it wasn't particularly attractive (it's a white pine on the edge of our woods) and I justified it's removal by thinking about the extra 20% of sunlight the garden should hopefully receive as well as the other surrounding trees getting more sun as a result of the big one being removed. My Dad brought his chain saw over yesterday (Easter Sunday) and helped me take it down. Let's hope the extra sun results in extra delicious and abundant veggies this year!

Ethan preparing his garden for planting

The main garden raised beds. View from the hill (where Ethan's garden will be this year)

Planting the mesclun mix lettuce seeds

Proud gardener

Watering the newly planted seeds

The Arugula sprouted about 7 days after planting. So far has survived a couple hard frosts.

Lettuce and Arugula planted bottom left. Black plastic used to warm soil in prep for planting later in Spring. Green tripod sprinkler (between beds) is what I plan to use for watering this year

View from the middle of the garden beds, looking up where the tree was (wish I had gotten a "before" shot, but the "after" shot will have to do). The old tree filled up the space where the dark cloud is now

Another "after" shot. The big white pine used to be right in the middle, a few feet into the woods, taller than any of the surrounding trees

Dad and Ethan checking out the felled tree

Counting the rings -- about 40. Sorry Old Buddy.