Building the Beds

The garden is coming together, slowly but surely. We've been busy preparing the beds, so I don't have much plant news. My husband has been a trooper - building beds, shoveling dirt, lifting windows, and pretty much just being an all-around good guy. He's fun to be around when he's working... plus he's great to look at! ;-)

We now have four 4x4 raised beds (15" high). We stapled hardware cloth to the bottom to deter rabbits (and rodents) from coming up from the bottom like they did in my last bed. (Those little buggers!!!) We have an existing 4x12 bed that was badly in need of revitalizing. We removed the trees growing in there (yes, trees!!!), broke up the sod, and we're sifting all the dirt through hardware cloth (almost done with this). We also have plans for one more 4x12 bed. All told, we'll have 160 sq ft of raised bed gardening space.

The area entire area is tilled and ready to be organized into cute little gardens. The beds need a bit of leveling, since our site is on a small slope, which is why we made them smaller (4x4). So it's not as easy as just plunking them down as they are. I have two out of three leveled as I want them. Hope to get to the others tomorrow but work beckons so I'm not sure if I'll have time.

Also found some amazing free soil on Craigslist. Was expecting rocky "fill" with lots of rocks, but got black dirt that is almost like potting soil. No rocks, no sod, and decent aeration. Neutral ph. Testing for lead tonight. Will test for P, N, K tomorrow. DH and I have made two trips already, probably need to do at least one more to get enough. Plan to mix it with peat moss and horse manure (also a find on Craigslist).

Just an Update

It's been awhile since I posted, so I thought a short update might be in order.

General News: I purchased a few more utility lights for my seedlings and we converted a set of shelves into a better spot for my plants. We were getting sick of having to move the seedlings every time we wanted to do laundry. This new shelving system will work much better and be out of the way. It's not completely done yet but when it is I'll post a picture. We also picked up a couple of free windows for the cold frames today. They are beautiful 2'x5' casement windows and it's a shame we'll only be using them for a cold frame. We got them from a construction crew that was replacing all the windows in a whole house... Beautiful large, fancy windows... all going into the dumpster. What a waste. I'm glad we're going to be re-purposing a few, but it's a shame the rest will not be used. I also had a load of free wood chips delivered from a landscape company yesterday. It's amazing what you can get for free when you keep your eyes open (and you make good use of a feed reader!). We'll be working a lot on the outdoor gardens this weekend, so I hope to post some pictures. I meant to post my garden plan so we'll see if I can get to that before we actually have the garden built! On to specific plant news...

Leeks: They are still growing but slowly, but I think that's what they're supposed to do, so I guess that's a good thing. I keep meaning to move them to individual pots but I keep not having enough time. Maybe since they're growing so slowly I don't need to move them?

Pansies: They are also still growing but pretty slowly. I'm not sure if that's right so all I can do is wait and see. All of them have their first leaf set and some of them are starting a new shoot to form their second leaf set (the first "real" set). I'm impatient with these... I'd like to be able to plant them outside in a few weeks but I don't think that will happen. I will start these at least one month earlier next year.

Melons/Watermelons: Four out of five have sprouted and are looking good. I have transferred all the small plugs to larger peat pots and so far they are doing really well.

Others: I really want to plant some annuals for the business planters but I'm much too late, so I may just skip it. Also, I feel like I need to be planting something else but I can't remember what. I made a calendar based on days to maturity, time to harvest, etc. but I can't find it in the mess that is my house right now. We are redoing our home office so things are quite chaotic in the living room. More later...

Melon Baby

One of my melon seeds sprouted yesterday, so I have to move it to the light. I'm worried about it because it's much colder than the heating duct, but I'll have to give it a try.


I'm planting my melon seeds every two weeks, starting early, as an experiment to see if I can get fruit earlier in the summer.


I moved it from the plug it started in to a larger peat pot that I'm hoping it can stay in until I plant it. That may be wishful thinking though, because already the little melon sprout was pushing through the bottom of the small plug!

First Melon Sprout

My melon flat has been sitting on a stretch of duct work for the warmth.  One of them sprouted today!  I'll post a picture tomorrow when I move the plug to the light.  

More Seedlings

Planted melon and watermelon seeds today.  Will plant in two week succession.

A Look at Varieties

Most of the vegetables we buy in our grocery stores today are infertile and cannot produce another plant from the seed it produced. In addition, these fruits and vegetables are bred for their shelf life and uniformity, not their nutrition or taste (which I find completely backwards). I find it strange that we need to have seeds called "heirloom varieties" which basically mean that they are normal seeds that can produce a plant year after year (not necessarily a perennial, simply meaning that if you save the seeds properly, you can have another plant just like it the next time you plant the seed). For more on heirloom varieties, check out the wiki page. Another great resource is the Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa.

Without going into a long lecture, suffice it to say that I've chosen all heirloom varieties because I believe in the importance of preserving our food freedom (more on how seed manufacturers are working for a monopoly here). I ordered my seed from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in February, a company that does not carry Monsanto or GMO seed.

Of course I completely over-purchased - February in Minnesota is pretty cold, and all the plants looked like so much fun! Below is a list of what I plan to plant. The categories are probably not botanically correct, just how I separate them in my mind. Also, I will only be planting a few of each of the varieties, as my goal is to have variety through the winter.

Root Vegetables
Beets: Detroit Dark Red, Golden
Carrots: Danvers 126 Half Long, Lunar White, Muscade, St. Valery
Celeriac: Giant Prague
Parsnip: Hollow Crown
Radish: China Rose, Miyashigi Diakon, Round Black Spanish
Rutabaga: Laurentian
Turnip: Navet Des Vertus Marteau, Purple Top White Globe

Melons/Squash
Cucumber: Himangi, Uzbekski (believe it or not, these are storage cucumbers! We'll see...)
Gourd: Dishcloth or Luffa
Melon: Casaba-Golden Beauty, Eden's Gem (Rockyford Green-Flesh), Valencia Winter Melon
Winter Squash: Thai "Rai Kaw Tok", Iran, Lady Godiva, Pipian from Tuxpan, Queensland Blue, Sugar Loaf Delicata, Tennessee Sweet Potato
Watermelon: Ice Cream, Stone Mountain

Leafy Greens
Chard: Rainbow (Five Color Silverbeet), Oriole Orange
Endive: De Meaux
Kale: Dwarf Siberian
Lettuce: Val D'Orges
Spinach: Gigante D'Inverno

Green Vegetables
Broccoli: Early Purple Sprouting, Waltham 29
Brussel Sprouts: Long Island Improved
Cabbage: Mammoth Red Rock, Premium Late Flat Dutch
Celery: Tendercrisp
Fennel: Di Firenze
Kohlrabi: Early White Vienna
Leek: Giant Musselburgh

Herbs
Parsley: Hamburg Rooted
Cilantro: (no variety name)
Parsley: Giant of Italy
Tarragon: Russian
Oregano: Vulgare

Miscellaneous
Tomato: Dad's Sunset, Moonglow, Thessaloniki, Egg, Rev. Morrow's Long Keeper, Green Skin Long Keeper
Amaranth: Love-Lies-Bleeding-Red
Sunflower: Mammoth Grey Striped
Garden Berries: Hardy Kiwi

Whew! As always, I'm overly ambitious. I may not be planting all of these, we'll see what space allows. I hope to get my garden plan posted soon.

Pansies Sprouted!

Miracle of miracles, my pansies sprouted today. They look a bit weak, but then again they have been in the dark, so I'm not sure what I expected them to look like. Since only some of them sprouted, I'm now stuck with the decision on whether to keep them in the dark or move them to the light. I think one more day in the dark, and then we'll see where we are.

I forgot to take a picture when my leeks sprouted, so here's where they are today, looking fairly healthy I think. I do have to consider transplanting them sometime soon, although I don't have a tray to move them to.

Leeks Sprouted!

Today I got home to find that my leeks had sprouted! All week I had been keeping them moist, using a spray bottle and covering in plastic wrap. I kept them under the light all the time (did not shut off at night). Still no word from the pansies.

First Seedlings

Well I haven't figured out my garden layout and plan yet, but I did plant some seedlings. I don't have a seedling area in my basement, so I just lowered a utility light I had above my washing machine as low as it would go, and added some plastic bins to bring the seedlings high enough. I planted pansies and leeks.

From what I've read, pansies need complete darkness and steady moisture to germinate, and even then sometimes they won't sprout. So I'm taking my chances, I guess! I'm doing mostly vegetables but decided to try some flowers for the planters outside my place of business. It's so expensive to buy the little plants at the nursery in the spring! I planted a tray of 72 pansies. I covered the tray with plastic wrap to retain moisture, then covered the whole thing with a piece of cardboard to keep it dark.















To save tray space, I planted the leeks in an old plastic bin. I barely covered the seeds, made sure they were moist, covered with plastic wrap, and then put them directly under the light.

History and Purpose

So I'm fairly new at this gardening thing, and every book or expert says to keep a gardening journal, so I thought a blog might be a good idea. I've also looked around for anecdotal advice on gardening in the Twin Cities (Minnesota), but have come up fairly short, so I thought sharing my experiences online may help others. Keep in mind I'm new at this!

History of me gardening: When I was a kid we had a large garden full of all sorts of veggies. Unfortunately, I didn't pay too much attention to what we were doing and I was pretty young so I can't remember too much. More recently, I had a small 48 sq ft garden where I grew tomatoes, carrots, beans, lettuce and some other stuff I can't remember. I was wildly successful actually, my two tomato plants ended up looking like a JUNGLE and we had fresh veggies for months. I attribute my success with that garden to the soil mix I used. Unfortunately, I didn't keep a good record of the soil mix, the mix was much too expensive to reproduce on a larger scale, and the garden only lasted a few years because I started a business and got too busy. I haven't gardened since and the rabbits have completely ravaged my old garden plot. I joined a CSA as a way to still get fresh veggies through the summer and also support healthy farming practices.

Purpose of my garden: I still have a share in a CSA, so I don't really need vegetables through the summer. My purpose with my new garden is to have vegetables to store in a root cellar through the winter. I hope to have tomatoes in December and carrots in March! I am concentrating on vegetables that I can either store in a root cellar, overwinter in the garden, or grow in a cold frame through the winter months. More on varieties later. Also, I will be trying to plant everything as late as possible (except fruits, grains, nuts) to have the freshest vegetables possible to store.

Although I've already received my seed order, I'm still in the planning stages. Next post I'll try to touch on my garden layout and varieties.