We missed a 20 year high flood while out of town. Our garden was pounded, but our house is far enough from the creek and larger rivers to be safe (oh, and that photo is NOT our house). Horses were floating down the creeks and everyone said it was an exciting time (nobody was hurt though and all the cows & horses lived!).

Speaking of our garden……. I still have four things to plant: Squash, Pumpkins, Watermelons, & Beets. Even though it is high time to plant, we are late because of the enormous amounts of rain (and we should have planted before the rains started).

Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Pole Beans, & Marigolds made it in on time.

Here is our lettuce & spinach patch. This has been my absolute FAVORITE!

What about Kristen’s Chickens?
You’ve probably been wondering if they are out of the house. Well the answer is YES…. They ARE…. and we never even had to chase loose chickens in our living room.

Last but not least: the fruit trees. We will have a lovely year of blueberry picking and peach pies. Look at the start of these yummy fruits!

Next few days I’ll be writing about “Killdeers Harassing Me In My Driveway”. Weird huh?

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If you want to have a garden, no matter how big, this show is for you!!
Emily, an experienced Gardener from Mississippi, gives a fabulous lesson on starting, maintaining, and harvesting from your garden.

I have very little experience with all of this, but after doing this interview with her I feel SO confident that I can do it. Well, atleast try….who knows how much will grow?

Below are some of Emily and Mark’s notes for you to review when the time comes to plant your own garden: Basic Tools Needed, Tilling, Making Rows, Planting, Harvesting, Weed Control, and Bugs!

Basic Tools Needed: For a teeny little garden, a hoe will go a long way, but if you’re going that route, don’t forget a sunhat & gloves, b/c you’ll be spending LOTS of time out in the garden! For a good sized garden (Mark says really for ANY garden), a tiller is almost a must-have item. Walk-behind tillers come in a big variety of sizes & prices. Lehman’s even has a manual one that my husband thinks is so neat! Aside from the hoe and/or tiller, it’s also great to have a hand-held pump sprayer, and a hand spreader, for fertilizer. My personal favorite “tool” is my husband and his Case tractor and disc! Amazing time saver!

Till: Till plot of land using walk-behind tiller, tractor w/ disc, or for very small plots, a hoe.

Fertilize the Soil: After garden plot is tilled, spread fertilizer. Other optional additions are lime (helps activate fertilizer) and a granulated herbicide for grass control. We use 8-8-8 for fertilizer. All these can be found at your local co-op, feed store, or nursery. You’ll now re-till the plot, to “mix” the fertilizer. For organic gardening, use a compost that you have made up yourself.

Making Rows: There are several ways to make your rows. The first is to just let the second tilling make the rows for you. Or, there is a plow attachment that fits on the tiller that you can use. This will make a taller bed, which will hold more moisture. And the third is to hoe. For a large plot, this is a huge amount of work. For a decent size garden, a tiller is really a must. (Check out Lehman’s).

Planting: There are a few different ways you’ll plant your garden. Some vegetables come in seeds, while others are already in plants. These can all be purchased at co-ops, feed stores, nursery’s or even Wal-Mart.
Trench: Using the pointed tip of a hoe, make a 1-11/2” deep trench down the middle of entire row. Sprinkle seeds by hand into the trench. Cover seeds lightly. This method is used for: Carrots, corn, peas, butter beans, and okra…

Holes for plants: For plants, such as tomatoes, bell & other peppers, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, & brussel sprouts, you’ll need to dig a hole deep enough to cover the root system of the plant. Then cover it, with leaves remaining above ground. *We fill our holes w/ water before dropping the plant in. The plants will need to be about 3 feet apart. (Bulbs will be done generally the same, but will need less spacing).
Three-seed holes: Some seeds, such as squash, zucchini, cucumbers & melons, need to be planted individually, in much the same way as the plants. This is actually fun, and is great for the kids: You make a small hole 1- 1 ½” deep and simply drop three seeds into each hole, then cover lightly (don’t pack). Like the plants, these will be done about 3 feet apart.

Pray for Rain & Watch it Grow!

Harvesting: Basically, you pick it when it looks done! For underground veggies, like carrots, you’ll one up here & there to test. The main thing is not to let your veggies be too long on the vine, and get too big. You’ll know by looking when things are ripe & ready to be picked.

Weed Control: There are several different things you can do for weed control, depending on your abilities & preferences: One is a spray herbicide, sprayed with a hand-held pump sprayer. Another is to till the rows until there is no room (plants get too big), and then use the hoe. Lastly, you can always remove weeds & grass with a hoe & your hands.

What about Bugs? We use a bug spray periodically as the garden grows. Obviously, we won’t be classified as Organic! You can study up on what plants and/or flowers to plant with your garden to help control bugs if you’re set on organic…or as Mark says, you can stand out there & swat! He sprays!

After the Harvest: After your garden is done, just till it and leave it for next year. There are a few options here. One is to just till it. Another is to till it with the lime on it. If this is done, there will be no need to add lime next spring. Lastly, you can plant a winter grass. When spring comes, just turn the grass over (till) for a rich soil.

Other Need-to-Know Facts:
Most people start their gardens shortly after Good Friday. This is not a hard & fast rule, mostly just tradition.
Some vegetables are planted a bit earlier than the rest, as they tend to not need or want such extreme heat: broccoli, cabbage, onions, cauliflower, green (sweet) peas. We also plant our corn earlier, to give it ample growing time before the extreme heat sets in.
You can plant in intervals if you wish to stagger and/or prolong your harvest. For example: We plant 24 rows of purple hull peas. But, we only plant 8 rows at a time, waiting 10-14 days before planting the next 8 rows. You can do this with most veggies, but you do run a risk later in the season of the weather (and thus your harvest) being less than optimal.
Don’t forget that tomatoes need to be staked up as they grow.

Go Have Fun!!!!

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That’s right! You don’t need a lot of land, or a tiller to start a garden. The above photo is my very first garden space. We started it last fall as a place for cold weather plants such as: turnips, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, etc. Right now you see turnips and lettuce thriving (all others died out over the winter).

How we made it:

1. Got 6 strawbales and formed it in a rectangle shape (this part if VERY versatile). We chose straw to keep it warm, and rectangle because that was the shape plastic board we had on hand to fit over it to provide a greenhouse effect.

2. Put a bunch of dirt in it.

3. Put some manure on it.

4. Plant some plants.

5. Remember to water it.

6. Catch some worms and put them in there (didn’t ever get to that though).

7. Take the top plastic off on very warm days so the plants don’t fry.

That’s all folks! What have you done for small easy garden spaces?

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First, we had to flip the soil. Big Tractor Go!

Flipping the Soil

That worked great! We flipped a large garden spot…. THEN we noticed a plot not too far away that looked like a garden had been there before. People in our area use a lot of manure and compost, so we knew the soil would be better there. Start over!

2 Garden Plots

Here is close up of the two soil. One has had a hundred years of manure cultivated in it along with several years of rest. Can you tell a difference?

We will be using the black gold, and re-seeding grass on the orange.

People flip the soil in February so that it will freeze several times. This helps break up the hard packs of soil that develop. Then, it is easier to disc and till. Speaking of discing…. that is what we did next. Don’t have photos of that process though. Oh-Before discing we limed and put down old manure. The lime provides correct Ph (I think) and the manure is natural fertlizer. You want to use old/dry manure not the “green” (or fresh) manure.

Next will be tilling. Post more on that later.

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I bought my heirloom seeds, starter soil, and small biodegradable pots. My daughters and I happily mixed the soil with water, and added it to the pots. Carefully we placed the seeds and just knew they would grow perfectly! Wrong!

I don’t know if it was the large south facing window- or the lack of consistent watering that caused the problem but my sprouts did not sprout as I thought they should. Less than half came up and the ones that did look long and spindly. Now we are off to a local woman who has been gardening all her life. People actually pay her to start their seeds.

She will share how to start the seeds correctly so that broccli, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and more will turn out just right.  So, keep an eye out for our upcoming video!

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