Growing Vertically

To make the most of a small garden plot, try growing your vegetables vertically with stakes or trellises. This year, we built trellises for the snap peas and pole beans.

What you need to make a simple, yet effective trellis:
4 - 1x2x8 pieces of lumber for the poles
4 - wood screws
2 packages of screw hooks (20 total)
String or twine (approximately 30 yards)
Level
Drill

Step 1: Arrange the screw hooks on two of the poles, spacing screw hooks 6-10 inches apart and alternating between poles.

Step 2: Use the drill to start the holes for each screw hook.

Step 3: Screw the hooks into the poles until secure.

Step 4: Drive two poles into the ground with a hammer. Poles should be approximately 8 feet apart.

Step 5. Join the two vertical poles at the top and bottom by attaching a horizontal poles with wood screws. Use the level to get the pole level.
Step 6: Starting at one end, string the twine through the hooks.

Alternate the twine between the top and bottom pole.

Step 7: Tie off the twine on other end.

Step 8: (optional) Use twist ties to support the plants until they are tall enough to climb the poles.

Step 9: Watch em grow!

Since peas are more of a cold weather crop, I build a trellis on the west side of the the peas for the pole beans. This is so that beans will help to shade the peas in the afternoon. 

Square Foot Gardening

It's okay to be square!

This year, I am experimenting with a square foot garden, in which I plant a variety of vegetables in a 1-foot grid. Here are some tips I used to get started:

 Step 1: Loosen up the soil with a fork, shovel and/or rotor tiller. Add compost and fertilizer, if needed.  (Thanks Katie & Dad!)

Step 2: Use a hammer to pound in wooden stakes on each corner.

Step 3: Continue to outline your 1-foot grid with string and wooden stakes, starting with the four corners.

Step 4: Create approximately 6 rows, spaced about a foot or two apart in one direction.

Step 5: Complete the grid by adding rows in the opposite direction.

Step 6:  Choose what to grow and plot where each veggie will go. Consider the following:

Sunlight: plant taller plants to the North so they do not shade the shorter plants.
Support: some plants like peas, cucumbers, and vine tomatoes will need a trellis. It’s best to put your trellis in a place where you can get to both sides of it, and where it won’t block your access to other plants.

Companions: Look up your vegetable using the Companion Planting Tool and make sure it’s “neighbors” are compatible.

Competing spaces: don’t plant vegetables next to each other that will be competing for the same space. For example, potatoes try to spread all over (or under!) so don’t put them next to onions or carrots.

 

Step 7: Follow the planting instructions on the seed package, planting seeds the appropriate depth and width. 

Some things to keep in mind:

Weather: It's best to plant seeds when the forecast is for overcast skies, light winds and slightly cooler temperatures. Hot, sunny days will dry out your soil faster, making it harder for your seeds establish a home in the soil.

Soil: Make sure to loose the dirt below seeds. Cover your seeds with fine soil and press lightly on top to set seeds in place.

Water: Always water your seeds after planting.

  

Step 8: Water the new seedlings. (I used water from our Sustain Dane rain barrel)

Step 9: Fingers crossed that it grows!  :)

Seedlings

Start seedlings indoors
Here are some tips to keep in mind when starting a garden:
Read the seed package or gardening book to find out how early to start your seedlings indoors. Some plants can be sewn directly into the garden.

Label your seedling containers so you know what you planted and when.

Place a lid or plastic bag over the containers at first to create keep moisture and heat in.

If planting seedlings in a cardboard or biodegradable container, watch out for mold! If there is too much moisture in your greenhouse environment, you may start to see mold growth on the outside of the container.  This could harm or even kill the plant.

Make sure to rotate your plant containers, so seedlings get even amounts of sunlight and they are not growing in one direction toward the light.

Have fun with a variety of plants and containers.  Here, I planted cat grass in a boot, so that Charlie can enjoy some grass later this summer.

My Not-so-Green Thumb

Okay - so the 2010 gardening season has not gotten off to a great start.  I tried planting my seedlings in some cardboard, biodegradable cups. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I thought a material that could be planted right into the garden would spare the Earth of yet more plastic containers.  Unfortunately, it only took a week before the cardboard cups started to mold and the few seedlings that actually emerged withered and died. So it was back to square one!

I reluctantly reverted back to plastic. This time, I planted Roma tomatoes, jalapeños, banana peppers, yellow, green and red peppers, cayenne peppers and two ornamental peppers.  A few days passed and there were no signs of life in the black plastic cups.  And just as I was about to declare my garden project a complete failed, it was broccoli that come to the rescue.  The little green seedlings look great and I can once again see the faintest glimpse of a green thumb.

Planting Schedule

 I will need to start growing some seedlings indoors. The following is the planting schedule for the 2010 garden:

9 weeks
Lamb's Ear (3/1/10)
Pepper Chile - Cayenne Blend
Sweet Banana Pepper
Sweet Yolo Wonder Pepper
Little Bluestem Grass (3/13/10)
Lobelia Cascade of Color (3/1/10)
Pentunia (3/1/10)

8 weeks
Nosegay Pepper
Jalapeno M Pepper
Orange Thai Pepper
Yellow Pepper
Globe Amaranth Flower (3/13/10)
Bunny Tails (3/13/10)
Ballade Mixture (3/13/10)

7 weeks
Roma Tomato
Cauliflower
Snapdragons

6 weeks
Broccoli

3-4 weeks
Beets
Zinnas

10 days
Red Milkweed

Outdoors
Rostov Sunflower
Lupine Sunrise
Nasturtium
Snap Peas
Tritoma - Red Hot Poker
Leeks
Lupine Russell Hybrids Mix
Lupine - Prairie
Mesclun Lettuce Mix
Mongolian Sunflower
Garden Pole Bean – Green
Purple Podded Pole Bean
Spinach – Bloomsdale
Lettuce
Amish Snap Pea
Ladybird Nasturtium

Think Spring

Today is February 28. The temperature outside is a cool 32 degrees under a gray, overcast sky. A few flurries are certainly not out of the question. On a wintry day like today, what better way to "think spring" than to make a visit to the garden store for seeds.

Although I have a small garden, I have big plans for an abundant supply of vegetables and flowers.

I hope to grow the following:
Green and purple pole beans
Beets
Brococoli
Cauliflower
Greens – variety of lettuce
Herbs
Leeks
Green, red, yellow bell peppers
Jalapeno peppers
Banana peppers
Ornamental peppers
Chile peppers
Spinach
Giant sunflowers
Strawflowers
Bunny Tails
Lamb’s Ear
Lupine
Red Milweek
Little Bluestem
Tritoma - Red Hot Poker
Nastrutium
Roma Tomatoes
Lobelia