Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Garden Update

Well, I haven't done this in a while.  I'm in a new house, and I'm starting a new garden from scratch.  I'm even in a new growing zone, and I've heard that gardening here will be more difficult than anything I've ever experienced.  My previous homes have all had their challenges.  My townhouse way back when was situated so close to a stream that my back yard was a marsh for weeks after it rained.  My first single family home was in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.  Surrounded by trees, I had a difficult time finding a sunny spot that was far enough away from the Black Walnut trees.

Now I'm in the high desert of Colorado.  The season begins later, and ends earlier.  There's less natural water, and I may actually have to water my vegetables every day (gasp!).  Virginia I could almost forget about it.  I tended of course, and watered on a weekly basis.  Picked for slugs, and kept things healthy.  However now I"m in a territory I don't know, so I'll have to learn as I go I suppose.


Yesterday my daughter and I finally got around to planting some tomato seeds.  I tend to stick to heirlooms whenever possible, and yesterday we planted Brandywines.  I'll do a couple of varieties of tomatoes throughout the season, and I'll start canning them in either August, or September, depending on the season here.  In Virginia, tomatoes grow like weeds.  They're hard to mess up.  I hear that in Colorado it's not the same, and depending on the year they can grow great, or they can fail miserably.


My friend Salix recommended this wonderful man to make these boxes for me over the passed few weeks.  The previous owner of this house had rabbits, and had a little fenced in area for her rabbits.  I thought this area was perfect to keep the kids and dog, and *ahem* rabbits out of my garden.  This coming up weekend I should have a delivery of dirt, so I can actually start working the ground.  I'm excited to see what this barren space will look like in a few months.

Anyone else starting something new this season?

4 comments:

  1. all my seeds have germinated fine except the Vervain. . . . what's up with that? cool blog, dear friend! xxoo

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  2. I will be very interested to watch your garden grow. I live in the deep south and we have early springs and long hot summers. I've already gotten all of our squash, zuchini,tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, and melons in the ground.

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  3. I like the boxes, they look great... Nice and deep too! I plan to plant my tomatoes after the next full moon, 18th. We "shouldn't" see another frost after then. I love Brandywines and they may actually do well there. They hate weather that is too hot. Mine would only fruit in spring/fall... nothing through the summer. Because of this issue, I didn't plant any this year. I am going to try mortgage lifter instead.

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  4. That area with the boxes looks like it will be great for gardening. I'm in San Diego which is mostly desert so it is hard grow much here.

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