Garden Update

All this beautiful weather has me itching to get these plants in the ground. They're really starting to sprout up in their little peat pots - so much so that I'm worried that they've outgrown the pots. I'm not crazy enough to re-pot them and let them acclimate for another few weeks and THEN put them in the ground.

I bought clear plastic to put over the bed to help heat up the soil... I haven't done that yet. I don't know if I will. I should take out a thermometer and go find out how warm/cold the soil is. I guess optimum soil temperature for transplanting is between 65 - 85 degrees. I did, however, decide that I'm going to use weed screen to help reduce the amount of weeding I'll have to do. I bought a roll of that and some landscape pins to hold it down. I went to the garden center to buy compost (to add to each hole), mulch (to cover the weed screen), and fish/seaweed fertilizer during lunch today. Hopefully, now, all my financial investing is be done - well, except for the fish heads - which I'm kinda being wishy-washy about calling the fish market and asking them about them. I literally spent over $175 on stuff to start this garden. Hopefully I can get some free fish heads.

I dug out all the old herbs from the herb garden container (except the tarragon, which is growing quite nicely) and added some organic container soil to it. I'll probably plant the basil and parsley tomorrow night after work. I hope Mahoney's has garlic chives in stock. I really want to try growing those again. They were SOOOO yummy. This year, I'm more concerned about the usefulness of my herbs rather than the exotic-ness, beauty and variety that turned into a big forest last year. Who knows? I'm looking forward to tomato/potato salad, and will splurge on some fresh mozzarella to have with my heirlooms and basil...

Where the heck are the bees? I need bees to pollinate my strawberry plants!! They're blooming and I need bees!!! Maybe I should put the pot up on the deck rail for better access... Ah well, I guess strawberry plants "come back" every year, so if they don't produce fruit this (their first) year, then I'll have to be patient *sigh* take care of them over the winter, and wait for next year.

I don't know where my camera is...but when I find it, I'll take more pics of the garden in progress!

101 Things in 1001 Days - on my way to #11

While making myself more greatly aware of horticulture and the environment, I'm also being turned on to sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture refers to agricultural production that can be maintained without harming the environment. The best way to support such endeavors is to buy local - support family farms. That's where my #11 (shop at a farmers' market) comes in.

Karen G. has introduced me to the idea of buying "shares" of a local farm's annual crop through a CSA. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a partnership between a farm and a community of responsible consumers. By paying for your produce upfront in the winter and springtime, you become “shareholder” of the farm’s yearly harvest. And each week during the growing season (approximately 20 weeks), you receive a portion of your share. This sounds like a great idea, and I think I'm going to sign up this week through Farmer Dave's of Dracut, which has a weekly distribution in Tewksbury.

Check out this video to see how the CSA in Tewksbury works. If you can't see the full screen, click here.



A small share that feeds 1-2 people costs approximately $17.50 per week. That's not bad for veggies that were harvested the same day! However, the total cost has to be paid in full by June 1st. I wish I had learned about this sooner, and I could have done a payment plan, but it's all good. I DO want to support local farmers, particularly ones that use mainly organic methods. AND, I could quite possibly see more of Karen on distribution days!

Speaking of Karen, she bought me a coloring book to assist me with #21. Now I have to go get some crayolas!