Do we know how to garden?

I have tried to garden once before. We moved to our house in the country about ten years ago. We had about two acres at the time. I thought it would be a great opportunity to take advantage of the land we had. I planted a small, maybe 10’x10′, garden close to the house for easy watering.

It was a flop. The rabbits were consistently getting their share. The kids tried to help weed the garden and pulled most of the little bit of vegetables we had. The soil was horrible, very rocky. We didn’t realized there was several outbuilding that were buried where they sat. We did get some radishes and kohlrabi that year! (Smiles slightly.)

We decided to give it a try again this year. We were able to buy three more acres around our existing property (that was originally part of it; that’s another story). We have an area mapped out where we’d like to plant it. This area was part of a field a few years ago.

Frozen Dirt

I already got my pots from Dollar Tree, a very successful trip, and I was headed to Wal-Mart. I collected most of the seeds the kids and I had discussed. I walked around the area looking for potting soil or dirt mix. Finally, I used the app and it shows it should be outside. (We just had a blizzard the day prior.) I attempt to go outside to the garden section and the doors are locked but I can see what I need.

After several mix ups at the register, I got two bags of dirt and one bag of potting mix which were completely frozen. When I got them home, I put them on the heating pads which I’ll use for starting seeds inside. After two days, the soil is nice and warm.

Mint

While I was walking around Wal-Mart trying to figure out what I needed and looking for something to eat for myself, I came across a mint plant in the produce section.

We have talked about planting herbs as well. I don’t know much about them or how to handle them. I don’t seem to do well with indoor plants so we’ll see if this guy makes it until I can transplant him outside. I have noticed in the two days of having him that his leaves are starting to welt. I did give him a little plant food water and removed him from the sun. My daughter informed me he should not be in direct sunlight. We’ll see if this helps.

The Seeds

I looked at several different seeds and companies. When I had planted the flop garden several years ago I had ordered from Gurney’s. They were very helpful if I had questions and shipping went without a hitch. I even ordered a cherry tree from there and so far, hasn’t died from my hand. I planted rhubarb from Gurney’s and this has been doing well.

Since my main goal is to be able to grow something, anything, I went with traditionally Burpee for most of my seeds. I know they have an organic line as well but I wanted to keep cost down. There was a couple things I couldn’t find in Burpee. I ended up getting Ferry-Morse cabbage. We had talked about getting Kohlrabi because my husband enjoys that. I was able to find it at Norby’s. If we succeed this year than maybe new year we’ll look into organic and a different/better company if there is one.