Seed catalogs began coming in the mail again… it’s hard to believe that it’s time to begin thinking about gardening. Especially when it was 5 degrees with a foot of snow.
(Do you like my hardcore house slippers?)
But, it’s time to begin planning our second year garden. Which means we should review our first year of gardening. Better late than never. =)
(This will be a long post, but bear with me. Or just come back tomorrow.)
Vegetables
This was our initial layout for the vegetable garden in 2009.
(it did change a little – we added strawberries and pumpkins and deducted the peas and beans)
Here is the progress of the garden throughout the summer:
May 2009
Built the garden beds
Planted the first seedlings
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
These pictures make me long for spring. Even weeding sounds better than trudging through the snow.
What grew well:
- Tomatoes – esp. the cherry tomatoes
- Leaf lettuce
- Radishes
- Eggplant – went crazy
- All the peppers did fab, they love the full sun
- Pumpkins – these took up a lot of space, but I loved having the small pumpkins from the garden
- Cucumbers
- Marigolds – while these were more for looks, they just thrived and really brought extra color to the garden
What grew moderately well:
- Broccoli – tasted great, but took too long and too much space for a small garden (do not plant in 2010)
- Cauliflower – tasted great, but took too long and too much space for a small garden (do not plant in 2010)
- Strawberries – we got most of these plants for free from the neighbors. They didn’t produce a lot, but I think they will do better this year.
What grew poorly:
- Iceberg lettuce – did really well until they started to form heads, they they got gooey
- Onions – I planted these from seeds, and they didn’t have enough time to grow
- Carrots – just didn’t grow
We will double the garden space for 2010 (most of this will be Ryan’s corn).
2010 garden plans should include:
- Tomato (4 plants/square feet, vining)
- Leaf lettuce (1 square foot + window boxes, staggered)
- Radishes (2 square feet, staggered)
- Peppers (jalapeno, banana, sweet bell) (8 plants/square feet)
- Eggplant (1 plant/square foot)
- Cucumber (3 plants/square feet, vining)
- Small pumpkins (1 plant/square feet, vining)
- Strawberries (3 square feet)
- Marigolds (4 square feet)
- New: Garlic (fall)
- New: Onion sets (2 square feet)
- New: Zucchini (1 square foot, vining)
- New: Pole beans (up the corn, vining)
- New: CORN!!! (Ryan is very excited about this one)
Herbs
We planted a TON of herbs in 2009. We put them in window boxes on the deck. To be honest, some of them went to waste. So, I’m just sticking to the best this year – those that we use regularly and those that smell darn good.
2010 herbs plans should include:
- Basil
- Cilantro (in the ground)
- Lemon balm
- Oregano
- Mint
- Thyme
- Sage
- Parsley
Starting seeds
Here’s how starting seeds indoor went for us in 2009. (so-so)
In 2010, I’ll start eggplant, tomatoes and peppers from seed in the house. I’ll start most of the herbs, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, zucchini, pumpkins, and beans from seed outside. (More on the exact varieties later.)
Summary
Overall, our first year gardening was a roaring success. We really just jumped into it, and it worked out just fine. We learned so much, and it’s just plain rewarding to grow your own food. Plus, all the produce just tasted awesome. (My mouth is watering just thinking about it.)
We were able to make it through the season without using any chemicals, and that translates into healthier foods for us. The garden also allowed us to try new recipes and get to know neighbors (from being outside more often and sharing our bounty).
This year, I hope we can freeze or preserve more of the produce for the winter. This is the one thing that we didn’t do well in 2009.
Spring cannot come soon enough.
Hi! I’ve been admiring your 2009 garden success and am hoping to start a garden of my own this spring. I’m curious about how the lettuce rotation works… are you starting the lettuce from seed every few weeks inside and transplanting outside, or are you planting seeds outside every few weeks?
Thanks for your hints 🙂
Amy
I’m having so much fun looking at your blog!! I love it!
I had my first garden last year and LOVED it!! It is so rewarding to eat something that you have grown from a seed! And it tastes so much better than anything from the store.
I love this post! It gets me excited and gives me hope! I would love to do something like this at our house this year but have no clue where to start. I wanted to know – when do you start? Does it depend more on weather or is it a “on March 1st we start preparing the soil” kind of thing? Thanks!
You are inspiring me to get off my butt and do this myself. The seed catalogs keep coming and there are so many varieties to choose from and not enough garden space. I can’t wait to see what exactly you decide on in terms of specific varieties. Also after seeing your post I am thinking about not wasting precious garden space with all the herbs and put them in pots instead. Come.on.spring.
I’m so impressed, I didn’t but that much forethought or research into my garden. Wanna come help me out?
Hi, Kim!
I am a devoted blog lurker of yours, but today I decided to spread my wings and say hello!
I love this entry. And I hope to plant a garden similar to yours one day – once we decide to hang up our downtown living shoes. There’s just something freeing about putting in all the hard work and growing your own goodies.
Wonderful job, girlfriend!
Love, Allie
Great post! We’re starting a first year garden this year, so you’ve really helped me out with this one :).
Wow! I’m thoroughly impressed! Great job. It gives me hope that maybe we can succeed at our own garden this year!
Ya’ll are awesome. I love seeing the progress of your garden all together here. I’m jealous of your CORN! There is literally nothing better than fresh corn. It’s super-easy to freeze too. Wish our backyard had more sun and was flat (or at least flatter!) so we could do a for-real garden, too!
You inspire me! We are hoping to plant our first garden this summer. Perhaps we should start planning now!
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I’m SO jealous! I live in an apartment without a patio. One day though!!’
I’m desperate to live in a climate where I can grow avocados!
Your garden was a huge success, it looks like. Beautiful!
Last year was our first veggie garden too, and it also did well. We didn’t plant as wide a variety as you did though. I get to start over this year in the new house!
you are on the ball. i want to plant a garden this year. Where do you get your books from?
Okay, fir st of all I’m totally digging the slippers!!
Second of all, you have inspired me. As I look out the window weirdly fascinated by the blowing, swirling snow across the field, Spring seems far away. Doesn’t matter though. The kids want a real garden so badly. This is the year we try. Thanks for the Springy inspiration girlie. 😉
Loved this post Kim! It must be an “Iowa girl” thing…I was just going to blog about this as well! 🙂 This must be the point in the winter when all we can do is think about putting our hands in the dirt! I have my Gurney’s catalog sitting right here next to me and planning a trip to Decorah to the Seed Saver’s…ahhh…spring is coming. AND..if you need any seedlings please let me know, I have a seed starting system in my basement and always plant WAY MORE than I can actually use. Would love to share.
I am so impressed, Kim! I really want to work on gardening this year, so this is a great inspiration. Your herb containers are adorable, too! Can you somehow send your green thumb to Maine for me to borrow?!
that’s great! it’s fun to see the photos in a row of how fast and big everything got! we made a half-hearted attempt at growing a few things last year, but i would love to go all-out like you and really make a garden. 🙂
WOW!!! I need to bookmark this and refer back to it when I take the plunge this spring to plant tomatoes. Thanks for sharing.
And those veggies were YUMMY! I can’t wait to see what you do this year.