Those Seeds Have Sprouted!

After 7 days some of our seeds have sprung! It is so exciting to see this happen, especially with the very small amount of sunlight we have had lately. Even today, before I took the pictures, half our day was spent with thunderstorms. Oh well, the rain is helping my garden grow.
Here is what has happened so far:
To refresh your memory, we planted tendergreen improved beans, which will look like this,

and look like this when they sprout. I don't know if you can tell but you can see the bean seed halves hanging from the leaves.


The other beans we planted were blue lake string beans and they look like this right now,

but will look like this,


Here is what sweet basil looks like when it has its first two leaves,

but it will look like this,


We also planted Goldencross Bantam Hybrid corn, which looks like this,

but will look like this,

We have some other things starting to come up, but you can't see them well in the pictures. I will update sometime soon, weather permitting.

Square Foot Gardening Basics

Alright before getting started, I will first of all say that all of this information either comes from the book All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew, copyrighted 2005 or from his website, http://www.squarefootgardening.com/old/index_2.html. I might make notes or tell it my own way, but the information and ideas are his.

The reason for doing a square foot garden is simply less time, maintenance, effort, watering, and weeds. Plus getting a larger yield in less space.

First of all you will need a roll of weed blocker paper, which is black and can be bought at Walmart for less than $8. It covered my entire area, with some left over, so it is well worth the money.

Next you will need something to clear the area you want to put your square. We used a hoe, small pickax, and old newspaper to cover the ground inbetween sessions of clearing. For most people it doesn't take this long, but we have some persistant vines growing through our yard.

Next you will need four boards that measure 6" wide and are 4' long. Don't get pressure treated but untreated boards, so the stuff won't seep into your soil. The book has some ideas on how to acquire these, but we just bought them at the lowe's and had them cut the wood for free. So you need 2 boards that are 2" x 6" x 8' and have the boards cut in half to four feet long.
Purchase some deck screws to join the boards and alternate the corners to get a square box.
Okay, now I will admit a goof up I made. You are supposed to make a grid to go on top of the box using thin strips of wood, such as lathes (the boards in lattice fencing). Well, even as adept as I might be in construction material, I goofed when looking at the price of the wood I bought. I couldn't find the lathes in home depot, which would be somewhere about a dollar a piece ( you need six), and instead settled on flat pine moulding for what I thought said 73 cents. It was instead that price per linear feet (lf) and it cost $23 for all the wood I got. I was so sticker shocked it almost ruined my day (I am that way). Make sure you get cheap stuff or use unclaimed stuff from a construction site.

To create the dirt inside your box you will need peat moss, the bigger size the better. Mine cost $9.99 at walmart and I had a five dollar gift card so it cost me even less.

Next you will need coarse vermiculite which improves the drainage of your soil mix. I bought mine at Hanna's Garden Shop in Greystone area for five dollars less than the other guys.


If you don't have any compost already going on your own, you will need to purchase some. Don't get the dirt cheap stuff, because it usually is not well rotted and is mostly cow manure. The best kind to me says it has at least 7 ingredients and limited weed seeds. Sometimes you can find compost at waste management places, etc.
I already had compost started last year. I now have five piles going, and will talk about composting on its own at a later time.

Alrighty, step 1:
Screw your boards together
Step 2
Remove the weeds from your plot of level well drained ground
Step 3
Cover area with weed blocker
Step 4
Place box on top of weed blocker
Step 5
Take a large tarp or old blanket and mix together your three dirts on top of it to where there is a 1/3 of compost, 1/3 of peat moss, and 1/3 vermiculite to fill your box. Mix the three together with a garden rake, hoe, or shovel, while misting or spraying with water from a hose.
Step 6
Place dirt in the box and level out
Step 7
Create a grid with your strips of wood, making even squares on top of your box. Screw into the frame and where the strips join.
Step 8
Plant!
Your finished product will look like this:

Square Foot Gardening Finished Product

Woo-hoo! I have at least partially finished something!! Yea!!

Here is what the ground looks like after it has been de-weeded and the black weed blocker fabric put on top. I held it down with rocks since I haven't decided what to cover the unused portions, or walkways, with yet.


This is what the dirt looks like in the box without the grid on it.


This is when we had planted almost all the squares. My oops is showing again! I don't know what happened; if we didn't put the box together square or if I had the strips cut to the wrong size, but after I screwed the first row of strips on, the second row didn't reach from end to end. So, like all true southerners, I improvised. You are supposed to screw or bolt the pieces together where they meet at each intersection, so I suspended the pieces where the screws at these points is what keeps the strips together. I really do think we did the box wrong, because I wasn't able to get all of the squares the same size, which you will notice if you look hard enough.


Here are the things planted in our garden; I had lots of help from my five year old daughter and it will be a great learning experience for both of us.

First I have three Atchison Tomatoes my grandfather gave me, but the internet refuses to believe there are actually tomatoes named that, so I don't know what to call them. I will post pictures of them later as tomatoes start forming on them.
At the base of each tomato plant, we planted seeds of Cracker Jack Marigolds,


Next to the tomatoes is a Ghostbuster Eggplant,


On the opposite corner from the eggplant are three green bell pepper plants in the same square,



We planted 2 lemon cucumber seeds in another square,


Also, we planted 2 Early Yellow Crookneck Squash,


And, we planted 2 Straightneck Early Yellow Squash,


In between the squash and bell pepper, we planted a square full of Common Sweet Basil seeds,


On the other side of the tomatoes, we planted 4 Golden Cross Bantam Hybrid Corn,


Next to that, we planted 4 Ruby Queen Hybrid Corn,


Next to that, we planted 4 Blue Lake Stringless Beans


Its neighbor is 4 Tendergreen Improved Beans,


In our pesky ditch for run off, I took my neighbor/cousin-in-law's advice, and planted Jack O Lantern pumpkins, which I have promised my daughter for two years we would plant.


We also scattered red poppy, morning glory, and zinnia seeds in various other ditches around our property. I will make certain to post pictures of them at a later time if they grow.

The Beginning...

In the beginning there was God in my garden, now He is using me for labor to make it a labor of love!
To begin with, we have a major issue, besides the fact that we have about an acre of open land to work with, in that we have donkeys for neighbors. On the other side of the donkey pen are my husband's cousins who were sweet enough to take on three donkeys who had been rescued and we like very much. However we don't like the smell of the donkeys in the summer, especially.

Here is one of our three nearest neighbors. Isn't she cute?! They also really bray, and when the owners come home they bray like a dog would bark. Too funny!

So our idea is to put heavy scented things near the donkeys and eventually have a line of dogwoods and ornamental pear trees along the perimeter of our property line.


This is one of my roses, the name is Dolly Parton and is one of the best smelling roses I have ever smelled. It also has the beautiful huge red blooms on them that are even beautiful as tight buds as you can see in the picture.




Here is our first dogwood that will be planted soon. Right now my children's red wagon is keeping it watered.

I also have an ornamental pear tree, which looks will look like this when it blooms:

and then its foliage in the fall:

Before Pictures

Here is my yard before gardening, complete with yard toys for the kids and a dogs' pen in the back. Over time I will be adding things, so we can all journey back to what it used to look like.


Here are two pictures of the front yard on the right side. The black things are stumps from trees that had to be cut down last year.






Our old driveway that had to be replaced because of a right of way issue. Eventually we want to cover this up, and plant monkey grass on the slope.





This is underneath a Black Walnut tree that I will turn into a flower bed. Thinking hydrangeas here, and lamb's ears, lots of textures.





This is the view of the backyard parallel to our house. Notice the lovely dog pen? And the unsightly shed we have yet to tear down. On the upside, because of the massive oak tree, there are wonderful banks of moss covering the ground.





Here is the view of the front yard on the left side. This is where we have all the kids' yard toys, since it has the most shade and the ground is mostly moss.






This is the area we have to walk across to reach our front stoop. Hopefully this year we will be building a new porch and I can turn this area into a plant bed.





This is the view from our front door. I absolutely hate this view! It has nothing to do with our neighbors you can see in the distance, even if they have donkeys, they are family after all and my kids like spending time with them. Instead I hate the tree! It is a sweetgum tree and it is constantly dropping the sweetgum balls all over the yard. Last year when my son was learning how to walk, he would trip on them or his foot would roll over on them and they hurt him. I would love to cut it down, but once again haven't had the time to.




Just before the fence line of our neighbors in the previous picture is a line of brush. This line marks a drainage ditch that is also our property line in the front. This is what the drainage ditch looks like close up. Beautiful, huh?

Hope you stay tuned to see what comes next!

Welcome!

My name is Rachel and I live in Alabama, between the narrow gap of Zone 7 & 8. Summers here are hot and humid, sometimes dry and sometimes not. But, there are so many things on this good, green earth to enjoy that I have finally gotten around to creating my garden.
I live on two and half acres, perched on the side of a mountain. One and half of those acres is woods, but the other acre is all weeds, grass, and a few trees. Some of those trees are gigantic and speak of ancient wisdom and years, while others annoy me as they drop sweetgum balls all over my yard.
This blog is going to be my journal, as I move step by agonizing step towards the gardens of my dreams. I hope you enjoy the ride!
My intent is to post pictures along with my descriptions so that the journey of my seeds coming to life will not be lost. Soon, I will have several "before" pictures, including the wonderful view I have of donkeys out my front window. At least at my window I can't smell them!
Here is to a hopefully fun and lucrative journey that is satisfying and grows many things (except weeds) without killing them!