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The gardening gods finally smiled upon us yesterday! The weather was perfect and everyone was available for a day of fun and gardening. In the photos above are our friends, Chad, Beth, and their dog Josie. Chad and Beth live in the house that we used to live in, and that's how we know them. To make a long story short, I was going to move my garden boxes to my new place, but Beth was basically going to do the same garden that I had done so I decided to leave my garden and share it instead of moving it. It worked out for everyone and was a lot easier than moving a ton of dirt (literally).
I do a method of gardening known as "Square Foot Gardening" (http://www.squarefootgardening.com/) which is a very efficient way of gardening. Essentially, you get the most product out of the smallest amount of space with very little work. Each square foot gets a certain amount of seeds or seedlings based on what area the plant will need to grow into. I do raised beds which basically eliminates the need to weed, but also needs more water than the conventional method of gardening directly in the ground.
Yesterday we started the spring garden. Spring gardens have cooler weather crops like lettuces, cabbages, and peas- think green veggies. The beds had been covered for a few weeks and were nice and warm. Beth has been doing a great job adding to and turning the compost, so we even had some new dirt to add to the newly awoken beds. We first added the grid to our square-foot garden to mark where each square was by tying string back and forth. We then planted seeds or seedlings in each square and labeled thoroughly (you don't want to confuse your Romaine with your Arugula!). We ended up planting Romaine lettuce, Arugula, Sugar Snap Peas, Broccoli, Spinach, Onions, and a Mesculun Mix. After we finished planting, we mulched each bed with straw and the men helped us cover the beds with PVC hoops and plastic sheeting for cold weather protection. All in all, a very productive gardening day. I can't wait to see what comes up!
-Mrs. Growbot
I know, sounds exciting right? Sometimes you just gotta get around to things that aren't necessarily the height of excitement in life- thus the transplanting and seasoning. I'm a terrible seed grower and I had neglected my seedlings for far too long. While my seedling chamber is awesome, it's sometimes easy to forget it's there since it's in the utility room. Because of this "out of sight, out of mind" situation, I let my seedlings get a little "leggy" (no reference to any ZZ Top songs here!). Leggy means that basically I didn't have my seedlings close enough to the light source, so they kept growing up instead of out. This eventually makes it to where the seedling is all stem and few leaves which is ultimately not what we want out of our plants. Easy solution- transplantation! The tomato plants were really the problem and the good thing about tomato plants is that it is encouraged that you cover the stem up to the first set of leaves when planting (or transplanting). New roots will grow out of the part of the stem that has been covered by soil, thus making the seedling less leggy and more fruitful. I also FINALLY got around to planting some herb seeds. I will pay more attention seedlings, I promise!
And now to seasoning. I received an awesome cast iron pan for Christmas that has also been unfortunately neglected in my kitchen. It came pre-seasoned and we used it new out of the box a few times and then it got a little rusty and stuck in cabinet never to be seen again. But since it's spring and I finally feel like taking care of some nagging- er I mean important projects- I seasoned my first cast iron skillet. For those of you that don't know, cast iron must periodically be "seasoned" to keep it's non-stick property and to keep it from rusting. It was very simple. I just spread some bacon grease all over the pan (top and bottom, inside and out) and then stuck in a 300 degree oven for an hour. Voila! Seasoned Skillet. A black, non-stick beauty of a pan. I can't wait to use it and eventually season it again ;).
Since it is finally Spring (the first day was yesterday), things should really start picking up on the growbots blog. Outdoor spring planting should start very soon. Until next time...-Mrs. Growbot
Since winter 2010 seems to be never ending, I've recently picked up knitting to have something to do in my spare time. My boss's wife and her mother are knitting experts and were kind enough to have some knitting teaching parties for their friends. I've only learned basic knitting so far (casting on, basic knit, and casting off- for you knitters out there) but I've already accomplished quite a bit. I've made about a quarter of a very large scarf and one and a half dishcloths. The scarf is quite the task since I've made it so wide, so I figure I'll probably be able to actually wear it by next winter. The dishcloths, on the other hand, are nice and quick, not to mention useful. When Mr. Growbot and I got married, we received several knitted dishcloths as a wedding gift, and I use them all the time. They do a great job at scrubbing, yet they are soft and gentle on delicate items like glass. Hopefully I'll be churning them out quick enough to replace our old ones as they age.
In other news, the seedlings are starting to look like real plants and everything is doing pretty well. I will (hopefully) be planting some herb seeds and a few more broccoli seeds this weekend for the upcoming growing season. Last weekend the weather was great, so Mr. Growbot and I were able to get out and take care of the raised beds in our garden. The soil looks great and was full of fat, happy worms, which is always a good sign. I can't wait until growing season actually starts! Until next time...
-Mrs. Growbot
Today I started seeds for the vegetable garden that I'm sharing with a friend this summer. Since it hasn't gotten above 36 degrees today, it feels good to play in some dirt and at least reminisce about warmer times :)Mr. Growbot, being the engineer that he is, built me an awesome, cat-proof seed starting chamber in our utility room. It's amazing how some shelves, plexi-glass, and a little velcro can combine to make something so complex! Not only that, but it takes something pretty ingenious to deter our ninja kitties, so I'm ever so thankful to Mr. Growbot for his creation.Speaking of cats, Fancy Pants and Gizmo are getting a treat out of all this- their own pan of cat grass, but they have to wait until something actually grows before they can play. Other than cat grass, I started a variety of tomatoes, peppers, and broccoli. I'm very excited to see things start sprouting, and will be updating regularly as things start to grow.-Mrs. Growbot
The gardening gods finally smiled upon us yesterday! The weather was perfect and everyone was available for a day of fun and gardening. In the photos above are our friends, Chad, Beth, and their dog Josie. Chad and Beth live in the house that we used to live in, and that's how we know them. To make a long story short, I was going to move my garden boxes to my new place, but Beth was basically going to do the same garden that I had done so I decided to leave my garden and share it instead of moving it. It worked out for everyone and was a lot easier than moving a ton of dirt (literally).
