Project Garden Noob - Year 6

Discovering new activities, learning more about them (and yourself) is always a fun time.   At least I think so. In respect to gardening, I've been around it my entire life.  My grandpa has been gardening longer than I've been alive.  I weeded, planted plants, watered. No biggie. But it's only recently that I discovered the culture of gardening. I know it seems silly, but I didn't give much consideration to where seeds came from. You see them at the garden center down the way. Done?  Not by a long shot. Ladies and gentleman, I've discovered seed porn. I never knew this, but there are dozens of catalogs, websites, and smartphone apps dedicated to seeds. And containers and garden gadgets and even the gnomes.  Really, it never occurred to me that there was this gardening subculture with super cool stuff! And that vegetables have variety names.  I know we kinda, sorta know about varieties.  We know acorn squash vs. butternut or a honeycrisp ap...

Again while reading my trusty week-by-week veggie planting book , I came across a quick mention of how easy it is to grow sprouts.  Basically seeds, a bag, and a container.  So I was happy to find while I was at the nursery this weekend that they had a little grow-your-own-sprout jar by Handy Pantry (a whole website dedicated to growing sprouts - who knew? Not me.).  Look at those little sprouts! I bought two (one for my awesome friend Bethany and me).  I brought it home and excitedly showed it to my husband.  His only comment?  "We have jars."  Thank you Capt. Obvious.  Ok, I'll admit it, I wanted a garden gadget, so sue me.  To be extra crazy, I bought some fenugreek seeds to try.  They are Indian, I like Indian, why not? With the flurry of seed planting activity this past weekend, I haven't gotten around to starting this guy yet, but I'll keep you, my imaginary audience, informed of my eventual progress.

So we have this guy smack in the middle of our pile of dirt.  Mr. Stump. I purchased some Bonide Stump-Out last summer and had my dad drill the necessary holes to use it. Apparently you drill in some v-like holes, mix this stuff with water and pour it in.  I never got around to it, but now that we are wanting to plant, seems like I might want to get on it. After treatment, your stump is supposed to come out -  in 4 to 6 weeks....I just realized this.  But after that 4 to 6 weeks, you can set it on fire to remove the stump.  You heard me:  SET. IT. ON. FIRE. So this weekend, I wiped off our recent snow from the stump and poured this stuff in.  I will post an update in 4-6 weeks when we SET. THE. STUMP. ON. FIRE. ::excitedly clapping hand, not gonna lie::

After reading a bit in my trusty Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardner's Handbook:  Make the Most of Your Growing Season by Ron and Jennifer Kujawski book, my husband and I quickly realized we were a bit behind in our seed starting. First, let me say a couple of things regarding seed starting. 1.  It's apparently complicated 2.  I've failed at it miserably in the past Luckily enough, I had signed up for a terrarium making class at a local nursery, Tagawa Gardens , and they were having a "Seed Starting Day" that same day.  Yay killing two birds with one stone! I went to my terrarium class, it was lovely.  Just the right amount of information, terrarium history, and hands on fun.  For $18.23 I was able to buy all the supplies for this little guy, all I had to do was bring the jar, which was left over from my wedding.  Score. I loved the moss, I guess having grown up in a relatively dry environment has made me fall helplessly in love with all things ...

My good friend introduced me to Smart Gardener via Pinterest .  The description was something along the lines of, "this site plans your garden for you."  As a new gardener, I was skeptical.  Sounds a little too good to be true, but I checked it out anyways. At first I was enamored.  It allows for garden planning in 4 steps: 1.  Layout your garden - you are able to choose the square footage of an in-ground garden, or choose from a variety of containers/raised beds.  Cool! 2. Select your plants - this is limited by season, and you cannot mix cool weather and warm weather vegetables.  Not cool!  Varieties of vegetables are also limited if you are looking for something specific, but you can add them manually. 3. View your plan - you get a little image with your selected plants on it, plus the space they require in your garden (square footage), planting depths, seed spacing, plant dimensions, and what to plant next to each other or not (F...

Yup, there it is. Our future garden plot ::fingers crossed:: It's roughly 10x25 feet.  It has more dog poop on it than I should admit to anyone. Little back story: My husband and I purchased our first home back in May 2012, much too late to plant.  But the yard was huge (way too huge), so gardening was in the plan for this year.  Having come from a long line of farmers/gardeners, my grandpa imparted me with the good sense to prep this plot of land for planting. So as it stands, this little plot is our normal Denver dirt, which I've heard through the grapevine is incredibly clay-y.  What that means exactly, I don't really know yet.  My dad and grandpa came up with the tiller in fall and tilled in the dead grass (killed first with a little grass killer) and added whole bunches of "organic matter."  This is code for sheep poop. I notice no smell, but my dog was in love with rolling in it.  Awesome.   Fast forward to February,...