Garden Update

So about one month later and my garden is thriving, and so are the weeds and bugs. Two weekends ago my family pitched in to help me get ahead on the weeding, and I am not feeling so overwhelmed.
Here are the latest pictures.

I think that next year I will  try to use my space more efficiently, and plant things in rows rather than broadcasting. It is so much easier to find things. I still have a lot of weeding to do, and there are potato beetles all over my potatoes. Don't let anyone tell you that chickens like potato beetles, because they don't even look twice; the ducks are only marginally more interested. The chickens do like to reach through the fence and peck at my wong bok cabbage.

 Today I harvested peas, kale, tatsoi, 1 beet, and 1 turnip. I have been supplying my sister-in-law with leafy greens for her yeast free diet for a couple of weeks, and my spinach is pretty much shot. I sold a good sized bag of greens, and some green onions to a neighbor. Next year I will plant more green onions, I think. 

 I planted more beets, edamame, azuki beans, dill, flat parsley, and Thai basil. The tomatoes are going to town, and the peppers are mostly OK, but my eggplants are being eaten alive by beatles? I'm not quite sure. I planted broccoli rabe just for kicks, and we got one good crop before it got away from me. I'm going to save some seeds and try again this fall. I tried corn salad, and just about nothing came up, and what did really hasn't grown at all so I turned it over and planted beets.

It's not a great picture, but this is mu vining garden. I have three kinds of cucumbers, two kinds of zucchini, some bumpy squash, lemon squash, three kinds of cantaloupe, watermelon, kabocha, and some white pumpkins here. 

The Garden Project ...thus far

So in December I got the garden bug, and really I got it rather badly. I went to the library and checked out all the interesting looking garden books that I could find. Really, the Hutch Library has a pretty good selection. After a couple weeks of checking out stacks and stacks of books I whittled it down to this small pile

Also at this time I started to order seed catalogs, then waited with baited breath as they came. First came Kitazawa, an Asian seed company, then came Baker Creek, and Seed Savers, Heirloom seeds, and finally after what seemed like forever, Cooks Garden.

After perusing these inspirational catalogs I began to plan the layout of my garden, aka Dan and Brynn's Garden. I decided that I wanted to try raised beds, but due to lack of funds, decided to forgo borders. I also began to draw up a planting schedule. I basically took over dad's desk when mom kicked me off of the kitchen table.

So I finally decided what to order and ran the list pass Dan, the financial backing of much of this endeavor, after adding okra we took the plunge and ordered seeds. It was, for me at least an exciting day when the seeds came from Baker Creek. Such beautiful packages!

After that I had to wait. And Wait. So when I got tired of waiting I decided to grow some micro greens and sprouts.

Then, the second week of February, it was time to start Eggplants, and Peppers, and two weeks later Tomatoes!

  

  Finally during the second week of March(the 15th) after rototilling and raising beds and trellises, I planted peas, spinach, and radishes.

It looked rather barren, but I waited in hope.

 A week or so later(Mar. 18) I planted kale, turnips, and onions.

Then after another week(Mar 25), Parsnips, Cabbage, Swiss Chard, and Broccoli Rabe. (Note for the future: Plant Swiss chard later they are only just starting to come up five weeks later).

Then, April 1st, Beets, Mizuna(plant later), Chrysanthemum greens, Lettuce, and Corn Salad(these are greens).

April 8th Potatoes, Leeks, shallots, and Ishikura onions.

April 22 Chinese cabbage(which came up in 3 or 4 days. WOW), more Swiss Chard, Spinach, Chrysanthemums, and Tatsoi(a Japanese green)

Last Sunday I planted my Tomatoes amid great winds. and Harvested my first radishes.

 These are the adventures of Arianna in the Garden. Until next time...Eat lots of Vegetables.

The Farm and the Dream

I have a dream. Oh, nothing so big as Martin Luther Jr.'s Dream, but something I want to do nonetheless. I want to become a garden farmer. I live out in the middle of nowhere Kansas, and I really love it here. This land has been in the family since my great Grandpa bought it, my dad were born not half a mile from here.

My Great great Grandpa Lewis immigrated from France to Kansas and bought land from the railroad a couple of sections over. He wanted to plant a vineyard on the banks of Gar Creek. So you might say this land is in my blood. I love this land. When my Grandpa died none of his kids were interested in taking over the farm so they auctioned off all but about 45 acres of the land. That land was then divided between the four children. My cousin lives down the road on the farmstead that my dad grew up on. My dad was a teacher at the time, and not very interested in farming per se, but my sister married Daniel, the son of a farmer, who loves living in the country.

 Daniel is a business owner, and isn't really interested in being a farmer on the same scale as his dad, but I think it must be in his blood. He and my sister put a house on this land  some nine years ago, and my mom and dad bought a trailer house and brought it here as well. They have put a lot of work into husbanding the land, from planting wind belts and buffalo grass to building chicken houses, sheds, and fences. And, of course, planting gardens. The garden grows and shrinks from year to year, depending on inspiration and, how busy everybody is, but most years there is one.

 I have been on and off the farm during most of these years, going to school, mostly. When I am here for any extended period, during planting season, I start a garden, or work in whoever has one going.

 My mom has a flower garden that I have contributed many hours weeding to. Some years ago I dug a pond for her. Two years ago I planted bulbs around it. It was a great project. Now we get to clean it every so often.

I have always wanted to live out here, and this last fall I got my desire. About two years ago my Brother-in-Law decided to build an apartment in his shed. Last year my younger sister and her new husband, Jonathan, came to visit from China, where the live. Jonathan took a great deal of pleasure helping Dan finish the apartment where they lived the next five or six months, before returning to China. So this fall when I needed a place to live Dan offered to rent me the apartment. Getting the chance to live here on the Gar Creek Farmlet has inspired me begin the journey towards Garden Farming and a Community Supported Agriculture(CSA) business. I really love the idea of local produce, and I want to be a part of the producers. We do not yet have a CSA in our community and I would like to remedy that. I know that there is a great deal of work ahead of me, so I have decided to start small, and work my way up.

So in the spirit of starting small I have begun The Garden Project. I even have one (potentially paying)person on subscription. There are, of course, others who will not be paying. (i.e. my parents, and my siblings and their families)