Preparing the Garden and Herb Garden

Monday March 16, 2009
Well, it is that time of year. We purchased 1 yard of compost/top soil from Randy's Lakeview Nursery on Friday and went back for another yard on Monday and we were told that they were unable to sell it because it was too wet. So we traveled out to American Topsoil and picked up a yard and a 1/2 (their bucket was a little more full than Randy's) for $10 more. Jill went to tilling on Monday afternoon, and sadly, cut the cable line ;0(

Sometimes it good to have no cable and no access to the internet.

Anyway, we planted potatoes and onions.

The new herb garden we added is coming along nicely. We still need to put up edging to keep the soil from washing away, but we will do that on Friday. Here are a few pics that might show the scope of our amazing garden.

560 sq ft main garden --------105 sq ft herb garden

Gardening Tips from Jeremy and Jill

So a few of you have asked about planting your own garden. If this is a recession necessity or maybe a new hobby, let me say that it's not that difficult to have a wonderful garden. The soil around here is great for tomatoes, okra, peppers and cucumbers. Here are a few things we have learned over the years.
1. Plant potatoes and onions around St. Patricks Day.
2. Plant tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, etc. around Mother's Day.
3. Place a few tablespoons of fertilizer below the plant as you plant it.
4. Water your garden
5. Weed your garden
6. Search the web for tips on how to fight pesky bugs.
7. Leave the rabbits alone, then need to eat too.
8. If you want to get rid of rabbits, get a puppy, they chase everything.
9. Till up the area you are going to plant in, don't just dig a hole.
10. Great places to shop- Heartland Nursery is awesome!!!
11. Never buy cucumber plants, use seeds.
12. Plant whopper tomatoes, they are amazing.
13. Plant a few herbs, basil grows well here.
14. Plant at least one heirloom tomato just to see how difficult it is to garden.
15. Don't garden alone, get the family involved.

Last tip- Make some great dinners with the bounty of your garden.

There is much more to share, but that is a good start for the first time gardener.

Seeds That Have Been Planted So Far

Alright, here is the list of seeds that we planted. Mostly tomato seeds and they are all heirlooms. We have others ordered from Park Seeds and Henry Fields, but are still waiting.

Heirlooms from TomatoFest that received a place to grow.
Argentina
Aussie
Black Zebra
Blue Ridge Mountain
Bull's Heart
Church
Cuostralee
Church (personal favorite)
Grandfather Ashlock
Carol Chyko's Big Paste
Dixie Golden Giant
Giant 11
Giant Belgium
Giant Oxheart
Green Giant
Ultimate Giant

Don't all of those sound just amazingly strange and beautiful? Well, the seeds are planted and now we are closely watching for that first sprig of green to pop through the soil.
Hope you have a wonderful day and of course we planted way too many of these so there might be a few plants to give away.

Seeds and the Garden

We planted seeds on Friday. We are starting Tomatoes from seed. It should be a very interesting year in our garden. Right now we have 24 different varieties of heirlooms planted. Many of those plants will be given away because we are also planting regular tomato plants. Here we are planting the seeds and prepping the garden to be planted in early May.

Seeds Have Been Ordered

The tomato seeds have been ordered, as have numerous other plants. It's a time of anticipation. Waiting. Patience. And yes, one order is on it's way. We received the confirmation today. Friday, this Friday, a great Friday, not Good Friday, but a great Friday, we will have seeds to plant. This year we ordered from several different places. We ordered from TomatoFest, Park Seeds and Henry Fields. Lots of heirlooms and many other tomatoes. Hopefully soon we will begin to plant, grow and maybe, just maybe give a few plants away.

Has Spring Sprung?

Any guesses as to what is growing up through the snow????

Chopping Wood

Here we are chopping wood at the Rilinger farm. What a blast it was!

To Dig or Not Dig

So our lovely, amazing, beautiful and brilliant puppy dog Rheau continues to dig. Now, when we picked her up a last April we knew she was a dog who liked to dig. We walked to the back yard to pick her up and she was digging. We never knew how much she liked to dig. Saturday when it was 70 degrees out (in February), I walked into the backyard and noticed that Rheau, had been digging up against the house behind the bushes. There are probably six holes there. That is now in addition to the eight holes in our back yard, plus the hole she dug that is deep enough and wide enough for her paws and head to get down in. So, yes, our dog is amazing, but geez Rheau, quit digging up the backyard!!!!!

Wedding Pics

Garden Update- Oct 11, 2008

Jeremy standing next to an Okra plant that is over 6 ft tall.

Wow, so we really feel amazingly blessed to have such a good year for our garden. The weather has been perfect. So here is where we are today.

Giant Belgium--29
Black Brandywhine--23
Old German--18
Pink Oxheart--47
Brandwhine-7
Jetstar--28
Valencia--36
Celebrity--19
1st Lady--55
Whopper--51
Jet Setter--22
Better Boy--34
Total Tom--369
Sweet Baby Girl Cherry Tom- 388
Yellow Pear Tom- 643
Okra- 176
Total Tomatoes given away 100+
Tomatoes lost to silly puppies, squirrels, rabbits and other critters- 75+
BLT's--50+ and no, bacon does not cause depression, it's causes great joy!

Looking forward to next year- Valencias, Whoppers, Giant Belgiums and Yellow Pear...not sure what else we will plant but it will probably be a few more heirlooms.

Favorite quick and easy recipe- Fried Okra (flour/cornmeal/milk) dipped in Chipotle Mayo. Wow, that was good.

And yes, we are still harvesting as long as the plants keep producing.