Thursday, April 25, 2013

Seeds Are in the Dirt! Tortuga Update.

This is not quite half the garden.
2012 On the plains in Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.


It's getting clo...ose! The irrigation drip lines are going down. Most of the main garden is finished. The potato and squash rows won't go in until we actually plant. Three rows of seeds are planted - carrots, spinach, radishes and - oh gosh, I've forgotten. Everyone is in bed as I write so I can't wake up the hard working farmer to confirm what seeds he planted.



It really is exciting to see the changes between this season and our first season last year. Lots of lessons were learned. My guess is there will be more.

The babies are out of the house - baby veggies. They've been moved into the green house. Unfortunately, the temps started dropping at night after we moved them out. A few have frost bite but I don't think we'll lose them.
Now, and until it warms up at night, they are moved into the garage when the sun goes down. It's a pain because we have quite a few trays and they're getting big. A week or so more and we should be clear to leave them in the greenhouse.


Another new trick this year is planting marigolds in with some of the crops. Marigolds are a natural deterrent for unwanted bugs. And an added benefit is they attract butterflies.







Update on the Tumbleweed Wars. This picture is of a couple of the blackberry rows. Can't see any blackberry bushes? They're totally choked with tumbleweeds. After last weeks big burn, this week was even bigger. We burned four piles as big as the one pile last week. I really hate tumbleweeds. Getting them out of stickery blackberry bushes is really fun. In the process, I took a large blackberry thorn in my ring finger. Since it pierced my glove, it was hard to get out. My finger swelled so badly, I couldn't get my ring off. And it hurt!

Lastly, I'm happy to report my baby trees are adding more leaves.

6 comments:

  1. Spring planting?! I wish our ground was warming up so nicely. Alas, so far it's only good for spinach and other cold hearties. I hear ya about the hardening off process. In, out, in, out. Veggie trays, you romance-minded person!
    Happy growing.
    Sonya

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  2. Fabulous! So exciting. Love the pics and all the info. I am hard at work in my garden(s) here. keep us posted!

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  3. Very cool!
    I'm working hard at TRYING to grow things from seed. Not sure how well I'm doing :\

    My friend/neighbor taught me about Winter Sowing, where you take a gallon milk jug, cut it open, poke some holes, fill with dirt and water and seeds, then duct tape it closed and set it outside, when it's warm enough, they start to grow! So, I've got some iceberg lettuce, big caesar lettuce and a bunch of radishes starting! Woohoo! My tomatoes got a late start, not sure if I'll end up having any of my own plants started from seed, but fingers crossed! And I've got 3 marigolds growing in a pot. They're hardy buggers! And I grew them for the exact reason you mentioned, to keep away bad bugs and attract good bugs!

    Now, if only I could find something to deter the bunnies and squirrels and birds!

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    Replies
    1. That sounds very cool, Domestic Goddess! I've never heard of that. What a great lesson to do with children too for even those who live in apartments, etc. Don't give up on your tomatoes. Our first crop of 80 plants died from frost last year. We started again from seed and had so many tomatoes we are still eating tomato soup and sauce from our crop.

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