Growing Kids

Today we got our first snow fall of the year.  I guess I can tolerate snow in November.  Summer just went by so fast.  I feel like I did not get to enjoy it to the fullest.  I definitely did not get to garden to my heart's content.  And I find myself already longing for warm weather to come back.  This is not good since winter has just begun to show its ugly face.  (Man! That's harsh.)

Shaylee Mae, cute little bug

The reason I had an off year for gardening was because I had a sweet little baby in June.  She is our sixth and last child.  And although I am thoroughly enjoying her and love her to pieces, I did not get out to garden much this year. 





Todd, counting peppers

I grew weeds taller than the corn, which, by the way, blew over in a storm because I didn't get out there to hill it up in time.  The only things I did grow successfully were peppers and pumpkins, which ended up taking over most of the garden.  I got a few tomatoes too, enough for a couple of batches of salsa, which is mandatory.  I did also can some peaches and a few beans- all done with the help of either my mom or some very good friends.

My mom recites a poem by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton about taking care of your baby because she is top priority. I have taken the liberty to change it up a bit.....

Gardening and canning can wait til tomorrow
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.
So quiet down garden. Weeds go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby. And babies don't keep.

There is always next year.  And I am anxiously looking forward to it already. 



Growing like weeds

My Traditional Garden 2011: What I Learned....

1.  DOUBLE PLANTING THE ROWS of veggies worked great and almost doubled my harvest.  Tomatoes didn't do too well for anyone this year, but I still had plenty for all the salsa I wanted with the 28 plants I had.  And I plenty of beans too.

Corn Crop after the Wind Storm

2.  After CORN comes up, pile dirt around the bottom couple of inches to create BRACE OR PROP ROOTS so stalks won't blow over in the wind.  (I lost half my crop.)  Kmetzsch's corn fell over too, but they propped it up asap and staked it and they preserved their harvest by doing so.

3. I planted two CORN varieties, Serendipity and Ambrosia, but the SERENDIPITY did best, with the longest, fullest ears at harvest.

4.  The Kentucky Wonder POLE BEANS were much better than last years, but still a bit stringy.  If I plant pole beans again, I should find a way to extend the fence up another 3 to 5 feet and try an even better variety.  I could put rebar down the fence posts and run four inch chicken wire between posts.

5.  I need to plant double or triple the GREEN PEPPERS for eating and salsa.  There is never enough.  i had enough of the other peppers, but should plant more of those too so that I will be able to share.

6.  American Fork neighbor, John Cox told us that he dumped a pile of sand and a pile of COMPOST from the GREEN WASTE PLANT into his pasture.   Over the next couple of years, he said, weeds grew like crazy out of the sand pile, but nothing grew in the Green Waste compost, which means it has no nutritional value.  It is good for TILTH or as a GROUND COVER MULCH, but that's about it.

7.  Plant three or four SUCCESSIONS OF CORN so we can enjoy the harvest well into the fall.

8.  PICKLING CUCUMBERS did next to nothing.  Aunt LuAnn supposedly planted a different variety of cucumber that was long and skinny, good for slicing and pickling.  I need to find out the variety and give it a try.

9.  July is too late for planting PUMPKINS.  Got some nice vines though.

10.  Putting LANDSCAPE FABRIC down right after planting eliminated a lot of extra weeding.  Just make sure the seeds or seedlings are not covered.

What I Learned This Year: 2010

1.  Cursed STRAWBERRIES!!  I weeded them, topped them all, and fertiziled them only for a small handful once in a while.  Every year I need to plant at least a dozen or more new plants for a continual harvest.  Plant everbears for all season long satisfaction.

2.  POLE BEANS seem to give a bigger, longer harvest.  The variety I planted was tough and stringy (Blue Lake Pole).  I will try another variety next year.  The vines grew up the fence and into the neighbors lilac bushes- twice as high as the fence.  They didn't really grow up the corn stalks, however.

3.  All SQUASH PLANTS were lousy this year.  Don't buy seeds from Lowe's anymore.  Yellow Squash and Zucchini was tough and yucky- not a big harvest either.

4.  I ordered lots of PLANTS FROM SPRINGHILL this last year.  We will see if they grow back next year and if it was worth it.  Planting 30+ plants was lots of fun.  (The ground cover plants are thriving.  Only two out of six ferns came back.)

5.  Once you lose a branch off a BALL WILLOW TREE, its not long til the whole tree splits and starts to come down.  We took it down before it fell.  (Dad and Micah)


Green Garden Goodness



6.  DIVIDING PLANTS already growing in my yard is a lot cheaper than paying for new ones.  (2 out of 3 lavendar plants survived and both daisy divisions survived.)

7.  I planted PEAS in mid-July.  The plants got nice and tall and the harvest was great but once it froze, the pods, which were still to small to pick, cracked and were inedible.  Plant them a little earlier, like July 1st.

8.  I missed not having PUMPKINS in the fall.  Be sure and plant some this year.  Or plant lots at Gram's around her trees where sprinklers are already set to water.

9.  Grandpa Molyneux said to FERTILIZE THE CORN with nitrogen fertilizer for bigger corn cobs.

10.  Uncle Marlo Bergeson says if you cut your PEACHES into quarters or more, you lose flavor into the syrup.  He recommends putting halves into bottles.  He says Peggy's tree is CANADIAN HARMONY.

11. Plant two or three different varieties of TOMATOES in case one of the varieties gets a disease.  Its a good idea to get them from different nurseries too.

What I Learned.... 2008



Starting to dig my Furrows



1.  Make the FURROW on the east side of the garden the biggest and deepest so water doesn't run over into the play area.

2.  A PATHWAY down the center of the garden, perpendicular to the furrows allows for easy acces to all the rows.

3.  Plant a PUMPKIN in front of the compost pile by the old, unidentified tree and let the vine run along under the tree to save space in the garden.

4.  In a taste test, the HEIRLOOM TOMATOES didn't do as well as I anticipated.  Unless I ever plan on saving seeds, I will probably plant disease resistant tomatoes.

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Planting Dates:

peas: April 5th
bush beans: May 19th
Beets: May 19th
Mesclun: May 19th
Zucchini: May 15th
Yellow Squash: May 15th
Pole Beans: May 15th

What I Learned From my Garden 2007

1.  Plant the BROCCOLI in the corner or somewhere so I can till the rest of the garden in the fall, and continue to let it grow undisturbed through November.

2.  PLANT EARLIER!!  The garden didn't do as well as I expected and I think that was for three reasons:  (1)  planting so late (June 9th- due to just moving in), and (2)  the soil hadn't been amended and seemed barren- no sign of life, and (3)  it needed more water.

3.  Garden fresh CORN is delicious!!  It malts in your mouth as the kernels are so tender.  We probably only got four or five pickings off of it, but again I wonder if that's because we planted so late.  It is a big sacrifice of space.

4.  If I plant PUMPKINS again (we had volunteers this year), plant them along the east side and let the vines grow into the playhouse area.  They take up so much space!!

5.  Use the FENCE.  Next year I want to plant possibly peas or pole beans along the west fence.  Peas need some type of support.

6.  Kill SPIDER MITES ASAP.  They spread fast!!

7.  Plant more than one CHERRY TOMATO plant.


My Raspberry Patch



8.  STRAWBERRIES need lots of sun to do well.



9.  During the hottest weeks of the summer, we may have to WATER the garden extra, or the sun will take its toll on the success of our harvest.

10.  While the RASPBERRIES are producing, water them every other day.

11.  Sprinkle SEVIN on the CORN early on and down into the plant a couple of times before the stalks get too high to control pests.