THEY'RE ALIVE!

Shortly after constructing our "green-closet" I planted some of the vegetables we plan to transfer into the garden this summer. I have to say, those peat pellets are not only fun, but make starting your seedlings very easy. After plumbing up the compressed disc-o-peat, I placed them into the cardboard carton (each carton holds ten pots). I wish all of the seed could have been organic, but we bought what we could (Next year, I think I might order seeds by catalog). So, let me share with you what I've started so far...

Vegetables

20 Pots - Ferry-Morse - Silver Queen Hybrid Sweet Corn

10 Pots - Burpee - Grandex Hybrid Vidalia Onion

6 Pots - Ferry-Morse - USDA Organic California Wonder Bell Pepper

4 Pots - Ferry-Morse - Red Cherry Tomatoes

4 Pots - Burpee - Super Beefsteak Tomatoes

4 Pots - Burpee - Green Goliath Broccoli

4 Pots - Ferry-Morse - USDA Organic Straight Eight Cucumber

4 Pots - Ferry-Morse - Black Turtle Bush Beans

2 Pots - Ferry-Morse - Dixie Hybrid Squash

2 Pots - Burpee - Triple Treat Pumpkin

HERBS

4 Pots - Ferry-Morse - USDA Organic Sweet Basil

2 Pots - Ferry-Morse - USDA Organic Bouquet Dill

2 Pots - Ferry-Morse - USDA Organic Moss Curled Parsley

2 Pots - Ferry-Morse - Oregano (apparently this variety didn't warrant a special variety name)

FRUIT

6 pots - Strawberries

Wow...and I still plan on planting more. Here in the not to distant future I would like to start:

More Corn

Spinach

Pole Beans

Soybeans

Chives

Chard

Kale

Radishes

Carrots

Peas

Beets

More Onions

Brussel Sprouts

Yeah I'm not over ambitious or anything.

Finally, last night we noticed that the corn and black bean pots began to sprout. Woo-Hoo!

What an awesome find!

A greenhouse...actually more like a green-closet, but it works. We found it on a recent trip to our local Lowes hardware store, and purchased it for about $35. It measures 64 inches x 35.5 inches x 19 inches, and meeting the claim on the packaging, it was extremely easy to put together. In fact, our toddler helped me assemble it. Currently, due to the weather outside we are housing our “green-closet” in our kitchen, but once the weather warms we will move it outside. In addition to the convenience of being able to tend to our seedlings any time of day, it is becoming an educational experience for our daughter. She is constantly exploring its contents.

The Postage Stamp

This is our little postage stamp of a back yard. Certainly not much to look at know, but with some hard work (and of course the aid of power tools, friends and family) this area should work for all the vegetable we plan to plant this year.

My plan is to clean out and till everything from the fences to the sidewalk (and patio, not show to the right. I even think that the tree seen in the back corner of the yard has met an early demise.

In The Beginning...

For several years now, as the seasons change from winter to spring, I've often thought about getting my hands dirty and creating a vegetable garden. Sure, I've grown a potted tomato plant or two with marginal success, but never taken the leap to up-root my postage stamp sized backyard and create an actual garden. Maybe more to the point, I've always liked the idea and concept of organic farming, but have never been much of an "outdoor" kind of guy. So, what's different now?

Our lives have, and are changing.

A couple of years ago, my beautiful wife and I have were blessed with an amazing baby girl. Giving it some thought, I believe that our change in lifestyle began with my wife's pregnancy. It was then, we decided to start eating foods (at least as much as possible) free of pesticides, herbicides, and hormones. This transition has been fortified by the foods we had decided to feed our daughter as she has been growing, and by recent medical issues that have presented themselves to my family. The later, has educated us that "life" will remind you that you need to do or change something, and it does so either gently with a whisper, or with a 2 x 4. Since we have experienced both...consider message received.

As part of our consultation with a nutritionist and traditional medical professionals, we have removed gluten, dairy, and sugar from our (my wife and I) daily diet, and added drinking freshly juiced vegetables and fruits (specifically green leafy vegetables) at least once a day. It has been challenging, and I don't profess that our change in lifestyle is for everyone or necessarily right, but it is the right for my family and I.

As such I have been inspired by good health, economics, and education, I have made the leap to create my own sustainable "green" garden. And, to accompany my garden, I will write this blog to share my experience, and open myself up to comments (if anyone decides to read this...I think my illusions of grandeur begin and end with my garden).