I went to an heirloom seed festival this weekend (I'll share more about it soon) and picked up some seeds for our garden this year. I'm devoting the first part of my week to getting my sunroom cleaned up and getting my seeds planted. I'm totally a learn-as-you-go type person, so in my first year of gardening last year, I kinda just bought some random stuff and stuck it in the ground. I ended up moving plants several times because I was learning along the way, but it was still a great experience. This year I've got books and notes and I intend to plan out my garden a little better. We are adding a third garden box so I can fit all of the green things my heart desires (we ran out of room last year!). I know you don't always have to start with seeds, but I'm excited to start some of my garden bounty with seeds. We grew our cucumbers from seeds last year and they went crazy!
I wanted to thank everyone for commenting and sharing about garden things last year. I learned a lot from you guys as well, so I'm asking: do you have any favorite websites or books that you'd recommend for (smallish) gardening? I want to soak up all the growing knowledge I can! I'll report back soon with my garden plotting notes!
Square foot gardening is a great book and method for beginners :-)
ReplyDelete"The Backyard Homestead" is about a lot more than just gardening, but it's a great resource for all things agriculture!
ReplyDeleteThe You Grow Girl books by Gayla Trail are exactly what you're looking for, I think. "Grow Great Grub" specialzes in making the most of small spaces! http://yougrowgirl.com/books/
ReplyDeleteAlmost all of the gardening tricks that I've learned, I've learned from my grandma who is an avid and very talented gardener (amongst many other talents). I've always found a few books helpful like "The Backyard Homestead". I can't wait to see the progress of your garden! I'm not able to do one this year as I just don't have the time and I can't half-heartedly start one. However, I may just have a few herb plants.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Taylor
www.welcomehometaylor.com
I also like square foot gardening, but I also really love gardenista.com
ReplyDeleteWhen my family and I moved to the subdivision we are currently residing in now, we've had seed packets around and I loved the idea of planting a seed and watching them grow day by day. Our house has been crowded since then and fertile soil is lacking in our front yard. Wish I could plant some flowers again though.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited about your future garden posts! :)
xo Trisha
http://www.trishasales.net
I always wanted to be someone that had a garden and felt good about it.
ReplyDelete/Avy
http://mymotherfuckedmickjagger.blogspot.com
♥
I loved following along with your gardening adventures last year, as I had just stared it too (but with a container garden) on a whim. I only had a few successful things like peas, lettuce and spinach as I hadn't really planned things properly, but this year I've put so much more thought and planning into it.
ReplyDeleteWe just built a 2ft x 4ft raised bed and I'm trying out the square foot gardening method this year to fit as many things in as possible (I just did a post on that).
I'm super excited to follow along again this year! :)
Have a lovely week!
Someone else recommended Gayla Trail's books and I completely second that! I've been gardening on my own for just over 10 years now and come back to those books every year.
ReplyDeleteBaker Creek Heirloom Seeds is one of my favorites, but I've also used Renee's and Botanical Interests (I am in Canada and have a lot of Canadian sources, but those are my favorite US seed suppliers). I don't want to recommend specific vegetables because I think we have a completely different growing season, but if you're going to go for any greens, I would suggest getting a cut and come again mix - it'll give you a good variety as opposed to just one variety of lettuces. And if you plant a little section of lettuces every two weeks, you'll have fresh salads all season long - when the earlier sowings are starting to not look so good, you can just pull them out and re-seed.
I started gardening at a very young age with my Mom and I think it is really exciting that you garden with your girls!
My favorite gardening blog to read is Sweet Domesticity: http://sweetdomesticity.com/ Maria does a great job talking about specific varieties, what grows well together, and how to make an effective garden plan. Plus she has some yummy recipes to make with all the fresh garden produce
ReplyDeleteOMG such gorgeous seed packets! Last year was also my first year gardening...as an adult, anyway. As a kid we had a garden in the backyard of every home we lived in, but OH MAN I didn't realize how much more than just watering morning and night went into it! I picked up some starter plants of spinach, strawberries, and tomatoes over the weekend, and grabbed packets of carrot, cucumber, zucchini, peas, green beans, watermelon, and broccoli seeds. I might be a bit ambitious, but I'm SO, SO excited to get started planting this week. Looking forward to following along on your gardening journey, too!
ReplyDeletei'd love to start a garden! i don't have a yard or balcony now, but will soon! can't wait to see how you do!
ReplyDeletexxoo,
nikki
www.dreaminneon.blogspot.com
I'm always EXTREMELY jealous of people with a green thumb. Any plant I touch never lasts very long. Hahaha
ReplyDelete<3
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ritamaesshop
Even though you're growing in the ground I found "McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: Create Container Gardens of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers" to be a super informative and useful guide to many plants one would want in their garden. Plus if you plant any perennials in containers you can bring them inside for the winter! I live in NYC and am lucky enough to have a small little patio and get to try growing all kinds of stuff. Happy Gardening!
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so glad you asked this! I'm starting gardening for the first time (last year I planted about two plants...) and I really need help! I'm stealing all the resource ideas.
ReplyDeletehttp://howtomakehome.blogspot.com
I've been wanting to do some gardening as well. I'm going to start with a little herb garden. I really like the book Small-Space Container Gardens by Fern Richardson.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vividbeatnik.com
Very jealous of your gardening skills! I wish I had inherited my moms green thumb! Fresh veggies always taste the best! Good luck this season!!
ReplyDeleteTalk soon,
Jen
Geocrafty.blogspot.com
Eee, planning a garden is so exciting! The only thing I have (successfully) growing right now is a sensitive plant, but I would love to have some peas growing in a pot in my room perhaps. ^-^ And I'd love to plant some flowers outside!
ReplyDeleteIm so excited to see how your garden goes! I just planted my flower seeds last week and planning out the vegetables soon. Garden season is here! :)
ReplyDeleteJordyn
Pretty Lovely
I grew up at a bedding plant nursery, so I know my way around a garden, but recently I picked up this adorable book in a second-hand shop - and it's really interesting!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Your-Garden-War-Time-C-Middleton/dp/1845136047
It was published by the first "celebrity gardener" in the UK during World War 2, and consists of basic instructions as to how one should go about growing the necessities for survival during war. Sounds a bit gloomy and old-fashioned? Well, it's just so cute and quirky... The author is so passionate and is trying so hard to teach his methods to the basic people of the land, so the end result is lovely, basic instructions on how to create and maintain a vegetable garden.
When I bought it at first, I thought of it as a novelty item. Having read a good bit of it, it's just one of the nicest and easiest instruction manuals ever - little things like telling you how to re-use ashes from your fire to sew potatoes or whatever, it's all really basic but really clever!
I very much recommend it if you want to grow traditional veg :)
<3 Clíodhna.
good luck with your garden!
ReplyDeletewww.agoprime.it
Good luck with your plans, been meaning to research some plants to grow in my garden‼ xox ☺
ReplyDeletetiedyedisaster.blogspot.co.uk
I've started my seeds too and I have many that i need to move from the seed trays to larger containers and start to get them used to the outdoors. Gardening is so much fun.
ReplyDeleteVintaghoneybee.blogspot.com
Square foot gardening! -Hanna Lei
ReplyDeleteJust so you're not disappointed, the asparagus takes 2-3 years to grow from sprouts before you can have a full harvest, so you might want to consider a permanent spot for it! I learned the hard way after buying some sprouted asparagus and doing the research later. Oops! Once you have it, it grows back again and again for about the next 15-20 years. I planted it last year and will have asparagus next year (and hopefully year after year following that!) :)
ReplyDeleteso fun! i can't wait until we have some semblance of a yard someday to have just a small garden. it's something my husband + i talk about all the time...though i have a feeling he'll be the better gardner of us two. ; )
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