Happy Halloween!

Broccoli Firsts

BROCCOLI

There's a first for everything, right?! Well, here's the first harvest of the first planting of broccoli for us. (Never tried growing it before.)

We transplanted four plants from a nursery on April 24th and now two months later we're enjoying the fruits of our labors. The other two plants are a little further behind these two. That will be nice because a person can only eat so much broccoli at a time.

I wasn't sure how to grow broccoli so I checked out usagardener.com. Under their "How to Grow Broccoli" section I found everything I needed to know from planting to harvesting. I've enjoyed having this resource for growing other fruits and vegetables as well.

I love this time of year!

Great Articles

This month's Ensign magazine has some great articles on finances and gardening. Here are the links:

Focus on Family Finances
By Allie Schulte
"Either we control our finances or they control us. Here' how to get the upper hand."

Power Tools for Family Finances
"Use them to demolish debt and build a strong financial future."

Stretching Your Dollars
By Kay Przybille
"We can stretch our dollars by eating home-cooked meals, looking for bargains, and establishing a budget."

Our Community Garden
by Beth A. Wright
"I had always wanted a garden, but with no yard I didn't think it would be possible."

In the Morning Sow Thy Seed
"Hard work can strengthen our spirits."

(Source: Ensign, June 2009)

More Than One Way to Grow a Garden

We've got four different kinds of gardens growing this year: container, traditional, raised bed, and a Square Foot Garden.

Raised Bed Gardens

We've had the raised bed gardens for at least 10 years. These have a shorter amount of sun-time because of a large neighboring tree. The cooler weather crops like peas and spinach do really well in these - except this year the birds got to them before they could get off to a good start. About 8 spinach plants survived and we enjoyed our first picking a couple nights ago.
Each year, at the beginning of the garden season, my husband tills in a couple bags of Nutri-Mulch into the raised bed gardens. It helps refill the boxes and gives the plants an extra boost. The broccoli, cabbage, and onion plants are thriving there. Thankfully, the birds have left those plants alone.

Container Gardening

Because I am unable to fit everything I'd like to grow in our raised bed gardens, I've tried growing cucumbers, green peppers, and tomatoes in pots I used to only have flowers in. They did especially well last year when my husband installed a separate drip irrigation system into each pot. This year I decided to plant radishes in a window box container and some green peppers, too.

My Version of Traditional Gardening -

Vegetables in the Flower Beds

Instead of planting annual flowers along the back of the house in between my perennials, I've planted some tomato plants, green pepper plants, Anaheim pepper plants, onions, and carrots this year. It's like traditional gardening because the seeds and plants are put directly into the ground. (I did mix a little Nutri-Mulch into the soil to help condition it before I did the planting.)

Square Foot Garden

This year we decided to add a Square Foot Garden to our backyard. Opting to leave our automatic sprinkling system in place - which comes out about 15" from the fence - my handy husband was able to fit a 1' x 46' Square Foot Garden between the back fence and the sprinkler heads. Other bonuses, this spot has full sun all day and an optional trellis (the fence).

I'm going to be keeping watch to see whether the onions do better in the raised bed garden, traditional garden, or Square Foot Garden. I've got them planted in all three this year. Yeah, we like onions. :)

Growing Potatoes in a Trash Can

Learn how to grow potatoes in a trash can. Love this idea! Thanks Mike C.!

For a printer-friendly version with pictures, click here.

Real Life -- Living It

Don't you just love Spring?! Do you find yourself outdoors every chance you get just to enjoy the fresh air and warmth of the sun? I know I have (another reason for my lack of recent posts.) I've been out "playing" in the dirt, attempting to grow yet another year's garden.

There's something exciting about carefully placing a seed into the fertile soil and keeping watch 'til the first new signs of life appear. We can experience the "feelings of accomplishment, and inner peace" in our persistent efforts to grow "obedience gardens".

"Several years ago, our newly married daughter and her husband began a series of moves from one place to another—graduate school, first job, and so on. These moves took them to various parts of the country. In each place the climate and soil conditions were different, but they determined they would follow the prophet’s advice and have a garden. Their first attempts at gardening were pathetic. The weeds grew much better than the vegetables. The gardens were “obedience gardens.” However, with continued effort, each year the gardens improved. They learned new techniques and developed skills. As children came to their family, each was taught to work and take responsibility in those “obedience gardens.” Now their gardens are attractive, worthwhile “survival” projects, as the family enjoys and shares the produce. They preserve the excess for later use. Besides the practical lessons they learned, they found peace and assurance in keeping the commandments. Surely the promise was fulfilled for them: the prophet’s advice had been for their good always.

Sometimes we think that because our circumstances are difficult, it is not practical to keep all the Lord’s commandments. There are those, for instance, who feel they cannot afford to pay tithing. But as we obey the commandments, we have the evidence of blessings, feelings of accomplishment, and inner peace."

Barbara W. Winder, “Draw Near unto Me through Obedience,” Ensign, Nov 1985, 95

Two Days Left on One-Gallon Tomato Plants Sale

There's a great sale on one-gallon tomato plants ($1.75 each)
at J&J Nursery
1815 West Gentile Street, Layton, UT 84041
Hours: Mon–Sat 8AM to 8PM Phone: 801.544.1211

Sale ends Saturday, April 25, 2009.
They also have smaller tomato plants for .69 each, and

4-packs for 1.49 each.

This place is amazing! The quality of plants, great selection, and the reasonable prices are worth the drive. Be prepared to spend some time walking around their incredibly huge nursery. They have a humongous selection of vegetable plants, flowers, trees and bushes, with great prices to match.

My cute niece is driving down from Idaho to take advantage of this sale. I went yesterday and spent three hours there. I'll definitely be going back -- after I finish planting what I purchased. :) (Thanks to Valerie at Prepared LDS Family for the heads-up!)

Real Life -- Living It

"Despite many ongoing challenges, some inconveniences, and occasional complaints by the children when it’s time to weed," read how the Martin family "found many positive benefits from following the prophet’s counsel" to grow a garden in an article entitled "Growing More Than Gardens". Then take a minute or two and ponder how growing a garden has blessed your life. :)

(Source: T. Martin, “Growing More Than Gardens,” Ensign, June 1997, 71)

Traditional Gardening

Planning a garden? Check out these sites for great information:

Provident Living has some general reminders for Planning a Garden. See their diagram of a Sample Garden Plot "planned to accommodate fruits and vegetables in the most ideal growing conditions." Also on Provident Living are Links to Gardening Web Sites.

Safely Gathered In has a great tutorial on prepping your garden plot.

Container Gardening

BerginMania at The Pantry Panel taught a container gardening class for her stake. She "created a power point presentation instead of having a gazillion handouts." She shares the link to her presentation here.

Definitely worth checking out!

(Source: The Pantry Panel)

More Garden Bits

"Developing gardening skills can bless you and your family with delicious, homegrown produce and reduce your grocery bills!" What's With All This Food has a great gardening handout all about "Storing Seeds", "Testing Old Seeds", "Seed Terms", and "10 Tips for Beginning Gardeners". Click here to check it out.

Real Life -- Living It

This time of year people are often busy planning, preparing, and planting gardens. Read how one family has learned "that children and vegetables grow quite well together, and that the experiences the children have in a garden can last a lifetime" in an article entitled "Raising More Than Peas".

(Source: Loretta E., “Raising More than Peas,” Ensign, Apr. 1984, 72–73)

Garden Bits

Learn how to make your own seed starter pots from newspapers. Laura at Ten Things Farm makes her own "virtually free" and shares how with this tutorial. "You can even plant them right in the garden when your seedlings are ready!"

Once you've made your seed starter pots, Laura shares how to get your seeds started with another tutorial, "Let's Get to Planting."

Not sure when to begin? Check out My Square Foot Garden's post "to find out when to start seeds, plant, and transplant based on your frost date!"

Ready, set, GROW!