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My First Garden

May 11, 2010 By Emily McClements
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I’m so excited, over the last few weeks I have been working on planting my first very own garden!  It really is pretty amazing to get your hands a little dirty and work in the soil planting seeds and seedlings.  And it is even more amazing when the seeds you have planted actually sprout!  It’s like my own little miracle in the corner of my back yard!

About 2 1/2 weeks ago I planted 4 romaine lettuce plants, 2 spinach plants and a cilantro plant.  I also planted two rows of sugar snap pea seeds and a row of carrot seeds.  Last week, my little seedlings came up!  About a week and a half ago I planted a tomato plant and 4 banana pepper plants.  This past weekend at the Farmer’s Market we picked up another tomato plant, some cherry tomato plants, chocolate and red pepper plants, a basil plant, and some zucchini seeds that we are going to plant this week. 

I really, really wanted to plant a garden this year, but when we got started, we weren’t really sure how it would work out because we don’t have full sun in our backyard.  We have a huge maple tree and two pine trees that shade most of our backyard for most of the day.  But, there was a cute little garden bed that was made by the previous owners, so we just decided to plant some things and see how they turned out.  Then, my wonderful hubby also made me a small square foot garden box that we put in another area of our yard, so we’re now planning to plant in both the garden bed and the square foot garden box and see how they compare to each other.  Also, I decided to plant my tomatoes and peppers in one of our front yard flower beds because we get full sun in the front and I really want to make sure that those do well.  So, all in all I have 3 different areas of garden this summer, and I’m so excited to see how green my thumb is and to grow food for our family.

I’m already having a little trouble because something ate 2 of my romaine plants! 🙁  I am pretty sure it was bunnies because we have lots of those around here and bunnies like to eat lettuce.  I was a little afraid of that when I planted the romaine, but figured that lots of people must plant lettuce in their gardens and somehow keep the bunnies away, so if you have any tips or tricks for keeping the critters out of my garden, please share!!

Here is what I have planted or am planning to plant:
-romaine lettuce plants
-spinach plants
-carrot seeds
-sugar snap pea seeds
-tomato plants
-pepper plants
-zucchini plants
-cilantro and basil plants

I wanted to start off small this first year and not overwhelm myself with too much.  I also have a very active almost 1-year old who needs most of my attention when we are outside, so I didn’t want to have too much work to do. I wanted to plant things that we love to eat and would use up if we had lots and lots of them (my hope!).  I wanted to try some things from seed, but I wanted to use some plants as well because this is my first time and I’m trying to increase my chances for success, but also because I wasn’t on top of it enough to start my seedlings inside – that will have to be a goal for next year.  We’ll see how it goes, and I’ll post updates along the way.  I really am just so excited about starting the process.  It really is amazing to be able to watch your seeds sprout and your plants grow with nothing more than soil, sunlight and water.  I’m sure it will be just as amazing as we eat our first meal with salad and veggies fresh from our garden!

 What are you planting in your garden this year?
 
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9 CommentsFiled Under: Around The House Tagged With: gardening, real food

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Comments

  1. Christianne @ Little Page Turners says

    May 11, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    Fun! We have a sunlight-challenged yard as well, so you'll have to let me know what succeeded. I am growing basil and cilantro, however, although I only ever get one crop out of the cilantro. We're planning on moving next year and one of my requests is a sunny yard so I can grow our own veggies!

    Reply
  2. Rita says

    May 11, 2010 at 6:03 pm

    Sounds like a good plan – start small so you don't get overwhelmed, esp. the first year! We are doing a huge garden (kinda overwhelming!)again with my parent, some of my favorites are eggplant, basil (makes yummy pesto!) and green beans.
    I'd try planting some marigold's in each bed, "they" say those will deter rabbits or plant some onions as a border, rabbits are not supposed to like their smell. Good luck and happy gardening!

    Reply
  3. Candi says

    May 11, 2010 at 6:10 pm

    Great plan! I just discovered that termites are eating the insides of my pepper plants…they've already killed 2 and I only have 1 left. Oh well…

    Reply
  4. Mary Elizabeth says

    May 12, 2010 at 7:53 am

    Awesome site! I will visit often – I am very, very interested in living frugally green.

    Reply
  5. Leslie says

    May 12, 2010 at 12:16 pm

    Wonderful garden! I've been thinking about gardening too – how wonderful it would be to walk in your backyard to gather your produce. I don't know one thing about it, though and don't even know where to start! I'm interested to look into it, though. Thanks for sharing the inspiration!

    Reply
  6. Emily says

    May 13, 2010 at 11:37 pm

    @Christianne – I've heard with the cilantro that you have to harvest it often so it doesn't go to seed. We'll see if that works.

    @Mary Elizabeth – Thanks so much! So glad you're here! Please let me know if you have any questions.

    @Leslie – I really have no idea what I am doing either – hence the rabbits eating two of my plants. But, I figure that I have to start somewhere and I will learn and figure things out as I go. Good luck with your garden!

    Reply
  7. Leah says

    May 25, 2010 at 4:29 pm

    Hi! I followed through from KOTH real food event. This is a nice blog you have here! Congrats on starting your own garden. It's my first year too! I was gitty as a school girl to see my lettuce and corn starting to come up. Isn't it wonderful?! Blessings 🙂

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. My Top 30, now that I’m 30! says:
    September 28, 2010 at 3:20 pm

    […] my own garden, even thought it didn’t go as well as I hoped this […]

    Reply
  2. Spring Time at Live Renewed says:
    March 1, 2011 at 7:41 am

    […] rock walls with beds where I can garden, and we’ll also be adding a much larger garden space than we had last year, to our side front […]

    Reply

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