Garden 2011

Do you ever read those articles in magazines where they give every day ideas on how to burn calories? Things like vacuuming or mowing the yard that burn as many calories as a work out. Well gardening is always on those lists. I now know why gardening is on those lists. Oh my gosh did I get a work out this past weekend! I got the garden completely planted. Maybe this doesn't sound like a big feat, but it was. You see the garden grew from last year. This year it's 30 X 40 feet. That's 20 rows, each 30 feet long. I planted 500 seeds of corn alone. If each one actually grows and produces an ear of corn we might be a bit overwhelmed. I'm ready to be overwhelmed. Bring it on!

I took last years garden and improved it. For one, I took out all the crops that didn't grow to my satisfaction. I took out all the crops that grew but I never wanted to eat. And I added some new and exciting crops. Last years seeds that didn't return: broccoli, tomatilos, eggplant, okra and cauliflower. This years new and experimental plants: sweet potato, hot peppers, butternut squash, pumpkin, radishes and white cucumbers. Last years winners that are back for more: Sweet corn (trying new varieties of Kandy Korn, and Peaches and Cream), pole beans, carrots (a carnival mix with different colors), onions (red and yellow), zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, watermelon and cantaloupe. And flowers! I planted a whole row of zinnias, nasturtium, marigolds and many many sunflowers (I'm super excited about the sunflower forest for Wesley). If that doesn't bring the pollinators to the garden I'm afraid nothing will.

This year I also did quite a bit of research on plant companions. What are those you ask? It's the task of pairing plants with other plants that help one another out. For instance I planted a row of carrots and onions together. They are beneficial to each other. Same with planting peppers close to tomatoes and beans with corn. I'm trying a suggestion I found online to conquer the squash beetle problem from last year: sow radish seeds among your squash. Supposedly the radish will help deter the blasted beetle. We'll see. It's cheap insurance. Maybe I'll end up liking radishes too.

I've already got beans poking up through the dirt along with corn and squash so it looks like the 2011 garden is off and running.