do i really want to know?

i added an inexpensive soil testing kit with my seeds order this year, thinking it would be good to know what's lacking in our garden soil, rather than just shooting in the dark. when it arrived though, i was hesitant to use it, since i had already started working beds, and planting seeds. do i really want to know how bad it is? am i going to do what's required to amend the soil? doubtful. i'll probably just keep adding compost, leaf mold, an occasional bag of peat, and hope for the best.



after reading the instructions though, i decided it would be fun to do the test with carl (we both enjoy playing scientist) and if we don't end up adding anything special to our garden beds, then at least we know which nutrients (or lack thereof) to blame if our plants don't thrive.



we did the test. it was indeed fun. maybe we'll add something to one bed, as an experiment, and maybe we won't.



in other news, the arugula has already sprouted, and so has some of the lettuce and spinach in the salad box. expected lows in the twenties for tonight and tomorrow, so i'll bring the salad box indoors, close the cold frame, and cover the other beds, and our baby lilac, which has already started opening its buds.

has anyone else in our neck of the woods started gardening yet?

p.s. today is the one year anniversary for this garden blog!

i dig it

the rain let up long enough for me to get out in the dirt this afternoon. i dug up half of the garden, and worked in some peat and composted manure. the soil seems ok to me, has decent drainage, and was easy to work. i was encouraged by the sight of a few earthworms, but there are also many small stones, and fine root systems in there. the roots probably come from the large oak tree to the west of the the garden plot. it felt so good to be out there, though i bet i feel it tomorrow (especially in my back).

cosmo was out there with me, pokin' around in the dirt, and examining the contents of the newest compost bin. "two flies," he stated. i couldn't really figure out what he was saying. it sounded like "two fries" and i thought, we never put fries in the compost, what is he talking about? i went to inspect. there were two flies on the food scraps. he stood there for a long time, just looking.

i'm still a bit nervous to plant any seeds outside. i think we have more cold weather coming. all the indoor seedlings look wonderful, and i am anxious to get my salad boxes started. i can always bring those in at night until it warms up.

day six: sprouts

the very first seedlings to sprout are the cherry tomatoes i planted monday night. i woke up this morning to find them beginning to uncurl and poke up through the soil. made me so happy.

i worried about them not getting enough light, so ran out to get a grow lamp. i ended up with a sylvania spot-gro 60w bulb, in a reflective shop lamp that i can clip to the window sill and position where i want. i was planning to get a florescent one, but that didn't work out (long story). this one is more like a regular incandescent bulb, but it's supposed to be for plants. it gives off and eerie blue glow. i have it a little over a foot away from the plants because it seems to give off a lot of heat. i'm going into all this detail because i'm secretly hoping someone reading this has used this type of lamp for seedlings, and can give me some pointers.

i also got a couple bags of peat and some compost. i am anxious to start working it into the garden. tonight i built our second compost bin, and poked around in the first one. i tried to turn it, but didn't fully succeed. from what i could tell, things have not broken down much, which makes sense given that we started it in the fall. there's not a lot of activity in the compost bin over the winter.

i'm completely giddy, and rather wound up over this gardening thing. i had some crappy dreams last night. thinking about baby tomato plants under a hot light, and fantasizing about fluffing up dirt seemed to ease my mind.

garden one

carl gave me a hoe for valentine's day. i can't think of a more romantic gift.

i've been itching to garden for so many years now. my grandmother was a great organic gardener in illinois, and my mother learned a few things from her, and passed them on to me. i will never forget the way the soil in my grandma's garden felt in my fingers. it was black, sandy, loamy, lightweight--rich. i loved to be in her garden as a child-- picking strawberries, tomatoes, pulling up carrots and potatoes--and i'd rip my fingers to shreds in her raspberry brambles in the summertime, for the tangy sweetness of those little red jewels.

i tended a garden with some other women in oregon back in the early 1990's. our garden was lush and fruitful, and i learned so many things from that master gardener from cornwall. but this is the first chance i've had on my own to plant more than a couple of flowers or potted plants.

we have a really small garden plot in the yard of the place we are renting. the soil doesn't seem great, but it looks like a pretty good location on the property. we piled all our autumn leaves on top of it, and they have been sitting there all winter, sinking in. of course, they haven't had a chance to compost or anything, so, most likely we will rake them off into a pile, and use them for mulch once we get things planted. we are looking into simple ways to enrich the soil, but don't plan to get too precise for our first go of it. i don't think we will test the soil or anything. our next door neighbor jack suggested working in some peat moss, and alfalfa pellets. i am also considering chicken manure, but what do i know? just guessing here. our compost bin is still too young to use, but we plan to start another one so we can let that one "cook."

i have a garden notebook, but i thought a blog might be a nice way to chronicle my early experiments with gardening. we are getting inklings of spring here in southern indiana, and i have garden fever. i can't stop thinking about it, and there just isn't enough to do yet. perhaps writing will help me manage all the excess energy.



last night i planted some tomato seeds in an egg carton. i can't decide if i should have them covered by clear plastic, to retain moisture, or if they should be open, for maximum air flow. the egg cartons i'm using have a built in cover, and right now, i have it propped up with a toothpick, at carl's suggestion. a sort of compromise i guess. i find myself touching the soil every couple of hours, to make sure it is moist enough. micro managing.

i have 6-13 days to wait still, before i'll see the first sprouts.