Spring Excitement!

Well friends, the season is here!  It's officially spring!  Could it be that the cold weather is nearly behind us?  If you're like me, you tend to get really excited and try to rush the season.   I have killed many a plant in the past due to a lack of patience!  The deceptive sunny days have often tricked me into running out and buying tender young plants that then get decimated by an unexpected frost.  My mistakes have taught me a lesson, so now if I simply Must plant something, I take precautions and keep them inside until the weather is consistently in the mid 60's.  (Even then, some of the summer crops like tomatoes and cucumbers don't like chilly night air so they have to wait until later in the season.)

...Which brings me to SEEDLINGS!  My husband and I just couldn't wait so we started some seeds indoors.  Feast your eyes on these teeny baby plants!

Baby veggies!
(From Left to Right: Golden Detroit Beets, Fiesta Radishes, Bush Beans)

I honestly wasn't sure if they would sprout at all.  We don't have the best of indoor conditions, considering we only have one workable south-facing window and two cats who would love nothing more than to chomp these and knock them over.  I admit that I haven't had the best luck in the past, so I was pleasantly surprised that these popped up in only a few days, the first couple of which were in indirect, low lighting conditions.  The radishes were the first to pop.  They are fast-growing anyway and will probably have to be thinned later on.

I later moved them all into the guest room, which is the warmest and sunniest room of the house where I can keep the cats out.  Now they all seem to be doing much better, which is very exciting!  Also planted were some seeds for red lettuce and red globe bunching onions.  They have not yet sprouted, but I am hopeful.

Seeds can be a fun and inexpensive experiment for first-time gardeners.  Dollar for dollar, seeds are the cheapest way to go.  I don't do them every year; sometimes I run out of time and prefer to purchase plants to get a jump start.  When I do decide to start seeds indoors, I always remind myself that there's a risk involved: not all seedlings make it.  Sometimes even if they do make it, the plant isn't as healthy and well-established as one raised in a nursery, so it may not produce as well.  Even when sowing seeds directly outside, it's important to remember that birds love to come along and pluck them right out of the soil, so scattering more than you think you'll need is probably a good idea.  You can always thin them out later.  (Follow your package instructions for best results.)

Through trial and error, I have learned for myself what plants I have good luck with starting from seeds and which I don't.  For example, I no longer try to start tomatoes from seeds.  I'm sure others do it with perfect success... perhaps they have greenhouses?  In any case, I care far too much about my tomatoes in particular to risk the heartache of failure.  However, your experience may be completely different from mine, so I encourage you to try whatever feels right!  You'll learn for yourself what works for you.

For more information on starting seeds indoors, read: Old Farmer's Almanac: Starting Seeds Indoors

"So, where's the best place to buy seeds?"

Honestly, I've tried a bunch of different brands from a ton of sources with mixed success.  Seeds are readily available at any home & garden center in your area.  They are almost always pretty inexpensive unless you're purchasing a special heirloom variety that may be rare.  Stores like Home Depot and Ace Hardware will carry all the usual favorites and sometimes more.

If you're looking for something more specialized, the go-to resource is Johnny's Selected Seeds.  Not only do they have nearly every type of seed you can think of (red burgundy okra?  You betcha!), but they have an on-site seed lab where they put their entire stock to the test.  Their website is an amazing resource for other gardening knowledge, and their catalog is the perfect eye-candy for the aspiring gardener like myself.  (It's also freeeee...)

Another resource that I can't recommend enough is your local farmer's market, especially for young plants.  Alex and I have often remarked how every plant we have bought from the farmer's market has not only survived, but thrived!  This is because your local growers know which varieties of plants are most successful in your area.  If you're truly interested in gardening, the best resource is a local!  Take a walk around your neighborhood; you probably know or can at least guess who the good gardeners are.  You'll probably see them outside covered in dirt if the weather is nice!  Get to know them!  Not only might they share with you their knowledge, but they might think of you when they have that bumper crop of cucumbers or all those extra daffodil bulbs.  Part of the joy of gardening is getting to share it with others, after all. :)

That's all for this post!  Stay tuned-- a post regarding the new raised vegetable bed is coming soon, along with more spring eye-candy from "A Feast of Color" Home & Garden Expo.

Ta-ta for now,

Sarah

(Oh!) For the Love of Tomatoes

Growing up, I hated tomatoes.

In fact, there was nothing that I hated more.  Though I loved other vegetables, tomatoes' sweet acidic slime (as I perceived it then) would send me running from the room in disgust.





Summer was the peak season for my parents' vegetable garden, and suddenly every surface in the kitchen was covered in tomatoes of all sizes and degrees of ripeness.  I can still remember the tangy, grassy smell hanging in the air.  Tomatoes oozed everywhere, their full ripe bodies near to bursting with all of the attention and water that my father lavished on their care.  And they didn't just stay on the counter; they appeared at nearly every meal: sliced tomatoes on the table at breakfast, stewed tomatoes and black-eyed peas at dinner, tomato sauce over pasta, tomato juice (from which my parents enjoyed Bloody Marys), and last but not least the dreaded "Tomato Sandwich."  I would watch in horror as my parents slathered two pieces of white bread with Duke's mayonnaise, layered in thick slices of tomato, slap it together, and take a huge bite.  I'd never seen a more miserable sandwich in all my life.  (Though I now have grown to love tomatoes, the tomato sandwich is still not something I fancy.  But to each their own!)

My father grew the best tomatoes.  People from our community would make a special trip to the house, just hoping to be offered some tomatoes that he had grown.  I remember thinking, "What's so special about stupid old tomatoes?"  I certainly didn't see anything good about them.

Me and my father, circa 1993.

Every evening after working a long day on his feet at the drugstore, my father would be outside.  I would watch him in the garden, leaning over some vegetable or another, plucking off any insects and trimming damaged leaves with care.  Row by row he would do the same, until the sun went down or dinner was ready.  Then he would toss his clippings on the compost pile, have me help carry that day's collection of produce, and head for the house.  I have since learned that it is this level of daily dedication and love that makes for the best gardens.

Over time, I came around to enjoying cherry tomatoes, probably on a dare.  I eventually came to love all tomatoes, and I now know that my father grows the best tomatoes I have ever seen or tasted.  His years of experience came from growing up on my grandfather's tobacco farm, where he would work all day in the fields alongside his siblings.  It was hard work, and it shaped him into the man he became.

My father (far left) and his siblings, circa 1950.

There's no two ways about it: gardens are hard work!  A successful garden is a personal commitment of your time.  Even if one is fortunate enough to afford all the gadgetry that makes watering automatic, there's no magic device that automatically pulls weeds, prunes, and repels insects.  Though there are certainly products that make it easier, which we can talk about later.

The act of gardening does represent some duality.  On the one hand, there's the painstaking labor: the tilling, sowing, composting, watering, weeding, pest control... the list goes on.  On the other hand, there's the immense joy that happens when you are finally able to savor the fruits of your labor (literally!).  This is a kind of joy that is easy to share with others-- You can grow food for your family and share it with your neighbors!  Gardening brings people together in the best kind of way, which is a great recipe for joy.  You should always plant what brings you joy, be it flowers or tomatoes.  Joy is a key ingredient in gardening, equally as important as good compost, water and sun.

For me, I experience that joy most profoundly when I reach to pick a ripe tomato and it's so perfectly ready to be picked that it just lets itself fall off the vine and into my hand with hardly a tug.  It's an exquisite feeling, to know that all your hard work has lead to this moment and you are reaping the rewards.

However, this blog is not Only about tomatoes.  Gardening has shaped my view of the world and brought me so much happiness through hard work; I would love to share that experience with others.  Though "happiness through hard work" could probably be my life's mantra, starting your own garden is actually fairly easy, and if you start small, the time commitment can be minimal.

Graphic Credit: C.L. Fornari, www.gardenlady.com

More than anything, I wish to communicate to whoever is reading that Anyone can garden.  It doesn't matter if you have prior experience.  You don't need special training.  You can even garden in limited space and on a small budget!  Many of my posts will be aimed towards beginner gardeners and starting your own garden.

My husband and I are newlyweds and have just started to construct our first vegetable garden in the backyard of our suburban home.  I will share with you our experiences, including both successes and failures, along with my research into the subject of successful gardening and any helpful tips and tricks that I've discovered.  I am an experienced gardener, but by no means an expert and am still learning much along the way.

Occasionally, I love to talk about the biology of gardens, but I will try to avoid being so scientific that the content is dry.  Instead, I love to infuse humor into these topics, because honestly how can you not crack a smile when you're talking about the benefits of worm poop??

I hope that you'll join me!  Stay tuned for more posts on gardening, recipes and joyful living (but mostly gardening!)


Cheers!

-- Sarah