The benefits of having a tiny garden are many. This year I've set everything I am tending close together. Those trips for something I'd forgotten, that used to entail walking all the way around the house, now are just a dozen steps there and back. I am spending an average of one hour a day doing stuff for my veggie, and am all caught up, even finding time to write these journal entries.
I won't be growing any watermelon, or cabbages, or potatoes, among many other things. But if all goes well, my crops will include lettuce, radish, sweet peas, green beans, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes (three varieties), okra, onions, herbs and cucumbers. All in one 8 by 12 foot enclosure. We'll see.
I often hear folks suggest ways to increase the calcium in soil, so that tomatoes don't get blossom end rot. Last year I surrounded all my tomatoes (two plants!) with egg shells, and had no problems with that malady, but just to be sure this year, I decided not to rely only on all the egg shells and coffee grounds I produce, but to also supplement with a calcium powder. I spent an awful lot ($50) on soil, a calcium supplement, and a few pots, and felt a little silly as I left the Growing Room. But when I measured out the powder I would need for one gallon of soil, and I think I can get this all done with two gallons, I realized I'd bought a lifetime supply of the stuff. You can see my powder on the tip of that trowel, and the soil in the groovy stainless steel bucket on the floor.
As always, my photogenic pets are underfoot.
Today I repotted three tomatoes and two peppers, all supplemented with calcium/magnesium. They look so much happier!
Patches is looking on.
My cold frame is turning out to be too small both for the crops planted in there and for my seedlings as they grow. I still have three weeks before I can plant them out. I definitely could have started the cukes a couple of weeks later than the other seedlings to have more room. Next year!
There's a freeze possibly hitting us overnight tonight, snow and all. Far be it from me to look anything up, so, just to be safe, I piled some hay on top of my cold frame and secured that with a flannel sheet. I figure it will stay nice and warm in there overnight, hopefully not suffocating for my plants. An added bonus will be that the cold frame will also not heat up as quickly next morning when the sun hits it, so I can sleep in a bit. I've had to get up earlier than I would like, just to crack the lids, and am getting short on sleep.
Normally, or so I imagine (not having looked it up), a cold frame should be enough protection for a night such as this one coming. But this cold frame is a rickety, rinky dink, toy store variety. I think a bit of extra protection will help me sleep well.
Nothing brings fairies to my mind better than lamium, which runs so wild in my yard I have to contain it by pulling masses of it up by hand every spring. I'm including this photo for no other reason than it is pretty, and caught my eye on my very short walk from my garden gate to my front porch.
That's all folks!
Thanks for reading! All photos are mine.
cutest little page break ever by @thekittygirl