Tea Party with my Plants

So it's been a while since my last post... Having just finished my undergraduate education, my summer has been filled with working to pay off the loans and trying to obtain a job in the field I want to pursue: Music Education. Unfortunately, this has left much less time than I would like to work in my precious little patch of land. As my garden is often times my sanity, it's been a bit more than frustrating. I'm falling back into a routine though. Early mornings allow a few hours to get things done.

    Since at my last post, I had nothing planted, here is an updated list of what we've got growing:

• 4 Rainbow Pepper plants - New trial this summer. I should have yellow, red, orange, and green peppers all from the same plant!
• 5 Broccoli plants- 4 of the Broccoli I've used previously (and loved!) and a trial on a new type of Broccoli.
• Lettuce - Grows faster than I can pick it, will be replanting these until they won't grow anymore.
• Onions- I know absolutely nothing about them except that if you plant a rotting/sprouting onion from the fridge, it will grow. And it will continue to grow... and multiply. Annually apparently.
• String Beans - Well, actually that's a lie. I planted them. They're not growing. This calls for a do-over.
• Carrots - This is my first go at them. They're not growing either. Though I haven't really weeded the area yet because I have no idea what carrot plants look like... 
• Potatoes - This is another plant that has come up from last year's batch. Last year's were delicious!
• 4 Tomato plants - Each plant is a different type: Glacier, Krim, Cherry, and Yellow Pear (blog post on tomatoes coming soon!)

I'm also a person all about To Do Lists so making a list helps me to be more productive in the little time I have in the mornings before work. Here is my current To Do List for garden work:

To Do

-WEED!

-get hoe fixed

-remove bolted lettuce

-plant new lettuce

-hill potatoes

-tea peppers and Glaciers

-dig/weed back squash garden

-till bean row

-plant more beans

-inspect carrots

-deal with volunteers 

-Blog it!

I'll keep my list updated in my posts. We'll see if it gets longer before it gets shorter...

This morning brought along some productivity before the bugs and biting flies ruined that. After some serious weeding, it was time for a tea party with a few of my plants that needed a little extra help. When I say "tea" I'm not referring to any herbal drink or anything iced with a slice of lemon. I'm talking about Manure Tea. Many gardeners may be familiar with Compost Tea. This is a similar idea, but as I have much more manure than compost on my farm, manure tea it was. It's exactly as it sounds. I call it Miracle Grow without the chemicals. Manure Tea is a natural fertilizer made from manure and water. It is high in nitrogen and other nutrients that are good for plant growth. With all of the heat and lack of rain that we've had, a few of my plants need a little boost. Yesterday, while I was at work I had my younger brother dig deep into our manure pile (20 years of owning several horses piles up!) and fill half a bucket with the some of the darkest, cured manure that has been sitting for a few years. We filled the rest of the bucket with water and let it set for the day and "brew" in the 4th of July heat. This morning I went out and applied the tea to the soil around the plants that needed it (my peppers, some tiny onions, and my Glacier tomato plant). Dirty job? nah. The cured manure doesn't smell like fresher manure and the water dilutes the smell. I did some research on the tea (after the fact) and according to a couple different sources, I may have missed a step as my tea is less like a tea and more like a soup... oh well, I'm still new. We'll see if it does the trick! Here's a good step-by-step tutorial on making Manure Tea: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/make-your-own-manure-tea-in-number-steps#

Care for a cup?

Tea applied to one of my Peppers

To Do

-WEED!

-get hoe fixed

-remove bolted lettuce

-plant new lettuce

-hill potatoes

-tea peppers and Glaciers

-dig/weed back squash garden

-till bean row

-plant more beans
-inspect carrots
-deal with volunteers 
-Blog it!

Little Known Facts

    So this will be my first go at writing a blog... Some of my closest friends have started them and I liked the idea of it, but I've really never been the journal type. I've tried to keep a few and they never went farther than page 3 or 4. So I had thought that all hope was lost on me starting and keeping up with any sort of blog. Unless it was something different... something I greatly enjoy, but something people know very little about me. Thus, my garden blog.
    Gardening hasn't always been a hobby of mine. I actually despised weeding the flower beds when I was little. However, last year, I discovered I take great joy in creating and growing my own vegetable garden. It was spurred by an online summer class I took in Environmental Biology which required readings from a book by Barbara Kingsolver titled Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. This book's purpose is to bring food focus away from shipped and processed foods and back to supporting our economy and local communities by knowing the source of the foods we eat. (Check it out! http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/) My class required I read a few sections. I read the whole thing! I found it so intriguing, I just wanted to learn more! And I wanted to try some things on my own.

    So I started my own garden. With some help from my boyfriend and his mother (who have a very large garden of their own) I dug up a patch of my backyard, prepped it for planting, planted seeds and started plants, and nurtured them into beautiful (and delicious!) full-grown veggies. It was a learning experience in many ways (I once nurtured a beautiful patch of grass thinking it was onions... I'll never live that one down) but it was very successful and I loved every moment of it!
    I love throwing on a pair of ripped jeans and boots to work in. I love the sound of shovel cutting grass and dirt. I love getting my hands right in the thick of it and getting a little dirt under my nails. I love the smell of the soil, fertilizer, and tomato plants. I love the smell of tomato plants. The whole process is very therapeutic and a good escape from my stress-filled life. Its all so satisfying too. To see all the work you put into a garden given back to you in the form of delicious home-grown vegetables is a truly gratifying experience.
    Therefore, with my blog, I'll share my garden experiences with you! I've gotten started on this summer's garden, but I'll leave that to my next post. Check back soon!