Dirt Farmin'

Quick update on the traditional garden here at Tiny Mansion.

I got home from Fruita on Thursday to find that my pickling cucumbers had sprouted and are looking very healthy measuring up to 1 1/2" tall! The strawberry trays worked excellent!



This year I decided to grow garlic after indulging myself with all of my friends homegrown garlic last year. If you have never had homegrown garlic... you should. It's simply amazing! Garlic is planted in the fall (just before Halloween) and it sits in the ground through the winter. The other day I peaked outside to see that they had sprouted. The weight of all of the snow this year compacted the soil so much that some of the cloves were sprouting and the clove itself was sticking out of the ground. So I buried them a bit more and over the past couple days the sprouts have doubled in size. When I got home yesterday amidst a April 1st snow storm (winter won't end around here) this is what I found.



The snow has melted today, and they still look happy!

I went to Let It Grow again today to get some more seeds to start indoors and to round out my seed selection for my garden this year. I bought some Cherry Tomato seeds, Snap peas, Scarlet Runner beans, and Sunberries (which are supposed to be a bit like a blueberry). I started the Cherry Tom's, Sunberries and Nyagous Tom's today in more homemade "trays" made from a juice jug and yogurt container.



Even though it just snowed, the worst of the winter is over (I hope) and the ground is soft enough to work. So today I put in the ground the plants that can withstand a bit of cold. That includes: Lettuce, Snap Peas, Dragon Carrots, Dill and Golden Midget Watermelons. I measured my garden today and it is about 75 square feet, which is pretty large (I think) and a lot bigger than it looks so it's looking like I will have a bunch of veggies this year!



For the outdoor garden this year I will be attempting to grow: Tomatoes (three varieties), Scarlet Runner Beans, Snap Peas, Lettuce, Arugula, Basil, Cilantro, Dragon Carrots, Garlic, Sunberries, Golden Midget Watermelon, Dill, Cayenne Peppers, Bell Peppers (?), Pickling Cucumbers, Bushy Cucumbers and hopefully not too many weeds!