Garden Prep 2024

This is going to be a blog where I occasionally update on how my 2024 Garden Prep is coming along! Right now I am starting this blog on March 22, which is actually almost 2 months out from the last frost date in my area! I still have a long way to go before I can start putting plants in the ground, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have work to do! Come see the little odds and ends I am doing to help get my garden ready for the 2024 growing season!

Last updated April 30, 2024

Index

March 22, 2024
April 11, 2024
April 15, 2024
April 30, 2024

March 22, 2024

The other day I went to a little presentation at my library on growing tomatoes! The first half of the presentation was about the history of tomatoes, and the second half was about how to actually grow tomatoes, followed by a q&a. I didn’t learn too much new in the area of growing tomatoes, but I did learn a lot about the history of tomatoes. I have seen people show photos of what tomatoes most likely originally looked like, but I had not learned anything in regards to their cultivation and spread. Tomatoes didn’t come to Europe until after Christopher Columbus. It is interesting to think about how tomatoes are such a staple in many foods around the world, but didn’t really exist in those countries 500+ years ago. I think it would be fun to learn more about the history of tomatoes, or other common crops. Maybe I will see if the library has some books like that!

After the presentation was over, the library brough out their seed library. We have a beautiful seed library program! Local gardeners, gardening supply stores, the Friends of the Library, and volunteers all help make this program possible. I volunteered my time last month helping sort and bag seeds for the seed library, and I am hoping this fall I will be able to donate some of my collected seeds. I held a small seed swap at a local queer cafe last year, and I am hoping to be able to repeat that this fall. I did not collect as much seeds as I would have liked last year, but I am okay with it because I had a very busy second half of my summer, and the garden could no longer be a main priority for me. I am hoping things will be a little more smooth this year.

The library allows you to take up to 10 packets of seeds at a time. You are more than welcome to come back another day and get more, though! I think it just exists to help give everyone a fair chance at getting the seeds they would like. To start out I got milkweed, marigolds, sunflowers, Kale, Spinach, basil, dill, parsley, thyme, and mini white pumpkins. The mini white pumpkins sounded really exciting! I don’t think I have really grown squashes outside of summer squash. I dowant to go back and grab some more spring seeds like carrots, peas, and beans, but I still have plenty of time to do that.

It is still a bit early to be starting seeds, and I don’t exactly feel motivated to do it either. It is snowing today! And not just a light snow, we are supposed to get like 5-6 inches of snow. I would love to start cleaning up the yard, freshening up the compost, and the like, but I can’t quite do that right now. It is supposed to be in the lower 50s in the next few weeks, so maybe I will have a chance then!

April 11, 2024

Yesterday my gf and I started clearing up the yard. I have been pretty sick, and I have been for over a month now. I am working with my doctor to figure out what is up with me, but it has been slow going. Take this, we will see how it is helping in two weeks. Oh this test had weird results, we are going to test it again in two weeks. So far nothing has looked life threatening, and I am responding well to treatment, so at least I can be thankful there. However, it has been a big drain on my energy resources. I have been spending a lot of time indoors working on personal projects and catching extra naps. This week I have finally started feeling a bit better where I was willing to work in the yard.

We had lovely weather yesterday. It was in the lower 60s, with plenty of sun, and a gentle breeze. My gf and I went for a walk to the antique mall, came home for break and a lunch, and then got to work in the yard. We removed junk that got blown from the street into the garden, pulled weeds, and cleaned up plants and supplies left in the garden from last year. Now the ground is cleared to just dirt, except where the tulips and comfrey plants are. I had some large pots with herbs in them that I left in the garden over winter. It took a long time for us to get a hard frost, and I was still collecting fresh herbs from them even in December! It looks like all of them did eventually succumb to frost, except for my sage. My sage plant is dead towards the roots, but putting a lot of new buds and growth towards the top. Trying to figure out how I am going to prune it back.

It was a bit hard working out in the yard. I got pretty dizzy a few times and my gf basically had to force me to go sit down a few times. I am really eager to work in the garden, but I know it is important right now that I don’t push myself. I also need to get new gardening gloves. I didn’t touch too many of the weeds, but I have some rashes on the back of my hands from touching them. I always go for the cheapest gloves and then don’t bother to take care of them. This year I think I am going to splurge for a pair of very cute, very durable gloves and maybe the sunken cost fallacy thing will make me actually use and take care of them.

I should probably be starting some of my herb seeds soon. It is still a little early, but I think herbs do well enough indoors that they will be good for a bit. I have enough space on the windowsill in the kitchen to keep them for a while, but unfortunately that is a west facing window that doesn’t get too much sun. I get so much sunlight in my room, but my bedroom is also the cat hangout spot. Sometime when I have a bit of extra money, I would like to get together some shelves and lights to have a decent indoor seed starting system. I did plan to use my tax return this year to do that, but I ended up putting away a lot of money from my tax return for upcoming medical bills. Shit happens I guess.

One thing I did get though was a seed planting bench! It was the one Aldi had. I don’t really have a good spot outside for filling planters. I do mostly container gardening, so this is a bit of a pain. I would mostly do it on a table, but it is too low and forces me to bend and put a lot of extra strain on my back. Part of the reason for container gardening is to lower the amount of strain on my body! I didn’t have the energy to put it together after cleaning up the yard, but maybe we will do that next week. Now that we cleaned up part of the yard, I have a good spot to put it that is covered by the roof’s overhang, but also right next to where I put plants in the ground, so I don’t have to carry anything far. I would like to maybe get a wheelbarrow this year too.

Next time we work in the yard I wanna clean up some of the trash that has gotten blown into other parts of the yard and check out our inventory. I had gotten a lot of buckets that I never actually used for anything. I need to decide if I am going to actually use them this year, and if not find a new home for them. I also want to see if my gf will help me do a full turn of the compost pile and then fill it up again with leaves from the yard. We don’t rake the leaves in the fall. We just let them sit there over the winter, and then my dad or uncle will run over them with the lawnmower in the spring. I try to collect as much of the fallen leaves as I can for the compost pile. My dad has been putting in egg shells without crushing them at all beforehand, so while we are mixing the compost I will have to try and break down any large shells I see.

That is about it for now! We are still a little over a month away from last frost. So while it is getting closer, I also have plenty of time and don’t need to rush the garden or my body. I still haven’t all picked out what I want to grow this year, but I do know I want to grow more of a variety of veggies this year. :)

April 15, 2024

Just a quick little update today, with some pictures!. Yesterday the weather was absolutely beautiful. My gf helped me put together my planting bench. It was pretty simple! There were spots where there wasn’t a predrilled hole that they expected you to turn the screws in by hand. Thankfully my mom gifted us a power drill last year and I finally got to use it! I was a little excited and kinda put it together wrong, but I wasn’t pressed enough about it to go backwards. I put the shelves on backwards, so I couldn’t put the shelf backings on. I don’t think that will matter for what I am using it for. I didn’t take side pictures, but it has hooks on the side for holding tools. I was able to put it right under my window, under the overhang of the roof. It is fairly lightweight, so I can move it around the yard if needed, and put it away for the winter!

When I went outside this morning the tulips were just starting to bloom. These tulips have been in front of my house for as long as I can remember. Last year dad and I planned to get some tulip bulbs to plant in the fall, but totally forgot. I will try and remember this year! It would be so pretty to have tulips all along the front of the house. I love tulips so much, but I am sad they only last for the early spring around here. Make sure to enjoy them!

And finally let's get down to what I planted today. We are not out of the way of frost’s touch yet, but this is enough that I can easily bring them back in when the weather drops. There are a few days I might need to bring them in overnight, but I think overall they will be good to go. Today was mostly herbs and a few flowers. I tried to put two seeds in each cell, but some have 3…. Maybe more. Some of the seeds are so tiny! I started with 4 cells of each thing. With flowers I will probably need more, but with herbs that should be enough for me and to give some. Starting from left to right is basil, dill, parsley, thyme, marigolds, and cosmos. The cosmos were given to me during a small seed swap I hosted last year, and the rest are seeds from the library. I also have some more marigold seeds I was given during my seed swap that I will plant at some point. Marigolds are my dads favorite flower, and they are up there as one of my favorites too, so I always make sure to plant a bunch throughout the yard.

In another week or two I might start some more seeds. I have some spinach, kale, and lettuce. I also have peas and beans that I would like to start soon. I am just a little nervous about doing too much at once and being hit with a chance in the weather, but I guess sometimes gardening is about taking risks! So we will see where I am in another week or two.

April 30, 2024

Lots of progress today, and I have a lot of work still ahead of me. Today I had another follow up visit with the doctor. We are finally making some progress there too, so I am grateful. Afterwards my dad offered to take me to a local greenhouse to start grabbing some things for the yard. It is still a bit early, so they didn't have the full selection. But I got some nice things. We picked up some marigolds, pansies, strawberries and tomatoes. Afterwards we had to make a trip to Home Depot for some empty hanging baskets and I grabbed another tomato and some chamomile. Last year I found chamomile hard to find. So I wanted to grab it as soon as I saw it.

As mentioned before, most of my gardening is done in containers. I do usually like to top my containers off with some mulch to help retain moisture, but I forgot to get some! I imagine it won't be long until I have to run to another garden store anyways. Last year I grew Sweet 100 and Sunsugar tomatoes, and we all really liked them, so I made sure to grab some today. The tomato plant I grabbed at Home Depot is called Little Sicily. It is supposed to be good for growing in containers! I plan to get more heirloom type tomatoes another day. My mom ordered some grow bags that I am going to try for the tomatoes this year. I haven't really used them much before, so I am excited to see how I like them vs regular pots.

My dad’s favorite flower is marigolds. The marigolds at the greenhouse we went to aren’t quite blooming yet, but they look like they will be huge when they do! Here I have two hanging containers with marigolds and one with some everbearing strawberries. The strawberries were my idea. :p I have a feeling a lot will be stolen by the birds, but even if I just get a few I will be happy. A day when my gf and I can work together I am going to take the cover off my compost pile and turn it really well. I should have some nice finished compost at the bottom I can use! I want to do a better job of filling up my compost bin this year!

My mom got me these little planters that hang on your porch. There are 5 of them all together. I put pansies in two of them, and I am going to put some herbs in the other 3. I haven’t picked which herbs yet, but I want to pick things I use often, since they will be right by the front door. The planter underneath is something my dad picked out to give my mom for mother’s day. I think it is really pretty, but it should be even prettier once it grows some more.

Tomorrow my gf will be home and she is going to help me plant some tomatoes, garlic, and some other herbs. We also still need to start some more seeds. My last batch of seeds have been kinda slow to germinate, but it might not have been warm enough for them yet. It looks like we are in the clear now when it comes to frost, but we will have some days where the overnight temps go down to the mid 40s. I am going to wait another two weeks or so before I get more tomatoes and start getting our peppers. I will probably do a small update again tomorrow after my gf and I do some more planting!

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