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[omimouse]

Happiness is having little homemade greenhouses on a window shelf, filled with tomato and broccoli seeds. Further happiness is having most of the materials on hand to fence in (including fence *over*) a nicely sized section alongside the driveway for garden space. And anticipation is having the plans for a do-it-yourself Earthbox and figuring out what you're going to plant to start off the garden this year.

That would be 5 boxes, just for the record. 6 plants each.

Broccoli/peas (3 each)
Strawberries
Cantaloupe
Tomatoes
Spaghetti Squash/Straightneck Squash/Butternut Squash (2 each)

Next year, more boxes will be added. And so on and so forth.

The test plantings last year worked out quite nicely . . . except for the neighbour with goats that refused to stay fenced in, which is why I had no raspberries or cantaloupe. Peas went wild, though.

Oh, and for them's that are interested, the first link below is to the mini-greenhouses, the second is to the DIY Earthbox that we'll be testing out this year.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Self_watering_thermal_insulated_greenhouse_for_see/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Ultimate-Vegtable-quotEarthBoxquot-For-CHEAP/

Comments

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

Broccoli? I don't know that I've ever seen seeds for those... How well does it grow? Is it picky about where it grows?

[omimouse.livejournal.com]

Well, one of the major things I needed to look out for in TN (which I learned the hard way) was little green worm type things that blended in very well indeed with the broccoli. They ate the hell outta it, but other than them, it looked like it would've done wonderful. It just took me too long to realize that it wasn't slugs tearing my plants to pieces, though I still set up little beer traps, just to make sure.

Also, they made a handy place to drown the little green worms as I pulled them off the plants.

As for picky, I had them in a planter filled with the Miracle-Gro dirt that has plant food in it. I'll be keeping updates going about the garden, so you can see how well it does further north. From what I've heard, broccoli is supposed to favour colder weather, so it should be happier up here.

Every growing season, I'm learning more about what does and doesn't work. Ask Warin about the raspberry canes I planted down in TN. Last I heard, they were going *nuts*. The ones up here . . . not so very happy. Lesson learned: Peat moss around the roots is not a suggestion, it is a requirement, and set up protection for them until they get thick and thorny enough to ward off most things on their own!

Also, acquire gun and start shooting damn goats that shred through garden.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

Yummm, Fresh goat meat?

OK- so they probably wouldn't like it here in Western-Central -ish NV. Too hot in the summer and too dry...