Sprout Dead Seeds In The...

Rain is your garden's best friend, best fertilizer, most exhilarating growth producer. Seeds that don't stand a chance of growing, stand a chance in the rain.

Spinach seeds are sprouting on the remains of a dead...

It's a Garden, Not a Grave

It started like this...

The strawberry bed was gone. Even the wooden edging that framed the raised bed could not be distinguished.

But the rain had come.
It rained again.
And again.
And again.

It rained so much, the lettuce was pale and stringy like it had been grown in the dark, because it was. No sun for weeks.

So the strawberry bed must be soft, right?
Oh yes. The strawberry bed was soft. 
Soupy oatmeal, the kind my kids skip breakfast about, with way too much water, is almost...

How to Grow Carrots

Notice all the grass? Carrots don't mind.

Carrots grow easily, when they grow.
They can be finicky though, so if you are having some trouble, it's not you. It's the carrots.

Whole field of carrots!

You know that part in Pirates of the Caribbean when Jack Sparrow cheats in a sword fight against Will? And when Will gets mad, Jack shrugs and says, "Pirate." As if Will should assume that if he has any interaction with a pirate, it's a buyer beware kind of situation?

Yeah. Carrots.

They grow from seed, because they are root crops. Transplanting root crops is supposed to be unsuccessful. Don't believe that either, but start the carrots from seeds anyway. Right where they are going to live forever. Because it might take that long.

Or it might take six weeks. Carrots.

I thought they were dead, so I planted squash in the beautifully prepared bed. I did all that work, right? 

The squash came up. I was about to weed them....carrots. 

Carrot Growing Directions:

Vampire Gardening

Vampire Gardening. That is what my son calls my method, because I rarely go out in the sun. 

Any gardener worth their salt has some pre-cancerous spots, so Vampire Gardening is the way to go. 

Cloudy days are the best, but light rain is OK too. After the break of dawn, but before the rays come searing over the trees....Vampire Gardening. After the sun has passed the tree line, but before it is dark....time to mow!


And I don't get sunburned.  Much.


You will still get a little sun, so don't garden if you are on a sun-sensitive medication. For real. Really. I mean it. Those hives...

Raised Bed a Star Producer

Volunteer zinnia. They were in the same bed in 2013!

The Fast, Easy, Cheap Raised Bed that I posted two years ago is all grown up! And WOW has it! 

The original raised bed has become such a dependable, prolific produce generator, we built 9 more!

Two or more crops come out of the raised bed each year.

We pile...

Motivation

Too Much. Not motivational.

Aww no. Can't get that much done.

Get outside. You know you will feel more like getting things done when you've had some fresh air and come face-to-face with all the things in the garden that will only take a second to finish.

You'll need to go outside when you are supposed to be doing something else or have some place else to be. Motivation increases 100x when there is a worse chore calling.

But seriously, set...

Seed Order

On your mark...

The real seed order is sitting in the virtual cart. $70 seems like too much to spend doing something that is supposed to save us money. 

This is how I am going to rationalize it:

• My mother will be thrilled to have a bushel of rutabaga for Thanksgiving!
•  Jerusalem Artichokes are perennial, pretty AND food! 3-way pay-back!
•  Ordering is the only option for...

What to Plant in August

Beans and dill for Dilly Beans.

August in Georgia seems too hot to move, much less garden.

But there is room in my garden, and the mercury only climbed  to 76 last night, so when I woke up, I was under a blanket! I had to check to be sure I hadn't set the thermostat to "Broke Before I Retire" temperature.

I'm up for some gardening, since I have some room. I checked out the What to Plant in September post and it was WAY motivational, with all those beautiful pictures. (Sometimes, I impress myself .)

Since my last post was at the end of cool-weather veggie season, you can also scroll down and get some motivation to plant lettuce and shallots!

Now, for the motivation to eat the lettuce...

A Month Later...Vegetables!

Same bed a month later! Wordless Wednesday! :)

Plant Seeds. Grow Plants!

Planted 3 days ago.

Plant seeds. Because life is busy and while you are busy with your other commitments, the seeds will take care of their work too. Seeds grow into plants. That is their work and just like kids and parents, they won't interrupt you while they are busy doing their work.

This picture shows the seeds at the 3 day mark.

Take the seed packet and your coffee and walk outside to that place where you were supposed to plant the garden, and sprinkle the seeds on the soil. Come back in three days and you will have plants growing!  Little, tiny plants, but plants! And they will get bigger while you are busy with your life.

Today is a great day to do that too because it is supposed to rain. You won't have to water and birds won't come out in the rain and eat your seeds.

So, plant some seeds today. This time next week, you will be growing plants! All in 5 minutes, today.

Kitchen Garden Haiku

How to build a raised bed -Greens

Oh Kitchen Garden
Bring forth your tasty veggies
I need some to eat


BTW: Feel free to add your good news to this post because it is a great post, although it is not mine : Looking For Happiness


And if you want to know how to build a super easy, raised bed, click the link under the picture.  

How To Keep Cats Out Of The Garden, Dogs Out Of The Garden, Chickens Out Of The Garden

Keep the cats, dogs, chickens out of the garden with sticks.

The sticks don't have to be long or heavy, but you will need a lot of them. Stab them into the soil of the garden around each of your plants, then fill in the remaining garden area by sticking them (pun intended) in a grid with 2-3 inches between sticks.

There are shallots planted in the above bed. they are very small - perfect scratch and peck size for chickens.

The photo below shows onions that were getting the scratch and peck. See the big patch of naked soil in the middle? It didn't get any bigger because I put sticks in the way. 

The cat also doesn't lay on or dig potty holes among the sticks.

You are welcome! Heart U, Plant Junkies! Check out the YouTube channel: CaleysKitchenGarden!

Leeks!

Remember the leeks? The seeds were on sale because it was summer? I wrote a Haiku about leeks? 

They are ready.

Start The Seeds

It's time to start the seeds.
Low overnight temps of 14 degrees are expected in our neck of the woods this week. 

Start the seeds.

Because starting seeds is not about the temperature. It is about day lengths and...