Thursday, April 28, 2011

Garden Challenge - April Update


This is our first update for the Homeschool Village's Garden Challenge.  Our introductory post can be found HERE.

Unfortunately we don't have much of an update.  Spring has finally sprung in the Garden State but we cannot count on frost-free  nights until mid-May.  The one thing I can update on is our newest discovery.  While Ms. Q and I were perusing the gardening section at the public library we came across this book:

All New Square Foot Gardening

I am relatively new to gardening so please excuse my ignorance about this but I am totally in love with this book!  Yes we came a little late to the square foot gardening party (the first book was written in 1979) but we are making up for it.  If you haven't read this book I highly recommend you check it out.  Instead of long rows in our garden with relatively few kinds of vegetables, we are going to plant just a few seeds at a time in raised boxes and plant a greater selection of produce.  This has delayed our planting somewhat but I really think it will be worth it.

Here is what we have done in the garden so far:

Little M, Ms. Q and I measured out the garden area to build our square foot boxes.


Dear Hubby built us these great boxes.
Ms. Q and I helped him fill them in.
Some of our tax return money will go to filling the walkways with mulch.

This week Ms. Q will be completing the boxes with a grid so that we can begin to plant a few cool weather plants.  Our plan is to put in peas, spinach, lettuce, onions, carrots, and radishes within the next two weeks.  The rest of our picks for produce will have to wait until after that May 15th Last Spring Frost date.

We also started a compost bin for the garden.  


You can read how we did it and how to make your own HERE.

Little M has been busy with his Garden Preschool Pack from Homeschool Creations.  He is really excited for Tot School in the morning and loves to tell his dad all about what he learned. 


He also found a "new friend" in the garden that we had to learn more about.

A "new [worm] friend"

We can't wait to start planting and of course harvesting our garden.   Having them grow their own is really the easiest way to get kids to eat their veggies!


15 comments:

Young Adventures... said...

Wow, I love the garden! We too have to wait a few more weeks to put anything in. We have even had a little "snow" this week. You are right gardening is a great way to teach kids to eat their veggies and an appreciation for the food that they eat. Both of our kids have small little plots that they take care of and choose what they want to plant. Have fun!

Milk and Honey Mommy said...

Jess,

I've always wanted to read that book. Our garden area is set up in a "square-foot" manner way, but we have yet been able to plant anything. The weather isn't cooperating. It will be fun using your compost bin. It is amazing how much of our waste can be used in compost.

Homeschool Village said...

WOW - GREAT job those raised beds look so neat and organized!

thanks for joining us!
Stef - HSV

XLMIC said...

You have done a great job thus far :) We have a very boring (but pretty) garden and are very limited regarding what we can do in it, which is hard as a person with a degree in horticulture!

Looking forward to watching your garden grow :)

Jess said...

Thanks for all the encouraging words! We are really looking forward to planting something.

Moira said...

Wonderful space!!!

MissMOE said...

Great beds! Can't wait to see what comes next.

Tiffany said...

Hi Jess
New blog follower from the blog hop. I love your post, your gonna love planting and harvesting. I miss my garden didn't plant one this year! Good luck ;-)
Tiffany
http://nimblergrove.com/

Jill said...

Oh good luck with your gardening! Your boxes look great! I'm about to plant the start of our veggies this weekend! Then it's fingers crossed I can help them grow big enough to eat!!

http://beourbest.blogspot.com/

Sarah said...

I love that book! Your SFG looks great, I bet it will be wonderful!

I am visiting from the I ♥ Blogging hop, thank you for joining our hop! www.mooseandtater.com

The Adventurer said...

Thanks for linking up to the NOBH. We are doing the Garden challenge too. I seen a few blogs mention this book. I need to look into it:)

Jess said...

Anna-Marie,

I saw your garden post - totally jealous that you guys got to start planting already!

Lisa Weidknecht said...

Hi! I am here for Hop Along Friday. I'm following you and hope you'll follow me too!

Zonnah said...

I love composting! It is so amazing watching it go from scraps of food to soil. Cute picture of him with the worm :)

Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies said...

I just bought that book on Amazon. It has me so excited for gardening this summer! I'm going to have to start mine a little late in the season and I'm determined to start from seed, so we'll see how it all pans out. Your boxes look fantastic, too--with that many, I'm sure you will have a HUGE harvest this year!