in case you were wondering...

So I attempted to garden this summer. I really don't know what I'm doing. As evidence, I offer you my garden plot. It's "L" shaped, about 5 feet long on the two sides, about a foot thick. I was originally going to make it a square, but I got tired and decided an "L" would be perfect for moving around in.

Soil prep? Yeah. I bought a shovel and some seed packets one day, bought some plants and dug up the grass the next. I plopped the plants and seeds into the ground the same day that I flung the grass into the woods. I did not fertilize. I did not add compost. I barely made the soil loose. It was hot and muggy. And again...no clue. I'm experimenting here!

What did I plant? Well, on the front side of the "L" I put in onions, chives, 3 kinds of lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, 2 egg plants, 2 brussel sprout plants, 2 large tomato plants and 6 cherry tomato plants. On the other side of the "L" I added 6 broccoli plants, 6 green pepper plants, 1 red pepper plant, 2 jalapeno pepper plants, radishes, kohlrabi, 6 cauliflower plants, cantaloupe, and watermelon. Oh, is that all do you say? Of course not! I pulled up the radishes when the went to seed and recently replanted them. The kohlrabi got eaten by the dumb bunny. The lettuce didn't work out so hot (also went to seed pretty quickly), so I planted bush beans where it used to be. I tried lettuce and spinach again in a different location. I've noticed people's eyes get big when I tell them what I've planted in such a small space. Once again...no clue. When I was planting I kept thinking I could still add to it. There was plenty of room. However, it is starting to appear on the full side these days.

Water. Yeah. I didn't bother to think about how I was going to water this fabulous experiment. We don't have an outdoor water faucet. So I have to lug the water by hand. Once again I don't know what I'm doing, so I water every day. A few days ago I skipped a day of watering. We had gotten a decent rain and I figured the plants were pretty well established. So I only drizzled some water on the seedlings. The next day EVERYTHING was droopy. I thought the experiment had ended. It was in sad shape. So I made the girls help me haul about 40 gallons of water to the garden to try to revive it. God was laughing at me as I told the girls "This is our last trip" and it began to pour. After the rain ended the plants were perky as usual. I began to research. (Something I usually do BEFORE experiments, but not so much in the case of the garden for some reason) Turns out that if you water your garden every day the plants keep their roots near the surface. They then wilt if you skip a day of watering in the hot summer. Great. So I've made more work for myself than needed!

I did start checking out gardening books at the library last week. I can't believe how complicated this can be! Plant carrots with tomatoes, don't plant broccoli where the cabbage was last year, compost, mulch, grass clippings, weeding, spacing...ugh!

But I can feel myself getting hooked...I didn't expect it, but it's happening. I actually caught myself thinking about what I'm going to plant next year! And I think I even said out loud that I'd like to start up a compost pile. Is there a 12 step group for this?!