Planting my Garden: Year One

In my last post I talked about our not-so-great outdoor space at the house. The garden space left much to be admired, so I made a plan B and am gardening at my mother-in-law’s acreage. There is a ton of space, so I’m lucky enough to be able to plant the garden of my dreams. ~~Possibly nightmares come September~~.

Here’s the garden plan so far:

If you can’t make out everything in the picture, the rows are as follows:

Early Red Potatoes
Late Red Potatoes
Carrots and Parsnips
Yellow Onions
Salad Bowl Lettuce, Early Spinach, 5 Colour Swiss Chard, Butter Crunch Lettuce, and a later variety of Spinach. Still looking for Kale seeds in the stores.
Alaska Peas (earlier growing) and Arrow Peas (later growing)
Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, Dill, Spanish Onions (to be used as green onions), and Cylindric Beets
Green Beans & Yellow Beans
More Beets and Beans
Yellow Zucchini & Green Zucchini
Cucumbers
Space left for tomatoes
Zinnias, Marigolds, and Sweet peas

I read up on companion planting and tried my best to follow it. Here’s a useful chart if you’d like to give it a try.

Every row is 50 feet. I’ve left space for tomatoes, and peppers will go by the potatoes. We might also plant some watermelon, squash, and pumpkins. I had wanted to start my own tomatoes and peppers as I’ve done in the past, but the stress of having two houses was a bit much.

My garden starts where the old sunflower is and ends approximately where I am fake hoeing for the camera. About 4 hours later the garden looks like this:

Thankfully, I had my sweet little helper by my side during the cooler hours of this process.

I used to dread helping my parents & grandma garden as a girl on the farm, but it’s a lot different now that its my own. Unfortunately, I think I blocked out a lot of those memories. I feel like I should know what to do but am drawing a big blank. As my mother-in-law says, “things grow, so not to worry.”

Hopefully it all grows. In the meantime, I’m enjoying playing in the dirt.

Do you have a garden this year? What are you growing? I love seeing your comments!

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Comments

Amy

I would say avoid the watermelon. I've tried three times to grow it in our garden. I only got what looked like a watermelon once, and it wasn't even ripe on the inside. Completely white throughout. I don't think our growing season is long enough.

Reply
- Kristen Raney
  
  You're probably right. I also remember my Dad trying to grow watermelon and not having much luck either.
  
  Reply
  - Roxanne
    
    Great blog! Here's a little tip to grow watermelon: plant it in a very accessible spot for children! Children love to water (drown) plants ... make the watermelon your son's special plant. Have him water it - no limits here! Last year we grew store- sized watermelons! Another tip is once you pick it (when freezing time starts in the fall), let it sit on your counter for a long time -- awkwardly long like 2 weeks+. It will ripen there :) Have fun!
    
    Reply
    - Roxanne
      
      Oh! And you'll also need to start the watermelon early at home, or buy a pre-started plant. Our season just isn't long enough.
      
      Reply
      - Kristen Raney
        
        I love your idea with the watermelon! I definitely was too late this year, but I'll try that out next year.
Cheryl

You can also grow the herbs in pots at your house and bring in for the winter to have herbs year round. Great job, happy gardening! Sonny is enjoying it too I see.

Reply
Jan

Watermelon? My husband used to help his grandmother with her watermelon patch when he was a kid. They'd eat a watermelon a day! Mind you, hubby's grandma lived in Mississippi. His own family sometimes grew them when they lived in Texas. He still loves watermelon and spends a lot of time picking out just the perfect one at the grocery store. I just move on to continue shopping while he thumps away on them, looking for perfect ripeness. I don't think watermelon will even grow here in southern Ontario so don't feel bad if you can't make a go of them in SK. To make you feel good about your weather, I'll have you know we are only expecting highs of 10 and 7 degrees this weekend and lows of 2 degrees each day. Planting our garden? No, I'll be bundled up in the house with the heat on. And no, we've not had any temperature above 22 degrees so far and that was just one fleeting day!!! ?

Reply
- Kristen Raney
  
  Oh no, that's terrible! I hope you get some nicer weather soon!
  
  Reply