This blog is simply the telling of one helpmeet and mother's quest to fulfill her God-ordained destiny. It is written with the hopes that other young women will embrace their calling to be godly wives and mothers; that they will be encouraged to love their husband and children and will find contentment in being keepers at home.


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

It's Time to Garden!

Today was the big day!  Time to plant our garden.  Some of our seeds were started in the garage under lights in April by my dear daughters.  But today was the day when everything was planted outside.


























Gardening is very therapeutic for me.  I love the feel of the sun, the smell of the earth, and the sound of the wind gently blowing through the trees. 

We all work together, although this year, I had Isaac pulling out shrub roots, digging holes for new shrubs and planting them in a smaller garden.  Becca helped him weed that area.


Have you ever heard of companion planting?  "Carrots Love Tomatoes" is a must-read, but here is a list I compiled to help me remember what to plant next to what at a glance.

carrots               broccoli        
tomatoes           dill                
garlic                sage                    
basil                  cucumbers         
peppers             cabbage             
horehound        onion            
lettuce              mint
chives              cauliflower
parsley             thyme
oregano            rosemary
*********       ********
green beans      corn
summer            savory pumpkin
celery               squash
peas                 radishes
beets               marigolds

We also plant by the fertile signs of the moon when possible.  The fertile signs are Cancer, the breast; Scorpio, the lions; and Pisces, the feet.  This is the website I use to find out the best days to plant.  http://www.farmersalmanac.com/calendar/gardening/ 

This year we planted:
tomatoes
broccoli
cabbage
onions
lettuce
carrots
celery
dill
herbs
beans
beets
peppers

We also have raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and rhubarb.

A friend of ours is a farmer and since we can't possibly fit anything more into our garden, he lets us grow the following in one of his fields:
corn
squash
pumpkins
cucumbers
zucchini
watermelon

This was last year's corn patch. Numerous families worked together to plant, weed, pick and freeze this corn.  This year it will just be our family.

Do you enjoy gardening?

3 comments:

Anna said...

A rewarding work, I'd say.

Elisabeth said...

Lovely!

I tried to start some seeds indoors this year but was not successful. :( I'll have to find out from you what went wrong.

I'm a little confused at your chart. I know the book "Carrots Love Tomatoes" so when you write Carrots and then tomatoes underneath, is that the way to read the chart... or go across? Carrots & Broccoli go together?

How do you store your seeds? Do you purchase new ones each year?

You have a huge garden! Mine is not quite like that!

Lily said...

I apologize for the format of the chart. It was typed totally different but decided to re-arrange itself when I posted.

The chart reads down: carrots love tomatoes....and ends with oregano.

green beans love summer savory...and beets

broccoli likes dill...and rosemary

While corn likes pumpkin...and marigolds.

I purchase new seed every year (unless I have left-overs - which I store in freezer bags in the freezer.)I always buy heirloom, organic seed. These are the sites I normally purchase from.
http://www.seedsavers.org/
http://www.stclareseeds.com/

In order for seed of the same family,not to cross-pollinate, it has to be planted an acre apart. So if I were trying to save my seed, I would need to plant broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts & cabbage an acre apart. We don't own that much land! ;)

There are so many variables with starting seeds indoor, but it is a huge money saver for us!