Gardening 101

Garden Restored!

You heard about our awful garden flop several weeks ago... and we told you that we would re-post as soon as the flop was fixed. So, here we are with new ideas, recommendations, and maybe a few words of wisdom from ones who tried and failed before!

This time around we started with 3 bags of manure, 3 bags of topsoil, and several bags of coffee grounds from starbucks... along with marigolds from Lowes (which are suppose to help insects stay out of your garden), tomato plants, okra, green beans, green peppers, and jalepenos. Yes, they were not all self-germinated, but it was our last resort!

We spent one Friday evening re-digging up our entire garden and re-planting! We made sure the soil was nice and moist and that we didn't make the same mistakes as before!

We evenly spaced out our garden, watered with some miracle grow, and patiently waited to see what would happen!

I am now a proud gardener! I am out watering my garden at 6:30 every morning and tending to it like they are my babies! I love it and can't wait to bite into my first fruit from this garden!

Here is a word for you today... "If your garden flops the first time, try again!" :)

Garden Flop:

I have to admit... I had big dreams and visions for our self-germinated garden this year... it was going to be great! Well as all of you crafters or DIY people out there know, every project doesn't turn out the way you hoped... and I am here to be vulnerable with you and let you know when mine did not!

I planted my self- germinated garden a little after April 15th (the garden date, or AKA tax day). It was a perfect evening and the weather was beautiful! Well, that didn't last long... many of you who live on this side of the country realize that rain has been nothing but our best friend this spring season. To say the least a day after my garden was planted, it rained for at least a week straight to then only bring more rain after. This would have been great had I not self-germinated my plants... but, since they needed rain and sun and did not get that... they drowned :(

My heart was broken, all that work into all my little plants.... and now all it is is a pile a weeds...

Such a sad day....

But, I do not leave you with that... because my herbs have been doing great!!!

And there is hope for the future... tonight me and my ever so helping husband are going to replant... no it won't be with my self-germinated plants, but they will be with plants that will survive the storms!

We purchased lots of manure and got Starbucks coffee grounds to help nourish our renewed garden!

So, we will have tomatoes, peppers, jalepenos, okra, and lots of fresh flowers!

I am ok with this...

Our Self- Germinated Garden

So this year we decided to go with the DIY Garden... in other words, the cheap way! We germinated our own seeds and watched over 8 weeks as our jiffy cups went from being dirt to baby plants!

This post will take you step by step on how to germinate and grow your own garden (keep in mind this is the first year we are germinating... so mid summer you can determine whether this was a successful DIY or not!)

What you will need:

*Jiffy Cups (you will need 1 jiffy cup per plant)- $1.79 @ Lowes

*Seedlings (flowers, fruits, and veggies- whatever your heart desires)- apx. .$70 a piece @ Lowes.

*Top Soil- apx. $4

*Water

*Shovel if desired

TOTAL COST: (for my garden)

$15.00

Step 1:

-Sketch out your garden.

Where are you going to have your garden?

Do you have enough room for all the plants you want to plant?

Will your dog attack your garden?

These are all good questions to ask yourself when you begin sketching out your garden.

Me and Parker talked about the herbs, veggies, and plants we wanted this year and then went from there.

teiling

(sorry for the late night image... and thanks to my hubby for your awesome landscaping abilities and tilling the ground for my garden!)

Step 2:

-Prepare your jiffy cups.

Simply fill your jiffy cups til they are almost full (leaving apx. 1 1/2 in. at the top)

Step 3:

GERMINATE!

Place a couple of seedlings in the center of the jiffy cup on the top. Then cover the seedlings with dirt til the jiffy cup is full of dirt and your seedlings are good and covered.

Step 4:

Water! Watch! Water!

Place your jiffy cups near a window inside where it can get good sunlight (especially if you are doing this near early spring, you do not want your plants to die). Be sure to water daily or as needed. Continue to watch.. maybe for the next 8 weeks... you can continue on your daily tasks... don't feel as if you have to hover over your first garden! :)

Step 4:

SPRING IS HERE!

PLANT!

- I am organized and a planner therefore I made a layout of my garden before planting. This is important because if you do not give certain plants enough room in the garden they will overtake your whole garden. Or if you plant mint in with your garden all you will have is mint and you will be eating mint in your sleep! SO, PLAN or you will regret it come July when you wish you had tomatoes!

I decided to put my herbs in clay pots this year. I added a little bit of chalkboard paint to it and voila... I was able to label my pots!

Hope your garden turns out GREAT... I hope mine does too! I'll keep you posted on how it's coming!