March 29, 2010

 Welcome to my organic garden diary. My garden is in Glendale, California, 91201. 

I am using this blog to :

1. Keep a written and visual record of what and how I plant.

2. Exchange information with other backyard (and frontyard) gardeners

3. Share photos of my successes with friends, family and other gardeners.

Right now I am preparing to roto-till the entire backyard, redo the entire thing, using the back 3/4 to build a raised bed garden as well as add more fruit trees.  For the remainder I am planning a deck/entertainment area at the back of the house.

Since I am going to miss the first summer planting season due to the backyard demo and construction I’ve planted some tomato, pepper, basil and dill seedlings along the driveway and in the front yard.  I did the first planting around March 26.  We’ll see how that goes….

Today I planted a bunch of seeds in seed starting pots, something I’ve never done before (I usually sow into the ground) so this is a learning experience.  I am going to attempt to keep detailed notes.  Below is the first entry.
As a side note, I discovered today that Microsoft has a free offline blogging software called Microsoft Live Writer.  I downloaded it today and am using it now for the first time.  Another learning experience.

Using Jiffy Organic seed started mix and Jiffy pots and some recycled plastic seedling trays I planted the following seeds.

	Brand	Veg	Type	ORG	DTG	DTH
1	FM	Okra	Clemson Spineless #80	yes	12-14	58	Planted in Jiffy Strips. Pick when pods are 3-4 inches long.
2	FM	Cukes	Straight Eight	yes	8	60	Planted in Jiffy Strips.
3	FM	Carrot	Scarlet (Nantes)	yes	8-12	60	Planted in Jiffy Strips.
4	FM	Cilantro	x	yes	7-10	x	Planted in Jiffy Strips.
5	FM	Lettuce	Bib	yes	7-10	57	Planted in Jiffy Strips.
6	FM	Tomato	San Marzano	yes	7-10	85-90	Planted in Jiffy “Greenhouse”
7	FM	Broccoli	Green Sprouting Calabrese	yes	10-14	70-90	Planted in blue plastic container
8	FM	Radish	Cherry Belle	yes	4-7	22	Planted in blue plastic container
9	FM	Cantaloupe	Hearts of Gold	yes	7	70-90	Planted in green plastic container
10	FM	Green Onion	Evergreen Bunching	yes	10-12	60	Planted in black plastic container
11	FM	Tomato	Brandywine	yes	7-10	90-120	Planted in black plastic container
12	FM	Spinach	Bloomsdale	yes	8-10	45	Planted in black plastic container

This is my first time planting seeds in pot and my method was less than scientific, or neat, or orderly.  It’s just a learning experience.  Let’s see if anything germinates at all.
Problems I foresee:
Water: It’s already 80 degrees during the day so I am going to have to water a couple of times a day. Might have to set up a timer.
Birds: I’ll have to find something to cover the pots before the birds and squirrels pick out the seeds.
That’s all the planting for today.  Tomorrow I’m going to get a nice wheel barrow and bring the “black gold” from the backyard to the front so I can plant some more stuff along the side of the house.
I’m also considering trying Roundup…

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