Garden

Seed packets are deceptive. They give you you just enough information so you can imagine the pretty picture growing in your yard. This will be my second year of vegetable gardening and I still feel like I am guessing all the time. I read somewhere that when picking a seed packet or variety of plant, pay attention to what isn't said. For instance on tomatoes, it might say "compact, robust producer." But it doesn't mention that it is not disease resistant, it also doesn't say, "known for its superb taste" which means it only tastes so-so or worse. Or green beans, no matter what variety you choose, it never tells you that soaking the seeds for a few hours will help them sprout faster or that beans don't like a lot rain prior to sprouting (so much for the beans I planted last Thursday!). It puzzles me, one would think the garden-related industries would want us to be successful. Is there some intiation you have to go through to be privy to the secrets of the garden-world? I definitely haven't been privy.

My garden is all planted now and all I can do is pray and wait. I committed several garden mistakes: I rototilled a garden with live grass and didn't spray it with anything before planting, I planted spring/fall veggies now as it gets hot ( I read about the different seasons after the fact). My friend Candy told me about a book called Square Foot Gardening. I love the method of dividing the garden into square feet and being able to fit more plants than in a typical row method. It was time consuming to set up and if it doesn't stop raining and storming those little seeds will all get washed away and nothing with grow anyway. It was nice to have a strategy as opposed to the first year's method of "what spot looks good for this veggie." I wanted the girls to help me more in the planting. They have each helped a little but what overwhelms me is when they both want to help at the same time. I get all panicked with so many little hands and little tiny seeds (like carrots). In Montana, I planted carrots: the first planting never grew because the seeds were too deep (1/8 of inch is almost setting the seed on top of the dirt and sprinkling for cover). The second planting never had greens on top because the prairie dogs ate all green things not in the squash family. I hope this garden is more successful. I still suspect those rabbits are biding their time 'till the lettuce is sweetest. FYI those posts in the very back of the yard are for the tree house and the area in the very front with the tiny pot is reserved for the girls to dig in!