Tuesday, May 12, 2009 - Our Square Foot Garden
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I have decided to use Training Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home for part of Trinity's curriculum this year. While this curriculum does have some VERY conservative and old- fashioned ideology, I feel that it will help prepare Trinity for life on her own, no matter which direction her life takes. She was interested in many aspects of home economics that I was not the least bit knowledgeable about.
My ambition in life as child and young adult was to work in some science field- never to be a homeschooling mother! God's plan was so much more ME- so much fun and so fulfilling- I wish I had known earlier in life where he would place me. So, when I became a wife, and had children shortly after, I did most of my homemaking training on the job- not an easy task!
I just don't want her to have to go through that- and this way I get lo learn right along with Trinity and have a great time with the few years we have homeschooing together. I really enjoy being with her every day!
So anyway, Trinity chose to get a head start on the gardening aspect and use it for summer school, and the curriculum specified that we use the square foot method. I know NOTHING so I follow DIRECTIONS in this area.
Yesterday, we mixed together 2 bags of perlite- because vermiculite is tough to find, 60 lbs of compost and manure, and 8.8 cubic feet of peat moss.. I'm sure the neighbors were wondering what we were doing making this huge mound of DIRT on the concrete pad in the lot next door.
We used 4x8 construction grade lumber and 3 inch galvanized shank nails to make 2 boxes, each 4x4 feet, for a total of 32 square feet.
After filling them with the soil mix ( it was windy today, so we got quite dirty), we used 1/8 inch braided nylon cord to create the grid. The official square foot gardening web site said we could use screw eyes to anchor it... HA! as soon as I tightened the first knot, the darn eye came right out! I had to improvise- with some smaller nails, we anchored the cord on the top and then again on the sides by pounding the nails through it halfway and then bending the nails over to hold the line in place. It worked well.
The curriculum says to start with seeds- but we were anxious to see something growing in it, so we cheated with the marigolds and tomato plants. We also have some onion sets to put in tomorrow.
Harley is going to have a perennial herb/medicinal garden out back and fill it with some of things we can't put in the squares because they self-sew or take over. Ecinacea, chamomile, and mint are going to go first.
Rowan will be planting strawberries in a container, and broccoli in one square. Trinity has planned 2 varieties of lettuce, some flowers, watermelon, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, cucumbers, and purple green beans. This is going to be FUN!
I will bring pictures when I blog next! |
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About Me
Well, I'm a Mom, a Medical Assistant, a knitter, kite flyer, nature lover...Around here we have special needs, ( Asperger's, ADHD, Bi-polar) a few animal pals, some tattoos and a homeschool. It's our 6th year. This is my 16th year of marriage to a Mr. Visionary who happens to be a walking miracle.
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