Spring 2010 Gardening

I prefer starting seeds myself because I can be selective about the vegetables I am growing not to mention seeds are considerably less than live baby plants.  I have a big jar of seeds in my refrigerator; I keep them there because it extends their life.

However, this year by the time it started to warm up, I realized I’d be getting too late of a start on seeds, so I caved and decided to buy baby plants.   Since there are no nurseries where I live, my next best option was Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, Ace and local grocery stores.  I could not believe how expensive the 3″ pot plants were from Lowe’s and Home Depot. $2.98 per pot. I mean, for one pot I’m getting a single plant!  But guess what?  At the local Fry’s Grocery store I found plants for $1.49. Granted there was a very limited selection, but I did find a few plants I wanted.

At any rate, instead of going through my jar of seeds, and starting my spring garden for nothing, it cost me $36.

• 1 Cherry Tomato Plant $1.49
• Basil $1.69
• 2 Banana Pepper $1.49 each
• 2 Zucchini Squash $2.98
• Boston Pickling Cucumber 3 in one pot $2.98
• Japanese Cucumber 3 in one pot $2.98
• Blue Hubbard Squash 2 in one pot $2.98
• Butternut Squash $2.98
• Acorn Squash $2.98
• 10 Early Girl tomatoes $1.49
• Lantana $2.49
• Marigolds Two 6-packs $2.49

I have planted some seeds this spring. I planted Kentucky Blue green beans and Romano beans. Both these varieties are pole beans.  I made a new bed for them, under laid with chicken wire to prevent the gopher(s) from eating them and I used my sunflower seed skeletons from last year for the pole they will grow up.  I love using old sunflower seed stems for growing things in the garden.

Sunflower Skeletons for Bean Poles

Last fall, I used one suggestion from Mel Bartholomew, author of All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space!* but it’s obvious that he’s not gardening in the Arizona desert. I was inspired by his suggestion for vertical gardening.

Almost all of my eggplant plants survived the winter and are flowering, but so far no baby eggplants. My Swiss Chard plants are still thriving, they seem to tolerate the heat better than any of the other cool season vegetables.

Mr. A wants me to plant a lot of onions in the fall. His request has been precipitated by the current cost of onions. We can’t find them on sale, and the best price is 99 cents a pound!  My plan is to start them indoors, they transplant really easily. And a big plus to planting onions is the gophers don’t seem to like them. They don’t seem to like radishes either.

I tried to catch the gopher using a trap. No luck. He just sprung it and covered it with dirt. It’s too bad the gopher and I can’t work together as a team. They really do such a great job of turning the soil. Speaking of turning the soil, I would love to invest in some earthworms. I always thought if you had a garden, they would eventually turn up.  But I have been gardening here for about six years and not one earthworm.

Have you ever had a garden?  What would you grow if you had the chance?

*Amazon Affiliate Link

You may also like:

1. May 2009 Gardening Update
2. February Gardening 2010
3. June Gardening – Tomatoes Galore!