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Physical Traits Age: 28 Ethnicity: Caucasian About Her Hometown: Huntsville, AL

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Overall the garden is progressing decently, but I’m noticing some slow growth with some of the plants. I think it has to do with our wild temperature swings lately.

We’ve been having days ranging in the mid-80s to low 90s and nights as low as the mid 40s occasionally. Most nights it gets down to the 60s though. But I’ve been noticing the eggplant hasn’t really grown much along with the basil. I think I’m gonna re-start them as well. I think they’ve been stunted. Next year I’m installing a ground warmer…

The cabbage is bolting. I know I have some lettuce bolting. darn. I also learned that I can’t plant the radishes in the same box as the cabbage. The cabbage tended to crowd the radishes and they never really formed well. I ended up with red roots for the most part and only a handful of fully developed radishes. So I’m replanting them in their own square today to see how they do this time.

I still want the radishes close to the cabbage though to help lure the bad bugs away from the cabbage. Of course if the cabbage is bolting, it doesn’t really matter then…

I’ve also noticed some kind of bug devouring my borage. Normally I’d be upset, but that’s why I planted the borage – to keep the bugs away from my other plants. I’m not sure what’s doing it though as I can never seem to find the bugs, I think they’re eating them at night. They don’t seem to be doing too much damage though as the borage is holding up well and growing strong.

That’s about it for now… off to restart some eggplant.

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It’s been a wile since I last posted about the garden. I’ve been super busy setting up the new GeekFury.com store. It took longer than I would have liked, but it’s up now. Now onto the garden stuff…

Okay, so this year, I’m doing a Square Foot Garden (SFG). And I’m pretty happy with it so far. The Mel’s Mix soil composition seems to be good mix. I build 6 boxes – five for the test and one for my Mother-in-Law.

Since I last posted about the garden, I’ve found a cool gardening site: MyFolia.com. I’m keeping a much more detailed garden journal there as it’s set-up a lot better for detailed garden tracking. Here is an overview of the garden:

GF SFG 2010 Master Plan

To the right is the master plan for the garden. I am trying to maximize my growing area and using companion planting to minimize pests as much as possible. I’ve also planted a variety of flowers for beneficial insects, looks, smells and for the wife to take cuttings.

The boxes are numbered going from top left to top right then down and to the right. “Gloria’s Box” is not counted so what would be box 6 is actually box 5. Gloria is my mother-in-law who also loves to garden and she has her own box to plant whatever she wants.

Contents of each box is listed below. A quick note on the peppers, while I was getting the pepper seedlings acclimated to the outside, our dog jumped the fence and knocked over the container holding the seedlings. Fortunately, none of the peppers were destroyed, but some of the peppers identity markers were knocked loose. So I’m not sure if some of the peppers I planted are Jalapeno or Bell.

As you can see in the diagram for Box 1 & 3 I separated them with the Bells on the left and the Jalapenos on the right. Since I couldn’t identify some of them after the “accident” I went ahead and planted the ones that were still labeled where they were supposed to go and planted the others in the left over pepper slots. So I may have Bells show up where a Jalapeno was designated to go or visa-versa. But everything else got planted in the right spots.

Box 1:

Box 1

Starting at top left and going right then down one row starting again at the far left and going to the right.

Row 1

• Tendergreen Cucumber, Early Girl Tomato, Sweet Basil, Nasturtium, Marigold
• Marigold (2), Big Boy Tomato, Borage (2)
• Nasturtium (2), Thai Queen Basil, Cherokee Purple Tomato
• Marigold, Tendergreen Cucumber, Cherry Sweetie Tomato, Borage (2)

Row 2

• Eggplant, Marigold (2)
• Cosmos – Pink Popsock, Dill
• Tansy (3) – Yellow
• Pepper (unknown type)

Row 3

• Nasturtium (2), Thai Queen Basil, Steak Sandwich Tomato* Tansy (3) – Yellow
• Pepper (unknown)
• Tarragon

Row 4

• Marigold, Nasturtium, Borage (2), Super Sweet 100 Tomato
• Pepper (unknown)
• Rosemary, Pepper (unknown)
• Pepper (unknown)

Box 2:

Box 2

(most of these will be planted later in the season)

Row 1

• Radishes, Pumpkin
• Nasturtium, Corn
• Nasturtium, Corn
• Radishes, Watermelon

Row2

• Butterfly Flower
• Sunflower – Jade (3)
• Sunflower – Apricot Twist (3)
• Butterfly Flower

Row 3

• Chamomile – German,Spinach. later Okra
• Spinach, later okra
• Okra
• Chamomile – German, later Okra

Row 4

• Four O’ Clocks
• Stock – Grand Imperial, Mixed Colors
• Aster – Ballet, Mixed Colors
• Poppy – California Twister

Box 3

Box 3:
Row 1

• Cucumber – Marketmore 7, Steak Sandwich Tomato, Marigold, Borage (2)
• Nasturtium (2), Beefsteak Tomato, Thai Queen Basil
• Marigold (2), Borage (2), Betterboy Tomato
• Cucumber – Marketmore 76, Betterboy Tomato, Sweet Basil, Nasturtium (2)

Row 2

• Pepper (unknown)
• Tansy – Purple
• Cosmos – Summer Dreams, Dill
• Marigold (2), Eggplant

Row 3

• Lavender
• Pepper (unknown)
• Tansy (3) – Purple
• Thai Queen Basil, Cherokee Purple Tomato, Nasturtium (2)

Row 4

• Pepper (unknown)
• Thyme (4)
• Pepper (unknown)
• Borage (2), Big Boy Tomato, Marigold, Nasturtium

Box 4

Box 4:
This is the perennial box

Row 1

• Black Eyed Susan
• Morning Glory – Grandpa Ott, Tansy – Purple, Grapes – Red Flame
• Tansy – Purple, Morning Glory – Grandpa Ott
• Black Eyed Susan

Row 2

• Snapdragon (2), Strawberries
• Strawberries
• Strawberries
• Strawberries, Snapdragon (2)

Row 3

• Snapdragon (2), Strawberries
• Strawberries
• Strawberries
• Snapdragon (2), Strawberries

Row 4

• Black Eyed Susan, Snapdragon, Strawberry
• Strawberry, Tansy – Purple, Grapes – Black Monukka
• Tansy – Purple, Strawberries
• Strawberries, Snapdragon, Black Eyed Susan

Box 5

Box 5:
a.k.a. The Onion Box. This box is mostly onions with the center 4 boxes changing between cabbage & lettuce and then okra later

Row 1

• Green Onions, Petunias
• Leek – Lincoln, Petunias
• Green Onion, Petunias
• Chives, Petunias

Row 2

• Leek – Lincoln, Petunias
• Cabbage – Orient Express, Radish – Sparkler, Dill then okra
• Lettuce (4) – Iceburg later okra
• Green Onions, Petunias

Row 3

• Onions – Yellow, Petunias
• Lettuce (4) – Iceburg later okra
• Cabbage – Orient Express, Radish – Cherry Bell, Dill then okra
• Onion – Yellow

Row 4

• Onion – Sweet Georgia
• Onion – Sweet Georgia
• Onion – Sweet Georgia
• Onion – Yellow

Here are some overview shots of the garden early in the season & some recent shots:

GeekFury.com SFG 2010 Test Garden early in the season

Grapes and Strawberries

Box 5: Cabbage, Cherry Bell, Iceberg A, Lettuce, Onion, Petunia, Radishes, Sparkler, Sweet Georgia, Tidal Wave Silver

Box 2: Apricot Twist, Bachelor Button, basil, Butterfly Flower, California Twister, Chamomile, cosmos, German, Nasturtium, pink popsock, Poppy, Spinach, Stevia, Stock, Sunflower, Tarragon

Box 1: basil, borage, Cherokee Purple, cosmos, cucumber, dill, eggplant, Lavender, marigold, Nasturtium, pepper, Purple Tansy, Thai Queen, Thyme, tomato

Snapdragons & Ripening Strawberry

It’s that time of the year again…time I start getting Spring fever. Actually I’ve had Spring fever since early last Fall. It’s just within the last few weeks I’ve been able to actually do something about the “Fever” (…and the only cure is MORE Cowbell! )

At our old place I had built a raised garden about 3′x12′ and mixed my own soil from peat moss some topsoil and various composts. It was a pretty productive little garden. Last fall, I picked up a copy of “All New Square Foot Gardening ” as it talks about maximizing the area your garden takes up and it’s based upon raised gardening – something I’m already familiar with. I figured I could get some tips and tricks for the new raised garden.

Well, I got a lot more than just a few tip and tricks. I got a whole new way to garden. Mel Bartholomew, the author of the book, has been refining his technique of Square Foot Gardening (SFG) since 1976, so as you can imagine, he’s got the process pretty well worked out. The first thing I discovered from the book is that you don’t need a super-deep bed to grow strong and healthy plants. For most plants, 6 inches of soil is all you’ll need.  Since Mel’s sold over a million of his SFG books, I figure he’s probably right so I’m giving SFG a shot this year. I’ve already build 6 boxes and have some of my seedlings started. Over the Spring/Summer/Fall I’ll be updating the blog with the progression of the garden, both the good & bad.

Flowers Started for the 2010 Geek Garden

Gardening = Geeky?

So you’re probably thinking to yourself – “What the hell is so geeky about gardening?”. Well, IMHO, it depends on how you approach it. I like to garden like my Engineer dad taught me – with planning and proper preparation. I think this is why Mel’s method of dividing off 4′x4′ boxes into 1′x1′ squares is so appealing to me. I can plan the layout of the garden down to an inch and have a “blueprint” of a sorts so I don’t forget anything when planting. In fact, as you’ll see in later posts, I actually have a “blueprint” for this year’s garden that should allow for multiple staggered harvests. The blueprint also allows me to know exactly how many of each plant I need to start. This way I only grow what’s needed and don’t end up with a ton of extra seedlings. Although I did start a couple extra tomato plants for our neighbor.

Veggies Started for the 2010 Geek Garden

This method of planning is a bit geeky but it’s part of the overall theme of the garden – maximum efficiency and minimal resources. One of the keys to the SFG method is the soil mix. You don’t use just plain ‘ol dirt, or even conditioned soil. Sure I guess you could, but you’d probably have to work on the dirt a few seasons to get it to a point somewhat close to what Mel has outlined in his book. His Mel’s Mix as he calls it is a blend of Peat Moss, Vermiculite, and various composted materials. This mix is supposed to provide an optimum growing medium for most plants. It’s also supposed to reduce the amount of watering needed. This I can already attest to somewhat. After I built the boxes and added the soil mix, I watered it in and it’s like a sponge. It holds a ton of water, but remains “airy”. So I’m hoping for some terrific growth from the garden this year.

EPCOT used to be cool...

This year I’m not gonna do too much out there as far as new techniques, I’m just gonna stick to the SFG method this year. But in future growing seasons, I want to try Hydroponics and maybe even Aeroponics. I’ve got some cool ideas that I’m really psyched about. My eventual plans are to be able to grow most of the vegetables and even fruits that our family might need. I want to avoid as many artificial fertilizers, pesticides and other common garden chemicals as possible. But I’ll go into that in a later post.

And if you’re still not convinced that gardening can be geeky… I have one last thing to say to ya: Check out EPCOT Center’s Living with The Land attraction in the Land pavilion. ’nuff said. Granted the attraction used to be more innovative on new techniques before Eisner let EPCOT Center rot into the sad state it’s in today. But more on that later too.

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