Nerdy spring garden plan!

The nerd in me was strong today. So strong that even my coworkers, who happen to be huge nerds themselves, were teasing me. That has to be a new personal low...or high! :) What was I doing to cause such teasing????

Planning the garden! That doesn't sound very nerdy lol but let me set the scene. I had cleared an entire space at my desk, had my notebook out with various pens and pencils, an eraser and ruler, and about 25 tabs open on my computer. Also being consulted was my phone and various printed publications from the Duval county extension agency. What can I say? Things were serious. As you'll see below, there are four 8'x4' raised beds and I like using square-foot gardening as a guide. Oh, and yes, I'm aware there are online programs that do this same thing for me but I don't like those as much.

I present to you (aka myself lol), for memory's sake, the 2019 spring garden layout! I've learned things each time I've had a garden in this house so unlike last fall (if things will actually sprout and grow this time!), I think it will do okay!

For example, last time I did corn this happened...

The corn grew and grew and was so exciting! The green beans were growing, too! Things were growing great! OMG! Aaaaand then the beans kind of took over. Using the corn for the beans to climb worked out great. However, I think the corn needed to have a head start on growing before the beans started because it never got to reach its full height before the beans kind of strangled it. Literally! There were areas where the bean vines wrapped so tightly around the corn that it was digging in and causing deformities. Also, the package had recommended four corn plants per square foot and that proved to be too many which I also think stunted the growth. In the same vein, I think there were too many bean plants for the amount of corn. I did get some baby corn cobs that grew and that was fun but they never fully formed and so while it looked cool and provided a functional role for the beans that year, I never got to eat any corn. Booooo. Ate so many green beans though!!! Yum!

This time around I did some research and learned that one corn plant per square foot is better for better and happier corn AND fewer bean plants won't cause as much stress. On top of that, I'm going to plant the corn 2-3 weeks before the beans this time and fertilize more than just at the planting.

Corn & Green Beans

Will apply the same logic to the corn and cucumbers bed. I haven't had success with cucumbers yet even though I've tried twice before. I think from what I read today that I'll need to be more cognizant about adding natural fertilizers throughout the season and making sure this bed has adequate water for it to actually produce edible cucumbers. Seems like cucumbers might be a little more fussy than the other stuff. Be strong cucumbers! I want to eat you! I've never grown the cucumbers with the corn so I'm not sure if they'll climb or not so we'll see. I also think since corn needs to be in a bigger grouping to pollinate right that having two beds of it next to each other instead of just one will help it along, too. Fingers crossed!

Corn & Cucumbers

Basil, basil, basil. Basil always goes crazy and does well. Needless to say, every summer with a garden here has been full of homemade pesto. Love it! Will be planting a lot more this year though! Tomatoes have been tricky so far so I'm determined to improve on these as well this time around. It's the cages. Tomato cages found in stores suck. They just suck. Too small, too flimsy, pointless. My mom had amazing tomato cages when I was a girl but I found out later they were constructed with farm fencing. Something I'll probably do in the future when I have more space, IF I ever have more space... Anyway, aside from the plants and seeds, this will probably cost me the most money out of the whole garden project but if it will save the tomato plants from toppling over halfway through summer then I'm down to try. I usually get good tomatoes but never enough. Will also try to be better in this bed about natural fertilizers and more consistent watering.

Tomatoes & Basil

Eggplants have always gone great and should be no problem but no luck has been had with peppers thus far. I'm determined and again, I think with better and more consistent fertilizing and watering, something will happen!

Eggplants & Peppers

As always, I like companion planting so there are lots of beneficial flowers and herbs planned out in each bed as well. The seeds were ordered today and I think I found a 25% off coupon so may order the cages tonight. I have my list ready to go for all the plants to buy and which get planted in the first wave and the second. Please, please, please let this time be a success. I really miss the garden. :(

In other news, I was checking up on goals for the year and was able to cross another one off. Ready?!

I finally benched the big girl plates at the gym!! (135lbs) Love getting stronger :)

Also today, I learned from my coworkers how to use Reddit and Tumblr, brought home a book with some Excel practice stuff in it, learned there was such a thing as the Excel World Championship (SUPER NERDS!), and my interest was piqued with project management stuff. I want to learn more about it because it seems like something I might dig and could use to help keep my home projects more organized and moving along.

How about a song! Yes! I'll leave you with a favorite from my teenage days and helped to get me through a tough few sets of squats in the gym the other day! Sometimes you just have to get back in those dark places! Song starts 32 seconds in ;)



That's all for now. Now go away!!! :)