FireSide Symphony: Our Family Farm!

Ok, so it's not quite a farm yet, but we (Becca and I) are expanding our garden! Lawn, in my opinion is a HUGE waste of space, so In the autumn of 2009, I planned to clear 10.5 by 36.5 feet of lawn in our backyard, by cutting open black trash bags, laying them out on the lawn and covering them with soil, to keep the bags from flying away. I didn’t want to use any chemicals to kill the grass, as I was afraid the chemicals would linger and have a negative affect on my garden. Using the black trash bags was the best I could come up with at the time and though it worked, I did create a lot of garbage from all the trash bags….dang.

Come the spring of 2010, I removed the bags, leaving the soil on top of the dead grass, rented a Rota tiller, tilled the dead grass and soil together, and vuala! Healthy land ready to sow seeds!

I planted many of my favorites, starting with sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes! All together, I had 4 types of tomatoes, banana peppers, jalapeños, two types of carrots, lettuce, spinach, red and green bell peppers, onions and a few things I hadn’t attempted growing before, asparagus, potatoes, and broccoli. I also grew herbs, such as basil, oregano, cilantro, thyme and lemon thyme. Some veggies did better than others, but all together it was a very good harvest! I couldn't find my pictures from last years harvest, so here's a picture of Pele' loungin' in the 2010 spring flowers!

This year Becca and I, instead of clearing more lawn, will be building two raised bed gardens (pictures to come upon us actually building them). They will be located in the center of our backyard, behind the deck, where our plants will receive the most sunlight!

As it is still March and we live in Cleveland Ohio (and we got 2 inches of snow today), it is still far too early to plant our early season veggies outside. Leafy green veggies, (lettuce and spinach) and onions can be planted in April, as they can withstand frost. For the time being, Becca and I have started our own indoor garden! Here’s what we’ve sowed thus far: broccoli, lavender, oregano, sweet basil, cilantro, fernleaf dill, thyme, spearmint, mesclun (lettuce), baby’s leaf hybrid spinach, bloomsdale spinach and swiss chard.

Our seed starter/mini greenhouse was worth every penny! It only cost us $20(ish) and is reusable for years to come! Here are some photo’s our beautiful seedlings!

(week one, the first to sprout!)