Watering Follow Up

As promised, here is a follow-up to the watering that I did not do yesterday.  I know I said I would get up early to water, but we all know certain things don't always go as planned.  Instead of getting up earlier, I overslept.  I eventually got there, but I was a few minutes late for work this morning.  The first two pictures were from my watering this morning.

Green cabbage, red onions, and golden beets.

Tomatoes, collard greens.  I'm excited because I'm starting to see some germination amongst all three.

The next several pics were taken during my lunch hour.  As mentioned, in last post, I was going to water at that time, and yes, my whole lunch hour was taken up for this task.  There are two wells at the garden sight, and the one near me is constantly breaking.  I did, however, have water in jugs from this morning--which I used for the watering task at lunch. THEN, I had to go to the other well and get more water.  The well near me, I could easily walk there.  The other one...not so much.  We're talking 8 acres of land on a slight hill.  It would've taken me my entire lunch hour to walk there and back!  So, in efforts to save time...I drove over.  The things I would do for water.  The meteorologist says that it should rain tomorrow.  Let's all pray so!  Any-who, here is my progress from lunch...

Parsley, oregano, and sage.  Sadly, one of the oregano plants is done.  That's okay. I have three more. That should provide an ample amount of this yummy herb!

Swiss chard.  I'm SOOO glad that it pulled through.  When I checked it on Friday--shortly before going out of town, they were looking really sad.

Kohlrabi

Parsley

Oregano

Sage

Green beans--for its second watering in two days.

Red Russian and White Russian Kale.  I'm starting to see some germination.  So excited.

I'm happy thus far.  Now, I have to get my other plot established and plant my summer crops.  I have more tomatoes and peppers to plant--along with squash, corn, sweet potatoes, and melons.  So, until then...think thrifty!

Dawn

Garden Update--5/12/2015

Today was the first day I've been to my garden plots in over a week.  Either there was a threat of rain, the fact that I had to work my second job, or the fact that I went out of town this weekend, I have to get back in the game.  Before I went out of town, I saw that the Swiss chard and parsley were looking a bit worn due to the lack of rain.  I knew when I got back, I had to give my babies some water.

I went to work with my garden clothes packed, and don't you know, I left the seeds at home [Doh]!  SOOO, I had to go home, change my clothes, and get to the garden, sow seeds for green beans, water the garden...ALL before The Voice comes on at 8pm.  Here's my progress...

Here are the two beds that I shoveled out today.  The one on the left will have sweet potatoes, thyme, and summer savory.  The one on the right will have green beans, rosemary and petunias.  

This is the sweet potato bed.  As mentioned above, thyme and summer savory will be planted along the sweet potato slips.  I heavily employ the concept of companion planting as a means of gardening organically--in terms of pest control and the improvement of flavor.  Thyme and summer savory repel the sweet potato beetle.  I just shoveled it out, and will plant the sweet potato slips as soon as I purchase them.  Usually, I would start my own slips, but I did not do well with sweet potatoes last year--of which I would save one potato to start new slips.  So, I'll have to buy them this year.

   

The green bean bed.  This is the bed that I worked today.  As mentioned above, I will plant rosemary and petunias alongside the beans--as they repel the Mexican bean beetles.

The  Swiss Chard, although looking worn on Friday, are actually  looking well.  Perhaps, they were experiencing transplant shock at the time, and has now gotten acclimated to its environment. Looking forward to harvesting these yummy greens.

Alongside the Swiss chard is the kohlrabi.  It's looking really good.  I've never grown nor tasted kohlrabi, but there's always a first time for everything.

Here is the parsley.  Some of it still looks a little worn, and some of it looks like it's adjusting well.  Only time will tell.

Here is the oregano.  Some of the plants look like they're on their "last legs".  This is surprising because I was of the assumption that oregano will thrive in arid climates.  We'll see.

The green bean bed...hoed and ready to plant.

Here are the green bean seeds.  Although the community gardens give seeds for green beans for free,  my mama didn't like them when they were grown.  She was insistent that I grew Blue Lake Bush green beans,  So I got these in the winter--way before the garden plots were available to rent.  I got these seeds at The Dollar Tree--4 packets for $1 (there will be another entry on seeds at a later time).  In my hand are 23 packets of green bean seeds.  Out of the 23 packets, 12 were used.  My green beans didn't do well last year.  I am DETERMINED to get some this year.  

So, how did I do for today?  Well, I didn't get chance to water everything.  I hoed the soil, planted the green bean seeds, and watered them.  I also watered the sage, oregano, some of the parsley and Swiss chard.  When I looked at the time, it was 7:50pm, and The Voice  came on in 10 minutes.  I'll just to get up extremely bright and breezy in the morning, and do some watering before I get to work and during my lunch hour.  I'll provide an update tomorrow.  So until then...think thrifty!

Dawn

Garden--5/4/2015

It was so beautiful weather-wise this weekend, that I spent a significant amount of time outside--mainly in my garden.  There's nothing better than a "dirt manicure".

These are plants that were given to me by a friend--who also gardens.  She had these as extra, and thought of me.  Because of my friend's generous gift, I was given Swiss chard, kohlrabi, curly and flat leaf parsley, oregano, and sage.

This is where the plants my friend gave me will go.  This bed is 2x28 feet.  At this stage, the soil was simply loosened with a shovel.

The soil has been hoed and ready for planting.

The plants are now in their new home, and given a drink of water.

Up close...sage and oregano.

Up close...curly and flat leaf parsley, Swiss chard, and kohlrabi.

In  the hoed areas of this bed, seeds for golden beets were sown--as well as red onion sets.  In the center, seeds for green cabbage were sown two weeks ago.  They don't appear to be sprouting.  Will have to monitor these closely.

In the hoed areas of this bed, seeds for turnips and carrots were sown. In the center are peas--which, like the cabbage, were sown two weeks ago.  Unlike the cabbage, the peas ARE sprouting.

Rutgers Tomatoes, collard greens, and cayenne peppers were given a drink of water.

It was a long, hard, yet fulfilling day.  As you can see, I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty.

So until then...think thrifty!

Dawn

Inaugural Entry

For my inaugural entry, please allow me to introduce myself...

My name is Dawn King.  I am a self-confessed cheapskate, and I was born under the astrological sign of Gemini (June 7th)...hence, The Thrifty Gemini.

I have been on a journey to live a life well on less, and I will continue  to learn--from sewing to crafting, gardening to DIY.  At this moment I sew, knit, quilt, crochet, spin, garden, and can.  It is my hope to share what I'm doing with you, and take you on my journey.  So, please join me, and thanks so much for stopping by.