Posts Tagged ‘arugula’

  1. win/fail: the garden edition

    July 1, 2012 by justgathering

    Our rooftop garden has been an exercise in trial and error, to say the least.

    Win: Basil and Sage

    The herbs grow like crazy. We have made plenty of pesto and still have basil growing faster than we can pick it.

    Fail: Cucumbers

    Never even sprouted. Sad.

    Win: Mesclun

    Again, multiple harvests and very easy to grow. Should have planted a whole lot more.

    Fail: Tomatoes

    These Romas have broken my heart. Each tomato starts out so healthy and then, after a couple of weeks on the vine, turns brown at the end and shrivels up. Seasoned gardens, help me out: what am I doing wrong? Crushing.

    Comeback Kid: Habernos

    After we planted these guys, we had a week-long cold snap that caused them to, seemingly, die. But we kept tending them, knowing they’d love the extreme heat of true summer. And, lo and behold, there they stand, resurrected. Now the test is whether or not they’ll actually yield any peppers…

    Fail: Arugula

    This went to seed right off the bat. Pretty enough flowers, but no harvest.

    Recently Rescued: Zucchini

    I planted my poor zucchinis way too close together. By the time I realized this, all three seedling were nearly strangled to death. I separated them out and transplanted each and they’re slowly being revived. This little guy is even beginning to blossom. Fingers crossed for squash soon enough.

    Too Soon to Tell: String Beans

    I think I planted these ones too close together as well. They started to wither and I transplanted them last week, but I’m not sure we’re in the clear just yet. I so wanted a huge crop of beans, so I’m hoping that a few good waterings and a lot of heartfelt lullabies (I hear plants love to be sung to?) will help.

    I’ve been pleasantly surprised by our gardening endeavors so far. Some plants have been far easier to grow than I imagined, and I feel like the learning curve is steep, but now that we know what we do, next season we’ll be able to plant a lot more of the easier crops. And, using our garden to supplement our CSA, we’ve been able to eat a few meals lately that have been sourced entirely locally with not too much extra effort.

    And the experiment continues. As always, tips and tricks from gardening experts are more than welcome!

    Category grow., make., nest. | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | No Comments

  2. growing: week 1

    April 15, 2012 by justgathering

    Our 2012 roof garden is officially underway. My thumbs are nowhere near green, and Daniel’s horticulture experience is limited to a single bamboo reed that he managed to keep alive for a few years, so we’re diving in with the expectation that we’ll probably screw a few things up and know better next year.

    We started last Sunday, April 8 with two humble Rubbermaid planters.

    These bins are devotedly entirely to greens. Here’s the breakdown:

    I’ve been watering 1 to 2 times a day since last weekend and was ecstatic when I discovered on Friday that our first little seedlings had sprouted.

    Arugula! I wanted to throw a party for these little guys. They made it! By midway through the day today, there was a little bit of green showing in every row.

    Today, we headed back to the neighborhood garden supply store for more soil and ended up getting a few more plants. We planted onions from seed and transplanted some little habanero seedlings.

    And, last but not least, tomatoes!

    I’ve still got plenty more veggies to plant from seeds once we’re well in the clear of any late season frosts. I don’t want to forget the steps I take (in case they either prove wildly successful or disastrously unfortunate), so I’ll be blogging the garden as she grows.

    Our one goal: grow all the ingredients we’ll need for a delicious salad. Tips and tricks from master gardeners are most definitely appreciated.

    Here’s to the sunshine this week!

    Category grow. | Tags: ,,,,, | 3 Comments