Watch My Food Grow

Look at that cucumber grow!

While attending the South Florida Fair last month, I stopped by the Broward County Farm Bureau booth. They were giving away free packages of cucumber seeds.

When starting my garden, I got actual plants, not seeds. So, the cucumbers are the first thing I have ever planted and grown from seed.

Vegetable Seeds Like Little Bits of Magic

I planted the seeds last Sunday and by Friday — just five days later — there were sprouts. Can you believe it?

Who knew seeds would actually turn into plants? I mean, I guess I always sorta thought they might but to see it happening is pretty darn cool.

Other Vegetables Growing from Seed

In addition to the cucumbers, I have snap beans (courtesy of my best buddy Tim at Art by Nature Garden Center) and watermelon growing from seeds. The snap beans are just beginning to pop their heads above the dirt. Of the six watermelon clusters I planted, only one has broken ground but I imagine that is to be expected.

If this works out, I may consider adding more. My father is remodeling his backyard shed and it looks as though he is going to have a fair amount of plywood leftover. If that is the case, my garden will grow even larger.

—Farmer Matt

The moment I finished my initial raised vegetable garden and got the plants in, I knew its 4′x8′ size was too small. I needed more space.

What I Did Not Get Planted

I wanted watermelon, ripe by the fourth of July. I wanted cucumbers and snap beans. Jan Norris surprised me with two strawberry plants and I didn’t have room for them. Thus, I needed more space to grow food.

Construction Details for the Vegetable Garden Annex

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No planning at all went into the annex. I looked in my shed for leftover wood. I kinda, sorta cut some plywood so it was mostly square. I guessed on most measurements. It was a wreck. No design — structural or aesthetic — went into this build process. (Which is why you’ll never see the annex on the web cam.)

Both beds have about eight inches of soil. Both have weed control cloth at the bottom. Both are held together with spit and bailing wire.

What Does the Raised Garden Annex Look Like?

Below are the only two pictures known to exist of my raised garden annex.

What and Why I Planted in the New Vegetable Beds

As you can see, there is one bed raised much higher than the others. That one is where my strawberries will live. As the plant grows, I’ll drop the strawberries over the edge, working much like a hanging garden. That way they don’t rot in the dirt.

The upper bed also has a few leftover lettuce plants and five sunflowers.

The lower bed has snap beans planted in a row along the back of the bed. The front left has watermelons and the front right has cucumbers. Once the watermelons start growing, I’ll set them over the side of the bed.

Growing Vegetables From Seed — Cross Your Fingers

The main garden used exclusively plants that already had some life to them. The annex, except for the strawberries, is all from seed. I hope it does okay. Already I see little shoots from the sunflowers. I hope they add pretty to the garden.

—Farmer Matt

Look at this you freezing Yankees…

That’s the sun setting on my garden. It was in the low-80s all day, cooling off to around 76 when I finally headed inside.

—Farmer Matt

Behold, The Power of Time, Light and Water:

Your eyes are not fooling you. No camera tricks are involved. Photoshop did not attack this photo.

On the left, we have the one broccoli plant that wouldn’t fit in my garden. On the right, we have broccoli that has only been in the ground about three weeks. Look at the size of that thing! These two were the same size just three weeks ago.

My Vegetables Are Growing in my Garden

I’m sure this doesn’t come as a surprise to those of you who know something about gardening but, to me, city boy, that something could actually grow in my backyard is mind boggling.

Check back often to watch my food grow.

—Farmer Matt

It’s garden creation photopalooza today!

	Malcolm Surveys What Will Soon Become Our Raised Backyard Vegetable Garden
	Malcolm, age four, verifies that he is Taller than a Tomato Plant
	Having no idea how close to plant my vegetables, I did a dry run first, digging holes and dropping in the pots to make sure everything would fit.
	Sarah, loving wife, was happy to give up some of her ribbons so that we could tie up the tomatoes. In fact, choosing the ribbons and telling me which ribbons went where was the high point of her gardening experience so far.
	This very celebrity tomato was the first in the ground and the first properly strung up. It also produced several green tomatoes which my mother already fried and ate.
	Malcolm used the garden as a sandbox. He is going to miss playing in the good, dark soil. We will not miss him bringing dark soil into our house and onto our cream colored carpet.
	Years of Boy Scout training allowed me to use the perfect knot for each and every plant.
	Sarah thinks that pretty ribbons will make the plants feel pretty and that when plants are feeling pretty, they are going to produce more vegetables. You’re welcome to offer you own opinion or research on this theory below.
	And there you have it, our fully-planted and ready to grow backyard raised vegetable garden.

Our Garden Plans for Next Year: Bigger

Throw a link below to your vegetable garden. I’m already planning for next season. My plans for next year can be summarized in one word: bigger.

Now that I’m hooked, I want to see what other raised vegetable gardens look like. Honestly, I did absolutely no research before I began and am now playing catch-up.

—Farmer Matt

When I tell people I planted a backyard vegetable garden, after the initial shock wears off, the next question is always ‘what are you growing?’.

The answer is ‘whatever Jan Norris and Tim Whelan (Art by Nature Garden Center) tell me to plant’.

Early 2009 Season Garden Layout

Here is what is in the ground today:

(I have taken to looking at garden porn on the internet. The care and skill that goes into creating garden plots is pretty impressive. Amy in Colorado’s chart (and garden), for example, is far more impressive than my own.)

All of these vegetables live in a four-foot by eight-foot plot:

• Sun Sugar Tomato
• Tomande Tomato
• Brandywine Tomato
• Fairytale Eggplant
• Striped German Tomato
• Celebrity Tomato
• Bell Pepper (two)
• Jalapeno Pepper
• Bird Pepper
• Decorative Pepper
• Cilantro (two)
• Oregano
• Pumba Yellow Onions (eight)
• Red Leaf Lettuce (six)
• Green Magic Broccoli (11)

Vegetable Garden Expansion Plans?

I ran out of room and the garden isn’t even three weeks old. I still need room for snap beans, cucumber, strawberries and watermelon. Today may be the day I finally get around to building an addition onto my garden. I’ll let you know.

—Farmer Matt