I decided to buy starts for much of the vegetable garden due to the late planting- both related to weather and time. I have rarely, if ever, started squash and cucumbers, from transplants. They grow so easily from seed, but this will give us at least a four week jump on the season, which we will need this year.
I went to the Farmers Market to buy most of my starts (that we didn’t start ourselves). I imagine anyone who is reading this is familiar with Farmers Markets by now, as they have grown tremendously in the last few years. Prices are good. Generally, there is a pretty good variety of plants and I like that I am supporting local farmers. To find local markets near you, searching the web is a good place to start, but many of the little markets may be hard to find on the web. For example, our little market is on Wednesdays and only has about three or four vendors. The hours are usually from 10:00 – 3:00 or some other time during the middle of the day -not very convenient for working folks. I admit I can’t often visit my own market and buy really local because I work during the day and am not near home. Once in a while, you might find a big market that runs all day. It would be great if the hours for a Farmers Market were 11:00 – 6:00, or even 5:30. I think they would see an increase in sales from the majority of people who have to work and commute away from home. I imagine they have their reasons for the hours. I'm sure after harvesting early in the morning, the produce is fresher that time of day. So, those are my two cents on Farmers Markets. I visit the market close to my work. Fortunately, it a pretty good one with plants, produce, goods made from the farms and some hobbyist. Here are a couple sites that help you search for local markets. I like the Local Harvest site. http://www.localharvest.org/ The USDA site was very slow for me. http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/FARMERSMARKETS
Here is the plan of the beds (rather hard to read I know, but hopefully you can get an idea of them):
When deciding what to plant in the beds, I had to balance my love of cantaloupe (which can’t be preserved very well, so it’s best only to grow what you will eat fresh) with the desire to put some produce away for fall and winter. We love peppers and they freeze well, so I have planted quite a few peppers. I have planted eggplant (several varieties), cucumbers, lots of squash (zucchini, yellow summer, acorn), radishes, leeks, watermelon, broccoli, carrots and a couple of tomato plants. We’re not big tomato eaters, hard as that is to believe of gardeners, but I am trying some romas to use for sauce this year. And last, but not least…potatoes. But the potato patch is its own project because it means going into the back recesses of the yard where we fear to tread and reclaiming the area. Although knowing me, I will of course, leave some of the tumble strategically placed for our wildlife friends that live in our yard (like the salamander Rich saw last week under a pile of debris.)
Materials Needed:
I already listed the materials associated with the beds. We only needed the additional vegetable plants and one bale of straw for the beds.
Project Cost:
Vegetable plants $20.00
(If I had bought just the tomatoes from a catalog, they would have cost me about $28.00 with the shipping, so I really saved. Of course, seeds would have been better still.)
(3) Zucchini $1.50 each = $4.50
(3) Acorn squash $1.50 each = $4.50
(1) Leek cluster $1.50
(1) Lemon cucumber $1.50
(4) Roma tomatoes $2.00 each = $8.00
Flowers $13.75
(4) Marigolds $1.00 each = $4.00
(1) Salvia $5.50 – I love salvia because they attract bees.
(1) Gerbera daisy $1.50 (half-price)
(1) Dwarf spirea $2.75 (half-price)
Straw bale $5.95
Total Cost: $39.70
And now…the beds…
LOOKING EAST
BEFORE
AFTER
LOOKING WEST
BEFORE
AFTER
Next up, the potato patch.
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