May The Odds Ever Be In Your Favor

So I have 500 pounds hanging over my head and what do I do for the last two weeks?  I read the Hunger Games Trilogy.  I act like a 41 year old teenager.  So goodbye Peeta, hello tiny garden plot.  I will be going from boy with bread to family with peas.

I know you’ve been waiting desperately for my explanation of square foot gardening.  In the 1970’s a cool dude, Mel Bartholemew (http://www.squarefootgardening.org/), developed a system where you don’t grow in rows you grow in squares.  You mark off your garden in to square foot increments.  

 With each square you sow between 1 to 32 seeds.  No thinning.  For instance, we planted four pea plants in a square foot.  We could have done more if they were trellising but I got bush.  My bad.

Notice the unofficial, "use what you've got" square foot gardening materials.  Sorry, Mel, we were in a hurry to get these seeds in the ground.  

So two weeks ago we planted a cold crop.  Our first.  Usually we wait around from the safety of May when any chance of frost is over.  We feel like proud parents.  We’ve planted vegetables that can withstand a possible freeze.  

Beets:  which I’m skeptical about-what the heck are we going to make with those.

Shelling peas:  gick, but Barry and Gabriel love them.

Snow peas:  which I’m  so excited about, Barry makes a peanut butter cold pasta salad that is delish and I will post at a later date, collard greens:  which we plan to freeze.

Carrots.  Now remember I told you about the no thinning, well those daggone carrot seeds were so tiny, I had to spread them everywhere.  Some are going to have to get the boot and if you’ve read older posts you know how I feel about that archaic proceeding.

Now we wait patiently for them to sprout.  It has been a dry spring for us so we are watering every night, which just isn’t the same as a good ole spring shower.  Keep your fingers crossed!