Ok, I realize it’s not technically a recipe post, but I am proud and sort of bewildered at the same time, so here it goes.
We’ve adopted a “Square Foot Gardening” way growing some basic vegetables, and it’s worked quite well for us, even though I haven’t been focusing on it quite as much as I did before we moved to AL. Square Foot Gardening is a life saver for people who don’t like doing anything high maintenance… well, uhm… don’t like doing anything, really. And here is a prime example of how doing absolutely nothing at all pays off. Back in early November, seeing that the weather was still very mild, to say the least, I literally tossed a handful of seeds in the vegetable box. I didn’t rake, I didn’t water. In other words, I forgot all about them. Some time in early December, I quickly peeked at the carrot leaves, checked underneath to see if anything of value is going on there. Nope, those wormy looking carrot roots didn’t look very encouraging. So I decided to just leave them alone.
Yesterday, kiddo and I went outside to do some yard work (yes, we do that once a year or so). The carrot tops looked suspiciously vigorous and bushy, so I decided to peek again. I was shocked to discover carrots so robust, that some of them started popping out of the ground! Excited beyond belief, we started yanking them out of the box.
We’ve harvested good 10 lbs or so of these suckers, if not more — one is better than the next. The longest one was about 11″ long.
In related news, our arugula is coming back already. It’s looking very promising, almost pillow thick and bushy. Can’t wait to put it in the salad, it was fantastic in fall.
Eat Already!
I have always wanted to start a garden! My only. Concern is that it would be too difficult to maintain… and that it would cost too much and take up too much space. Is this my being too worried? Hope not… Maybe square foot gardening is my way to go? Nice post!
Nerdwithtaste.wordpress.com
SFG can be very inexpensive to set up if you are up for some scavenger hunt and are handy with tools, and that’s about only work that you’ll ever have to do. If not, you can buy prefabricated boxes when they are on sale. Most of the time I find that “set it and forget it” strategy is the best. The less we fiddle with the plants, the better they adapt.