Sunday, October 25, 2009

It fit on paper

It is entirely possible to triple the size of one's garden and immediately run out of room.


One achieves this by not realizing how much garlic or shallots constitutes a "pound." Couple that with only the vaguest perception of how many broccoli transplants a 2x10' bed will hold, et voila! I'm starting to stick garlic and shallots in, well, other places in the garden. Places which had been set aside for things like carrots or turnips.

Is it possible I've planned to plant too many peas, also? Back to the drawing board.

21 comments:

kitsapFG said...

I often have that happen. Luckily, I often have soemthing take up less room than originally planned too - and it all seems to even out in the end. I use my containers to plant overflow items or things I failed to factor into the regular bed plans - such as dill and basil etc that I always want but never reserve room for them in the garden beds! Thank goodness for container plantings!

Susan said...

Oh I need to plant shallots! I am always in need of a shallot. If you can't find spots for them all I could take a couple off your hands.

Jeff Vandiver said...

The first time I bought onion sets, I did exactly the same thing. Where does one put 80 you may ask? Anywhere you can find an empty spot. Gardening is such a surprise sometimes....

Daphne Gould said...

My problem is usually that I grow one or two extra seedlings just in case I have a problem. Then they all live and I can't bear to kill them so they expand.

Unknown said...

I do this all the time! Then I have to redo my garden plan to accommodate.

Randy Emmitt said...

Yes it is easy to do. Weeds know even better how to overcrowd a garden.

Randy Emmitt said...

Yes it is easy to do. Weeds know even better how to overcrowd a garden.

Stefaneener said...

kitsapFG, I hope it works that way. So far it appears that with the seedlings downstairs, it's all spoken for. I had hoped to not have containers or use the front yard at all.

Susan, with the price of shallots, growing them seems like a good idea. I think I can manage them, but you have a garden tooooooooo! Shallot and tomato soup, with butter, yum.

EG, what is really going to be interesting is to see how long the yield lasts. We use a lot of garlic here. I may end up with a garlic-infused garden!

Daphne, I hear that! It's hard not to think of each one as deserving a chance. I'm trying to be tough-minded.

GrafixMuse, I'm grateful for an eraser/

Randy, welcome! Weeds enjoy our winter rains a lot here. I'm spending a lot of my garden visiting time just pulling grass and sourgrass out, one at a time!

Ribbit said...

Honey, I can't fill all the space I have and I'm still planning on enlarging. :)

Mr. H. said...

Ah Ha! My biggest gardening issue.:)

Stefaneener said...

Ribbit, it's a disease.

Mr. H., I was thinking of you as I was wandering around with the garlic the other day. You just grow a lot more than I do, too.

Dan said...

Ever spring my garden is 3x its size in my head.... :-)

chaiselongue said...

That's the first rule of gardening - however much space you have it's never enough! I never plant enough garlic and I'm just wondering where it's going to go this year.

Ruby Louise said...

There's no such thing as too many peas, at least not that I've ever found. On the other hand, I think it's a law of nature that whatever garden size you have it is inevitably not big enough for garden goodies and entirely too large with regard to weeds. :-)

Stefaneener said...

Well, Dan and Ruby Louise, I missed these lessons. I thought I was doing okay!

Chaiselounge, you're right. I went by the municipal garden in Oakland and thought, "Now, this garden would be too big for me," but apparently had no idea what bigger meant.

Ribbit said...

Hey, I don't have your email. I listed mine on the comments section on my blog. Thank you for the offer of trading seeds. I can't wait to try the radishes.

Kristin said...

I'll take any extra seedlings you need to dispose of. My chickens ate all my beets, broccoli down to a nub. It's back to the drawing board. I have to plant my winter garden again.

Stefaneener said...

Ribbit, I'll get to you.

Kristin, I have extra kohlrabi, dill from Anita, and some Komatsuna. If you want to come and dig, you can get some transplants from the garden.

chaiselongue said...

Thanks for your comment. When you get your olives, my recipe for curing them is at http://olives-and-artichokes.blogspot.com/2008/10/preserving-olives-conserver-les-olives.html
There are lots of ways but this is simple and it works! Good luck!

Michelle said...

Stefani, there never seems to be enough room to grow everthing I want to try. On the other hand, I know I could manage the space I have better. After being inundated with 200+ pounds of tomatoes in 2 weeks recently I swore I would cut my tomato planting in half next year. Just think of all the other things I could grow in that space!

I just saw your comment about local wheat on Mr H.'s blog. Have you heard of Massa Organics? They are primarily a rice grower (great rice) near Chico but they also grow hard red wheat. They sell at Bay Area farmer's markets. They are online also (massaorganics.com)

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