The Vegetable Big Leagues!

Well, the rains have begun, and so I have had to call it quits to my transplanting efforts! 

Now that many of the veggies have outgrown the egg cartons, it was time to move them up to the big leagues, also known as the backyard garden! Like that of the flower planting, this involved a bit of preparation. However, this time, there is a much large space I'm working with. It had also rained a few days after I had initially gone through the weeding process, so this meant, more weeds!

Weeded, raked, and ready for the transplants. 

The forecast was calling for rain for a number of days, but I was hoping to get what I could in the ground. I enjoyed the challenge of "beating the rain"! I enjoyed the weeding aspect much less. At any rate, many of the tomatoes, peppers, carrots, mixed greens, kale, beets, and cucumber where ready for the out of doors. 

The best way to plant transplants, or veggies in general, is to create mounds for the seeds. These mounds are usually formed in rows, which a) makes it easier to walk through out the garden and b) I can't remember what I was going to say here! 

Unfortunately, I learned that making rows is not so straight forward. As you will notice in the pictures below, my rows are quite crooked! I'm fairly certain this will not impact the nutrition or ability of the plant to grow... at least I hope not!

Veg in the ground!

You will have no doubt noticed, aside from my inability to form straight lines, that there are only two and a half rows. This was the result of both running out of soil, and the rain starting. I have several other transplants eager to make their way out of the house and into the ground. So, over the next week, once the rains have stopped, I plan on finishing up the rest of the plot. 

Planting Flowers

As I noted in my previous post, aside from growing vegetables, I am attempting to also grow some flowers. This one is very new for me, as I have some experience with veggies (mainly tomatoes!)

Not having much knowledge about flowers aside from he standard varieties (roses, tulips, carnations, daisies, etc.) I paid a visit to a local garden centre and perused the selection. Again, I'm a very amateur gardener - especially when it comes to growing flowers - so I basically picked ones that were colourful, and that matched the other varieties I selected. This ended up being a few packages of mixed varieties, rather than selecting a few specific flowers. 

It turns out, and unsurprisingly, that this was the easy part! Preparing the land was a bit more work than I had anticipated. This was mostly because it had been a different type of garden previously. There were some flowers, but it also was used to grow some vegetables for sharing with passers-by. 

In order to prepare the land to be ready for the flower seeds, I had to weed, remove the mulch, tidy up the rock border, and even add some fresh soil. In all it took a little over an hour to do, including heading out to buy the soil. So, a bit laborious, but only for a short period of time. I'm also told that some people enjoy listening to music or podcasts while doing this work. Personally, I enjoy just listening to the sounds of whatever is around me... and me talking to myself! 

Below are a few shots of the transition:

Above and below: the flower garden before weeding, adding soil, and general clearing.

Weeds removed, soil placed, and seeds planted! All that is needed is some rain and sunshine!

Now, I'm once again playing the waiting game, and this time I don't believe the progress will be as visible as with the vegetables. The seed packages suggest 10-14 days from the time they are planted to when the first start to sprout, so we'll see. But, I'll be sure to update you!

The Set-Up

Once you decide to grow a few things, it's important to a) decided what exactly you are wanting to grow and b) what is required. 

For me, I am interested in growing vegetables, but I also am keen to try my hand at flowers. The latter I will focus on in a future post. The former however, involves a little preparation. 

Being as it's only the beginning of the growing season, and I live in an area that still has risk of frost well into May, I decided to start a few of the crops inside. This may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually relatively easy. At most, it just takes a little effort, and hopefully a space where you can let things get messy. For me, that was outdoors! 

To start the process of seed germination, all you really need is whatever seeds you'd like to grow, soil, some empty egg cartons (or planting pots), a little water, and, if you prefer, a pair of gloves! I'd also suggest maybe wearing some old clothes, as it can get pretty dirty, pretty quickly. From there, all you have to do is place the soil into the egg cartons, plant the seeds into said soil (as per the instructions on the seed packet), and add a little water - just enough that the soil is moist, but not so much that it's soupy!

Now, I'm told that if you're using egg cartons, keep them closed and in a dark area. This helps the seeds to sprout a bit faster, because they are in search of the light. And, it's amazing how quickly this can take place too! I also had the use of an indoor greenhouse, which helped to maintain the moisture of the soil. Below are a few shots of the indoor green house containing a number of the seeds I planted. 

After planting, it really becomes a waiting game. It's really fun to watch the progress, and even more exciting to see how overnight things can happen! 

Just a few of the newly sprouting seeds!

For anyone interested, I plants a variety of things, including: several varieties of tomatoes and peppers, cucumber, green and yellow beans, brussel sprouts, kale, beets, carrots, turnip, peas, red and green cabbage, a variety of herbs, spinach, and mixed greens. I have no idea how they will turn out, but I'm pretty excited to find out!

Breaking Ground

Hello there.

My name is Emily and I am an agricultural enthusiast from a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada. I have a background in social justice and community development, which are often interlinked. 

For the last 6 months I have been working in Uganda with an organization whose mission is to see "a world free from hunger and malnutrition." In this time, I worked on a project that focused on reengaging youth in the agricultural sector. Interestingly, the same reasons for the growing disinterest in rural Uganda are similar to those I've heard in my home province, as well as during my time in Ghana a few years ago, and throughout my travels across Europe. The reasons? There's no money to be made, the work is too hard/labour intensive, and the belief that there just isn't a future in the sector, to name a few.

A small-holder farm owned by a youth farmer in Soroti, Uganda

One of the activities I was fortunate enough to do was participate in a Hip Hop event, where I was asked to speak about the importance of youth in agriculture. My blurb was short - not quite 5 minutes. But the feedback took me by surprise. 

Thinking I'd get booed off the stage for being too preachy, I instead was faced with comments from participating youth unsure of how to get involved. For one, they noted that they lived in the city, and therefore couldn't get involved in food production. Sadly, I wasn't able to respond to these concerns properly. But the reality is - even in an urban setting, it is still possible to grow some of the basics. 

In a few months, I will be heading back to Uganda to set up a project I've been working on to reengage youth in the food production process. But until then, I thought it would be important to put my money where my mouth is, and get my hands dirty. Literally. So, I've decided one of my summer time activities while home for this time, would be to try my hand at urban gardening.

So, if you will, I would invite you to follow along the trials, errors and hopefully successes.