Chocolatepop's Urban Garden Blog

Because check out this nifty little tool that was created to assist those of us that use SFG methods plan our gardens!!

http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KitchenGardenDesigner

Neat huh? AND, yes, AND you can print it out and with it will come lots of information about each crop you are plaining on planting!

So, I got sick of always having to purchase all the new pots (biodegradable or not or reused). So searching I did, and look what I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8qPAV-LDnM&feature=related

So, I’m cheap. I could have gotten one of thost pot makers from like Burpees, but that is a unitasker and cost like $20. I like my $.49 can of beans that later went into some chili.

I don’t do it exactly like the You Tube video, but close:

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Last year I kinda left my garden in haste. Dustin did as best he could to clean things up. But it is still a big chore.

Heres a picture of my cole crop box with a hoop house over it to warm up the soil, protect them against freeze temps and excessive winds.

Square #1 with Brassicas

Compress Peat Moss, 2.2 cft $6

Horticultural vermiculite, 4.99 for 8dry quartsHorticultural vermiculite-probably medium/coarse

Mica Flake attic insulation 3cft 8.99Attic insulation vermiculite-everything from fine to very coarse

Attic insulation vermiculite-everything from fine to very coarse

Looking GOOD!

My Mel’s Mix in my table top square foot garden

This will contain my lettuces

weeds seedlings!! They grow so fast its simply amazing!

Here are my peppers seedlings at just over a month old

Peppers in their new home

Potted up in 4" pots

Here are the brassicas growing into toddlers

Brassicas growing

Romanesco green cauliflower from my brother

 Little onion seedlings growing tall!

not an onion fan, but I hope these are good!

More pepper and some lettuce

More peppers and some lettuce

Mater seedlings

itty bitties

Critter in my garden!! I thought these damn things were nocturnal? It was almost 10am.

1 opossum (at least)

Stupid marsupial

So, lets tally some of the critters:

3 or 4 ground hogs

Fatty McFat Ass

a huge family full of squirrels

Squirrel Obesity

2 skunks (at least)

a family of rabbits

A turkey

And I am also told there are fox and deer. Um… don’t i live in the city?

Here they are, my little pod babies. Well, they aren’t pods YET, but they will be. The pepper seedlings are growing VERY strong, and we had nearly 100% germination rate which means… I need to build more square foot garden space! How do I justify killing a baby

I just can't plant one

Here are my cole crops; cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, collard greens.

Brassicas

Well… I THOUGHT I was going to be able to keep up with a blog, but I guess my ADD got the best of me! How about I’ll work ing keeping up a blog during the months of Feb- April, lets start small

Well I got some items in the seed pots. I met an AWESOME VERY helpful poster on www.michigangardenclub.com named the Pod Piper. As you can tell by his name is passion is peppers (with some tomatoes sprinkled in there). He hooked me up with a TON of pepper and tomato seeds. Seriously, like a TON.

I am finding out that those in the gardening community are eager to help as well as spread their “fruits” of their labors.

Here is my “greenhouse” set up. It is two 24 inch long shelving (two different kinds which was a mistake, but i was way too lazy to fix). Then I got two Habitat for Humanity Restore specials, shop lights. And had to go to Wally World to get some plant spectrum lighting.

So:

Shelving:$12 x2= $24

Shop Lights: $5 total

Lighting: $6×4- $24

Chain: $2

Total- $55

Hey, gotta start somewhere

This is going to be fun

It started with one little area I missed helping up the trellis and it decided that it liked the tree next to it better and it just kept going!I have about 4 squash growing/gonna grow. How cool is that?

So far I have gotten 5 spaghetti squash off of the trellis. EVERYONE that comes over is just amazed that a squash can chill and grow like that, another way to pimp out SFG.
There are also some pics of a sugar baby melon and spaghetti squash supported by nylons.