Our vegetable garden will be going here in this nice sunny spot at the back of our cottage garden. And according to my initial calculations, it is going to cost a small fortune just to fill this thing with the right mixture of growing medium. If only dirt in So. Cal. was...well ....dirt cheap!
Let's Count Some Beans
If one were to follow, say, the square foot garden method; then the required 1/3 vermiculite (a by-product of mineral mining) portion, is very expensive, at $21 per 2 cu.ft. For the size of our raised bed, we would need about 12 bags of vermiculite alone. That comes to $441 with out tax, and then there is the compost and peat moss to purchase, which both make up the other 2/3 of the recipe, and would cost us another $164. So for an investment of roughly $660, we can grow some veggies. I spend roughly $1500 on fruits and veggies per year, so it shouldn't take that long to make a return on the investment, provided that we actually grow around 1000 lbs. of fruits and veggies this coming growing season, and that is a lot of beans to count! Which can be a problem if your growing thumb isn't the right color, and mine isn't.
What Color Is Your Thumb?
Do you have a green thumb, or a brown thumb? I have a hybrid of the two colored thumbs, or what I like to call a "khaki-green" thumb, meaning I only kill some plants. So, the idea of choosing, planting and then growing vegetables is still kinda intimidating for me. As far as choosing what veggies to grow, I know enough to choose the vegetables I and my family already like to eat, but beyond that, the thought of selecting which seeds to purchase is overwhelming. I mean really...have you ever read through a seed catalog? Reviews help some, but there are still a lot of variables when it comes to successfully growing veggies, like the weather and micro climates that are with in well established zone climates. I feel that choosing which variety of seeds to buy takes knowledge gained through experience.
I was not fortunate enough to be raised by an avid gardener. My mom dabbled some, but she wasn't an expert compared to our favorite muse - Martha Stewart. So, I will have to learn as I go. Gleaning information from others is helpful to be sure, but even so, what techniques they apply to their situations, may not work for my situations, which brings me back to gaining personal experience. There are two things that are somewhat comforting to me as I face this basic aspect of homesteading.
#1 I and my family won't starve if I fail while I do what I do best; read and learn by trial and error, but mostly error!
....and
#2 Fortunately for me, my husband's thumb is a much greener than mine. Like all green thumbed people, he seems to have this amazing knack for throwing seeds on the ground where they actually resurrect and grow, instead of remaining dead in their grave! So maybe it won't really matter that much regarding which varieties of seeds to purchase. Maybe, because I don't know if there are different types or divisions of green thumbs.
Like one for growing flowers, and one for growing food.
Still, any experienced gardening input from you dear reader, will be much appreciated, as I journey toward growing as a gardener, and hopefully cultivate a much greener thumb.
I was not fortunate enough to be raised by an avid gardener. My mom dabbled some, but she wasn't an expert compared to our favorite muse - Martha Stewart. So, I will have to learn as I go. Gleaning information from others is helpful to be sure, but even so, what techniques they apply to their situations, may not work for my situations, which brings me back to gaining personal experience. There are two things that are somewhat comforting to me as I face this basic aspect of homesteading.
#1 I and my family won't starve if I fail while I do what I do best; read and learn by trial and error, but mostly error!
....and
#2 Fortunately for me, my husband's thumb is a much greener than mine. Like all green thumbed people, he seems to have this amazing knack for throwing seeds on the ground where they actually resurrect and grow, instead of remaining dead in their grave! So maybe it won't really matter that much regarding which varieties of seeds to purchase. Maybe, because I don't know if there are different types or divisions of green thumbs.
Like one for growing flowers, and one for growing food.
Still, any experienced gardening input from you dear reader, will be much appreciated, as I journey toward growing as a gardener, and hopefully cultivate a much greener thumb.