I planted carrots last August and left them to over winter in the garden as a test. I pulled some up the other day and they were great! The biggest one I pulled was 5″. The the biggest carrot I’ve ever been able to grow in this Kentucky mud. (Don’t laugh at me! lol) The tasted so good, too! So much better than store bought carrots. I will definitely be planting more carrots this spring, as well as planting some for the winter.

 

We had another large garden spot a few years ago. We used it for several years before letting it go back to grass. Last May, I think it was, we covered it with cardboard to take it back for gardening. Here’s what it looked like today. You can see the older cardboard in comparison to a new piece of cardboard in the lower right front of the picture.

And when I pulled back some of the old cardboard, this is what I found. Nice soil just waiting to be planted. We’ll be planting sweet corn and green beans in this section.

I love using cardboard in the garden. It kills off the grass and weeds while retaining moisture. A few years ago while watching a gardening segment on a tv show, the owner of a landscaping and gardening company recommend using cardboard in the garden. She said that the cardboard breaks down into a protein that attracts worms. I tried researching that but couldn’t find anything about the protein. I even called my local extension agent and asked him. He didn’t know anything about the protein, either, but said that cardboard was good in the garden and that the moist environment under it would attract worms. We do have a lot of worms under ours. So I do recommend using cardboard. It also saves a lot of time weeding!

Here are the remaining carrots in the garden, with the cardboard pulled back from the row. You can see we have weeds started already in with the carrots, but look how nice the soil is where the cardboard was. The carrot tops in this picture are the same size as the ones in the carrot picture above, they look smaller because of the angle of the camera. I can’t wait to pick more of them to eat!

On my way back from the vegetable garden, I stopped at the Bible Garden to take a picture of the Hardy Cyclamen. This stays green all winter long. In the spring I get beautiful light purple flowers, then the plant dies off in the middle of summer, only to grow back in the fall. It’s nice to have something green sticking up from the snow. 🙂

Have you ever used cardboard in the garden? I’d love to hear how you use it!

 

Here are a few links I found interesting and helpful:

Carrot Tops – I did not know you could eat the carrot tops!
Guide to Growing Herbs
How to Grow Microgreens – I’ve never heard of microgreens before, I want to grow some now!
Raised Row Gardening
8 Aromatic Indoor Herbs Which Purify Air
Herbs You Should Plant This Year

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It’s seed starting time! YAY! Since I have no outdoor pictures to share this week, I thought I’d share how I made my seed start pots from newspapers. The seed starter kits sold in the stores are handy, but they are so expensive. This is a much more frugal option.They go together really fast, you can get your kids to help, and you’ll be done in no time. Here’s how I make mine.

You likely have all the materials you need already on hand. You’ll need newspapers, a vegetable can, and a pan or tray of some sort to put the pots in. I have used disposable pans in these pictures. You can use plastic dish pans or anything that has sides and can keep water from leaking out.

To start, take one page of the newspaper, not a two page section. Just rip the two page section down the middle, no scissors needed. Kids love doing this, and the grain of the paper tears straight so it’s easy for them to do.

Fold this one page section in half, the long way, side to side, not top to bottom. Then lay it down on the table and place the can on it, leaving a couple of inches hanging off the can at the bottom.

Now roll the can keeping the edges lined up, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. My kids love to do this.

After rolling the section around the can, turn it over so the newspaper hanging off the bottom of the can is on top. Fold these edges down so it looks like this. After folding, turn your can right side up, and press the bottom down on your table to crease the paper.

Then pull the newspaper pot off the can. The bottoms will stay closed without securing them with any tape or glue.

And put your pots in the pan.

The next step is to fill with dirt and plant your seeds. You don’t have to fill them all the way to the top, you can leave an inch or so of newspaper at the top and it doesn’t get in the way. I love using these, instead of the store bought seed starter trays, as when the seedlings get bigger, you don’t have to transplant them into something bigger before moving outside.

When it’s time to plant your seedlings in the garden, take one of the seedling pots, rip the newspaper off the bottom and plant the whole thing in the garden. The newspaper has really softened up after a couple of months of watering, and rips very easily. The newspaper will decompose in the garden, just as it would in your compost pile, so no need to remove it from the seedlings.

Now, only about 50 more pots to make!

Have you started any seeds yet for your garden?

 

 

Here are a few links I found interesting and helpful:

Cold Frame Gardening
Growing Blueberries
Build a Whizbang Wheel Hoe
How to Make Charcoal at Home
When to Start Vegetable Seeds – tempature chart
Planting Calendar – when to plant according to your zip code

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