The Garden Project

I got all of my veggie and herb seeds from Seeds of Change, an awesome company that you should definitely check out if you don't already know about them. All of the seeds are certified organic, and many of the varieties are rare or unusual. I tend to be overly ambitious on many of my projects, and the garden is probably no exception. I'm growing about 15 different items in a pretty large space, and I've basically never done this before (or at least on this scale). But hey, I've got an automatic timer hooked up to an irrigation system. How hard can it be?

I'm running an experiment with the tomatoes and peppers. I've started some of them indoors, as recommended, albeit a little behind schedule. The rest are in pots outside on the patio. As expected, they are coming up much slower, but at least they're coming up at all. I wasn't sure if they would, since our nights here in Albuquerque are in the low 40s and maybe even high 30s.

Here are my happy little indoor tomato seedlings. I'd estimate they are 2-3 weeks old. They sprouted a little over a week ago. My only question now is when to transplant them? Do they need to move to sequentially larger pots before they can be moved to the garden?

And these are my not-so-happy little outdoor tomato plants. As you can see, the one in the lower right corner has sprouted one little seedling. Yippee! The seedling in the lower left corner is not a tomato plant, but a little squatter... a seed flown in by the wind from one of our many elm trees that seem to be shedding like a blizzard in January. You can also see several of these tan, round seeds lying on top of the soil.

This is also an outdoor pot, absolutely loaded with seedlings from the elm trees. (Note massive pile of seeds in background to the left.) There is also an occasional tomato plant. Interestingly, this bucket does not have any drain holes at the bottom, and you can see that things seem to be thriving far better than in the other outdoor pots. I know that all of the gardening advice out there poo-poos pots that aren't well-drained, but I swear it is of benefit in bone-dry New Mexico. Especially when you're like me, and you can't remember to water every day!

And last, but most certainly not least, here is the garden plot. It's a massive space for someone who's used to working in container gardens, but we'll see how she grows. The spigot with automatic timer is on the left. I installed 1/2" plastic tubing which runs down the left side, next to the adobe wall. Radiating from this at right angles is 1/4" laser drilled drip tubing, twelve lines total. You can see the dark stripes left by the water along these lines. I put all of the seeds in on Sunday, two days ago. Hopefully we'll start to see some seedlings by next weekend! My next dilemma is how to keep it organic. Thus far, I've used some certified organic liquid stuff that is said to be extracted from worm-infested compost. Yum. But what I want to know (and no one so far seems to know the answer) is if MiracleGro invalidates your "organic-ness"? The ingredients look like a lot of minerals. Is that all it is, or is there anything harmful in it (to me or my dirt)? Stay tuned...