Making Some Adjustments

So, I've been noticing that my plants that are in the shaded area are not really thriving. I see that daddy is right, they need plenty of direct sunlight. So, I had to make a few adjustments to my garden. I went to Home Depot and purchased some garden soil and two containers. I placed the tomato plant in the larger of the two containers and the zucchini plant in the other. I also moved the bell pepper plant over to an area that actually gets a fairly decent amount of sunlight especially in the late afternoon. I also have an eggplant, green onions, cilantro and a spearmint plant in this area. I think it may be okay for the herbs because they don't seem to care for a lot of sun. Only time will tell.

This is the tomato plant. Hopefully in a week it will be a lot fuller.

This is the zucchini plant. I sure hope it survives!  I have plans for
zucchini bread and grilled zucchini. :)

Lesson #1 Get An Almanac!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter (Resurrection) Sunday. I had a nice one. I went to visit my dad and after dinner he and my sister, Jackie and I were sitting around chatting and the conversation turned to gardening. He was telling us about some of the new plants he recently planted. I was happy to let him know that I finally started my own garden. Well, I guess I should have had this conversation with him before I started planting. I forgot that daddy does not plant anything without first looking at his almanac to see when the best days are for planting. He told us this is the reason he plants seeds instead of buying plants from the nursery. He was saying that the nurseries main objective is to sell plants. They are not necessarily concerned as to whether or not the produce. So, they plant as many and as often as they can to produce units to sell. I bought my plants at Lowe's last week so hopefully they will produce some nice vegetables. We will see. Also, it is very important to know the needs of the specific plants you are growing. For example, my tomato plant needs lots of sunshine - well, my garden is in an area shaded part of the day by my patio and grapefruit tree. In a few weeks I'll post again to let you guys know how my little plants are doing. Well, hopefully by then they won't still be so little :)

Tilling of the Soil

So, I found a spot on the north side of my patio underneath the grapefruit and orange trees to plant my garden. There's also the a/c unit in that space, too. The soil is hard as a rock because it has not been tilled in ages! I began by soaking the ground and then the next day while it was still very cool in the morning I got the shovel and started turning the soil. I found out that this soil is called clay soil and needed a lot of prep work to ensure strong healthy root growth. I went to my local Lowe's and found some bags of soil enhancement material. (I'll have to look at the bag again to get the proper description :) ) After combining it with the soil in the ground, I watered the area really good and then planted my first plants - tomato, zucchini and bellpepper plants.

An Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Have you ever heard the saying about the apple not falling far from the tree? Well, in case you have not, or if you  did and don't know what it means, basically it is a suggestion that children more or less follow in their parents footsteps. I thought about that saying as I found myself in my backyard with a shovel in hand as I turned soil to prepare my very first vegetable garden. You see my dad was raised down south in a small rural town during the 1920's where much of the food they ate came from the soil they tilled and cared for. For as long as I can remember, daddy has had a vegetable garden. We lived in Los Angeles, California and by time I was born my dad had lived in California for at least 12 years but never forgot about the fresh fruits and vegetables his family grew on their land. Even now at 91 years old, daddy is starting to plant his spring garden.

I've been really paying attention to my health and the health of my family lately, especially now that I am in my 50's. I am really concerned about the safety of our food sources and the ever increasing cost of living, so I decided to try my hand at maintaining a vegetable garden.

So, come along on my journey. I'll be posting about my adventure and maybe even sharing some ideas of how you can start your own vegetable garden if you live in the city and have little space.

Here's the area where my garden will go. Soil haven't been turned in a while!

Clay Soil! Not good.......

My first little plants. A tomato plant, a bellpepper plant,
and a zucchini plant.

My backyard. Almost entirely filled with shrubs and flowering plants. I found a
spot under the orange and grapefruit trees for my little garden.

We have a yellow grapefruit, orange, lemon and gala apple tree.
Will be planting a peach tree soon