Trying Trad

Finally, I’m proud to say that I’ve taken a step towards the “trad” skill goals. I didn’t have any gardening goals on my “current goals” list, but nature stepped in and forced me into gardening sooner than I expected.

Surprise Compost

Last week, my husband and I cleared out a bunch of scrap wood from our backyard. While we were out there, he broke apart a tree stump that had been sitting for years. It broke apart beautifully into crumbly, rich, black compost, with worms and insects wiggling all around in it. With such rich compost available, I realized that I needed to start my vegetable garden sooner than I expected.

I hadn’t planned to start a garden until early next year, so that I could take some time this year to study the sun patterns in our backyard, work the soil and build a smart garden design. But here I was with compost I needed to use ASAP! I decided to go ahead and start with one plant to pot and keep on the deck, but I knew it was too late in the year to start with seeds. I have a brown thumb, so I needed some expert advice!

Thanks Pike!

I headed over to a local vegetable nursery – the Google reviews described it as just an old learned man and his plants. Unfortunately, his space was half-abandoned. I’ll have to make note next time I drive through that area to see if he’s really closed it down. Pike was the second-closest nursery nearby, so I headed there. I’ve only been to Pike for flowers, so I wasn’t sure whether I’d receive decent edible gardening help.

Fortunately, they were incredibly helpful! Their advice matched the last-minute online research on my phone, too. (Ha!) One girl was so young that I figured she must have grown up with a vegetable garden to know so much at her age. She told me she grew up just north of us, in the mountains, and her family always ate vegetables from their garden. They grazed the nearby wild berry bushes when they wanted sweets. What a way to grow up!

Pet Blueberry Bush

I left Pike with a blueberry bush, rather than a vegetable plant. My husband and I eat a lot of the following, most of which I plan to eventually grow:

My in-laws grow some of the vegetables we would use the most (cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, zucchini), so I decided to start with something that’s not in their garden. Besides, my husband and I go through blueberries often enough that if I can truly keep this thing thriving and producing, it may actually save us some money!

I’m calling it my “pet blueberry bush”, because I intend to take care of it like a pet! I need produce from it, so I need to nurture it and not let my brown thumb take over. Yesterday was Day 1, and I’ll keep updating on its progress! There’s a little bit of bud growth already, but I don’t expect it will produce ripe berries until late summer. I can’t wait!