Today we got tomatoes and peppers in the ground. Michael spent several days digging this 14’ by 14’ garden, setting posts, and fencing.

I took our starts and got them planted.

I cut the styrofoam cups, leaving a collar.

I dug a hole, snuggled the roots into the dirt, and packed them in so a collar of styrofoam remained above the dirt. Styrofoam is easier to trim than plastic cups and provides as good a shield against cut worms as plastic or metal. Using a physical barrier keeps us from using pesticides to protect our baby plants.

We planted the big garden with onions, carrots, bok choi, potatoes, lettuce, beets, cabbage, popcorn, peas, beans, leeks, dill, radishes and flowers. I found my experiment with egg carton starts were mostly successful. They are smaller than peat pellets and so dried out more quickly. I lost some flower starts to dryness. They also deteriorated over time. I may have lost some leeks because the soil fell away from roots in the transplant process. Generally, they worked. They just took a bit more care.

Growing things. Yayayayay!