The plot thickens

The other day we spent a bit of time in the garden (we being Justin, Pi and I).

This was my space on Sunday after it was assigned.

I finished weeding for the most part (those clovers are hard to get rid of!) and pulled the old kale plants.

Speedy's Hardware is just around the corner so I sent Justin over for some Black Gold to amend the soil.  Justin surprised me with a cute little gardening bag and some new pruners.  Pi was overly excited about being in the garden and ran laps for a bit.

Here's Pi sitting like a nice girl while I weed. 

I must have missed the tool shed code during the meeting, but Justin made do with a T post to till the soil and mix in the Black Gold.

Doin' work! 

I still haven't planned out my plants, but we got some weeding done and added some nourishment to the soil.  I also took some coffee grounds to the plot as well (I've got some vinegar-y Kombucha that may be headed over there too).

Speaking of nourishment, I've started a hydroponic garden at work with the kids. I'm having them chart the progress of Tomato and Purple Tomatillo seeds.  We'll be allowing them to grow large enough to transplant and hopefully start a small garden in the back courtyard.  In another week or two, we'll start some lettuce and spinach seeds as well.  I think the kids may be of more interest than the tomatoes/tomatillos because they take off a lot faster.  I do have the kids asking to observe and take notes each day. It's so exciting to me that they are getting interested in our "garden" and they are learning to track data.

I'm testing out Smart Gardener and a few of the add ons.  The overall website is free to use to plan your garden (or gardens if you are lucky enough).  It can recommend plants based on plot size, location, personal preference and the like.

I got a SUPER shady plot and Smart Gardener doesn't do recommendations in the free version for shade. Since my plot is SO shady, I thought it was worth it to add on the "Smart Shade" bundle for $1.99.  I've been a bit on the busy side with school and work this week, so I haven't been able to play with it as I would like (and I've been under the weather for the last week), but it did make noticeable changes to recommendations based on the shade factor.

The other add on I purchased was the "Smart Squares" for $4.99.  Smart Squares allows you to plan for square foot gardening by calculating using the square foot method.  You can also choose between spacing methods when you add a new plant (square foot v. standard).

I've got to start doing a bit of planting.  We've (well, Justin) turned the soil and pulled the clovers.  The lemon tree looks lovely (but has no lemons).  Based on the shade, I know I don't have a ton of options.  But really, I just like to play in the dirt.