This is it, folks - the official kickoff of The Growing Challenge! Hang onto your hats, hopefully we will have a lot of fun.
Southern Hemisphere.
Belinda’s Place
Since it’s the middle of January and some of you are freezing in the dead of winter, first off, head over to Belinda’s Place, where it’s warm and sunny and summer is in full gear. Or... it was sunny until yesterday, when it poured rain. But still, it’s beautiful and full of vegetable life. Belinda is trying out eight new crops this season, including nectarines, rock melons, and rocket. Plus she is determined to retry some crops that failed to thrive last year: cucumbers, capsicum, lettuce, eggplant, and pumpkin, along with several previously successful crops.
Interestingly, Belinda is using the traditional Moon Planting Guide to manage her planting. I’ll be interested to see what she thinks of it at the end, as I’m nowhere near organized enough to do it at this point! She has had a busy week of repotting and planting out seedlings that were sown last week. And she has begun her summer harvest.
If you haven’t already, do check out her garden. Oh, and I’m only kidding about the rain - considering Australia’s drought at the moment, rain is a good thing.
Staying with the Southern Hemisphere for a bit, Ali at Our Patch is also in full swing. She has beautiful photos of her garden. This one to the right is a fabulous photo of the first plant she successfully germinated from seed! Ali, what type of pumpkin is that? It’s lovely.
Ali is challenging herself to grow at least two more vegetables from seed. Snow peas is one, and we’ll have to wait to find out about the other...
Oh yes, an important part of Ali’s week was to dig into her worms to separate the worm castings... and there is a lovely picture! Yum.
At The Good Life
Leanne At the Good Life in New Zealand just started growing from seeds in 2007. I believe there are several of us new growers! Like me, Leanne is hooked on gardening, and planted several new seeds for her winter garden this week: cauliflower, red cabbages, beets, and marigolds. And soon she’ll plant lettuce, broccoli, brussels sprouts and more cabbage. This week she also cooked her very first home grown beans. It looks like several of her meals this week included fresh, homegrown veggies!
Tracy at Sunny Corner Farm will be planting two new types of pumpkins, and starting pecan trees from seed. I am fairly new to germinating trees, so I hope she shares how she plants them! This year Tracy has been experimenting with companion planting, and she has given each of her children their own section of the garden to plant. Love that!
I also checked a few back entries, and I am in love with her lamb ewes. Matt and I can’t wait until we can have ducks, chickens, goats, lambs....
Lisa at The Tin House has a beautiful garden full of tomatoes, lettuce, beets, basil, vibrant flowers... It really looks like summer. Sigh. She has amazingly large onions, and look at her lovely harvests to the right!
Moving right along in the challenge, she has already planted dwarf borlotti beans this week. I’ve never heard of that variety - sounds like they’re a soup bean? She’s also going to plant wombok chinese cabbage... and she’s hoping to keep it away from the dreaded moths.
Go check out today’s harvest - beautiful produce, Lisa!
Segueway.
As I switch to the Northern Hemisphere, I want to introduce another Challenge in our midst. The Growing Challenge here and the Victory Garden Drive at FoodShed Planet were launched in the same week! Though Patti’s is more widespread in breadth, these projects have similar goals: to increase our food security by growing our own food and inspiring others to do the same, one seed at a time. Check out her challenge - it’s a good one!
Up here in the Northern Hemisphere, things are a bit more chilly yet, so I’ll go through this a tad more quickly. Soon enough, the American south will begin to have activity, followed by the middle of the states, then the north will jump in, and finally our friends in Canada will warm up enough to germinate too. Should make for an interesting watch!
LimeSarah
Sarah at LimeSarah says this year she’s going to do the garden right. And she is off in fine form, having already received all of her seeds - I’m impressed!! She’s much farther along than I am (I’m just ordering them this week). She’s planting cold weather crops first: root vegetables, greens, and Good King Henry, which I have heard of but have yet to encounter. And Sarah, I am hiding my face when I ask this, but what are fiddleheads?
Tameson’s Musings
Tameson at Tameson’s Musings has also bought her seeds already - wow, you all. Her new vegetable will be blue lakota pumpkins - sounds like a tasty heirloom. I’m looking forward to seeing her two year old help with the garden. Will he have his own tools, too?
Laura from Urban Hennery created the Dark Days Eat Local Challenge, and was one of my inspirations for this challenge. I’m glad she has come on board! Several of us are participating in both challenges simultaneously. If you need some inspiration for eating locally, check it out!
I’m particularly impressed that Laura is even thinking about a garden considering the ups and downs she’s had of late. She’s trying to find home, but it’s not easy. Hopefully she’ll find her home and garden soon! Last year Laura didn’t grow anything from seed, this year she’s thinking about 50 herbs and vegetables in a brand new garden... A whole new world unfolds....
Michelle
Michelle lives in an urban apartment as she finishes grad school, but isn’t letting that stop her from growing her own food. She is planning her first windowsill garden. This weekend she visited her aunt in the country and looked through seed catalogs. So dangerous! The colors, the mouthwatering pictures... But for now she is being very diligent about picking what will survive in her window. I think it’s awesome that she’s starting this. I’ll bet her son will love it, too! (Michelle is emailing me her updates.)
Green Bean at Green Bean Dreams is “planning to do a whole mess of this stuff” this year. Excellent. She has placed her seed orders, and is planning spring’s garden as she nibbles on her winter harvests. That’s a picture of a bit of her yumminess to the right. Green Bean is planting some baby rice popcorn for the kids, plus pole beans, pumpkins, and gourds.
And she is doing the dual challenge, pairing The Growing Challenge with Path to Freedom’s 100 Food Diet Challenge. Plus, like a few others here, she’s also a fellow traveler on the 90% Reduction path.
The Daily Grind
Ellen at The Daily Grind has decided that her children are old enough to avoid the sunny window seat in the front room.... So it’s time to fill it with tomatoes and spinach! She’s planning to do some crop rotation within her window garden, and is checking her CSA to find local seeds.
This is the second year The Happy Housewife at Lucky G will plant her own garden. She’s dealing with terrible soil, which I can certainly identify with! Everything HH is growing this year is either saved from the seeds of last year’s plants, or bought on sale for 6 cents/pack. Impressive that she saved seed in her first year!
This year she’s planting garlic, tomatoes, peppers and field corn from seed for the first time. And she’s just reported that her tomato seeds have sprouted! Wow. She’s promised a picture of the little seedlings today.
Sweet Southern Knits
Sweets at Sweet Southern Knits is looking to plant tomatoes this year, walking in her father’s footsteps toward becoming a great gardener. Sounds like she may plant a whole salsa garden, too!
Shackadoo
Shackmedia at Shackyard is a bit scared of growing things from seed... but I have confidence! Maybe try some beans, squash, or radishes as your first go. Those are all quite easy to germinate.
Life in the Lost World
Jaydee at Life in the Lost World is excited to have this challenge to go hand in hand with Path to Freedom’s Challenge. I can’t wait to hear what she’s planning for her super local meals!
Meg at Future House Farm has placed her first seed order of the year: capucijner peas and cherry tomatoes. Fully recognizing, of course, that maybe first seeds ordered should be stuff that goes in the ground first. But those catalogs, and that lure... of summer... especially living in that cooooold Pennsylvania winter (right).
Kelly mentioned a recent discovery they’d made after reading Hedgewizard’s Diary and Michael Pollan’s books: “Everything that we do in our gardens comes to fruition in the kitchen.” It’s certainly something I’ve come to realize over the last few months as well. I plan to write more about that tomorrow, as I think it’s very important to plan your garden around your menus, and your menus around your garden. It makes them both more pleasurable, more efficient, and more sustainable.
Lastly, do check out Meg and Kelly’s recent posts about their new rain harvesters. Loads of great information. This is on Matt and my to-do list.
Urban Botany
Rejin at Urban Botany has been gardening at the Bed-Sty apartment since 2001, but is battling seriously contaminated soil. So far they have grown herbs and veggies in containers only, for fear of how bad that soil is. Using this Challenge as an incentive, Rejin is planning to thoroughly test the soil. Rejin, I’ll do some research and see if I can find out more info for you. I’m hoping for the best, for good test results in your favor!
Eat Close to Home
Emily at Eat Close to Home is planning to grow quinoa and her own frost-resistant strain of contender beans. One of her plants survived the freeze last year, and she’s hoping it will pass it on to the next generation. I’m definitely impressed. She is also participating in Patti’s Victory Garden Drive.
Sunshine Alternative Mama
Kimberly at Sunshine Alternative Mama still has a tomato plant bearing fruit! Ah, those Southern Californians. Another 2nd year gardener, she is gardening with the square food method. She has created a great list of things they learned last year. I keep meaning to compile a similar one of my own - I highly recommend taking notes sooner rather than later, because you won’t remember for very long.
Kimberly, one thing I might suggest is putting a shade cloth over your lettuce when it starts to warm up. Our greens lasted from May to the present. So that’s from 110+ degree weather to the mid-20s. I just used a 40% shade cloth tunnel.
FoodShed Planet
Pattie, from FoodShed Planet is amazing, and I can’t believe we haven’t found one another’s blogs before! A woman after my own heart, as they say. She has an awesome drive, she’s planning to get 2 million new people to start growing organic gardens this year. What a wonderful idea, to put forth companion planters: gardeners who nurture new gardeners with advice, training, physical help, and information.
I can’t wait to hear what she’s growing this year!
Wicked Flavory
Like Rejin, Kerry from Wicked Flavory is going to have to do some soil testing before she starts planting. Definitely a good idea with a history of industrial businesses doing who knows what in the soil. As I told Rejin, I’ll look into anything that might help you two in that endeavor. In the meantime, you could... grow your own sprouts? If you haven’t done it, it’s simple as pie - well, simpler than pie. Just a thought.
Warning: the food on the Wicked Flavory blog may make you hungry.
Simply Local Idaho
Idaho Locavore, from Simply Local Idaho is planning to grow parsnips and rutabagas, concentrating on what will store well in the Idaho winters. I can’t wait to see what yummy things are concocted with parsnips and rutabagas... those recipes always look so divine!
To the right are cute little salad sprouts, sprouted in Idaho.
Children in the Corn
Fabulous! Farm Mom, from Children in the Corn has decided to join us afterall - I’m so excited to see you here. And yes, we’ll forgive you if the posts are a bit light as your garden is covered in snow. Farm Mom is ordering seeds next month, and will be planting in March. But with the Victory Challenge and it’s Take 5, I’m sure we can make it lively.
I planned to give you my recap here, but boy is this post long already! I’ll post a recap of my progress this afternoon. Basically, I planned this week. Way more planning than I’ve ever done, and I’m proud of it! So rest, leave a comment, go browse some of these amazing blogs, and then come back and read my recap mid-afternoon.
If I’ve missed anyone, I apologize. Please add your name and what you’re up in to the comments section here, and I’ll make sure you’re on top of recap next time!
It's not too late to join us.
You can join us at any time, though the sooner the better of course. Just send me an email or leave me a comment when you decide. I'll continue to update the list as more people join the challenge.
Grow your food!
http://web.mac.com/elementsintime/creatinglandscape/Grow_Challenge.html
