They tell me in sweet fragrant meadows of dawn and dew

Check out the continuation project at www.quenchquest.wordpress.com.

The worm he licks my bones

The first bulb has emerged (but it has flowered yet) from the pumpkin-or-squash plant (I will have to double-check with my dad on what type of plant this is).

I encountered a very long worm, a tiny orange spider, and several ants, all in the same proximity. It really goes to show how much life there is in even the smallest places.

I haven't planted the other plants yet, but the some of the tomatoes are starting to grow! I'll post a picture of them once they're red. I also feel like I've made the garden too organized. You see, I visited my grandma's garden the other day, and she grows several of the same herb in the same area, not in rows like how I do. She is able to use her space more wisely. I might use the same strategy, so we'll see!

Fixing a Hole

The herbs have been doing well, except the other day I discovered that the infamous mint has escaped from the garden plots and into the pathway! I removed it, but I wasn't able to completely remove the roots and now there is a hole in the landscape fabric. I closed it off with a rock, so hopefully the mint won't grow back.

 

I've discovered that many ants live beneath the garden too. I knew before that there was a village of ants in the back right corner of Plot A, but I guess they've migrated to the front right corner! I's also almost time to weed the plots again. There are difference types of weeds depending on the season. These ones look like they came out of Jurassic Park! I think they look very pretty in the water, but they're taking away nutrients from the herbs, so I'll have to get rid of them.

Here Comes the Sun

My dad bought additional plants (including tomatoes!) from the swap meet a few weeks ago that have yet to be planted. I will plant them sometime this weekend in Plot C. I didn't realize that each individual herb would take up so much space, so I've decided not to plant flowers in Plot C anymore in order to dedicate the area to herbs. My dad brought up the idea of planting flowers in some pots and putting them around the garden, so that's definitely an option!

The other day when I finished watering the plants, I encountered some more earwigs (and a spider!) among the lemongrass. I couldn't get a decent picture of one, but today I was able to. And on another note, I noticed how "hairy" some of the plants are getting.

 I will make some sort of structure (perhaps out of bamboo sticks) so that the plants with tendrils can coil around something. The plants have been creative and have coiled their tendrils around some green onion and a plastic barrier. With no where to go, some of the tendrils have even formed a bundle.

Overall, the plants in the soil are looking good. They're much bigger than before and have been receiving plenty of water. I've also found plenty of gardening tips and ideas on Pinterest that would better the garden, and Spring has brought a lot of sunshine with her. The garden is doing well!

He got muddy water

The other day I was watering the garden, and a pool of water began to form. It reminded me of what Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut currently living in space abroad the International Space Station, had said in a video:

"We are going around the world eight kilometers a second. The sun and the earth are sort of in a fixed geometry, but we’re moving, so the angle between us and the sun and the earth is changing, and therefore the reflection of the sunlight changes, so we get a sun glint off the surface, and you can see water on the surface so nicely in the sun glint... pick out rivers and lakes and ponds. You can follow a whole river as the sun glints along it, something that you could barely see normally, and you catch the sun’s glint and it glows like a silver worm or a vein of ore, and then the angle changes and it’s as if someone turned the lights off on the river, and it wakes up."

Chris Hadfield's view of the Saint Lawrence's mouth from the ISS.

The water was just a puddle until the sun illuminated, and it mirrored the sun in its intensity.
  
Today I noticed that the water from the hose was beginning to erode the soil. The plot isn't leveled, with some soil stacked higher than other areas, so when I water the plants, it streams down and mimics a river. I also noticed the return of the mint. The roots are so frustrating. I'll be sure to trim the roots next time before I plant a plant.

Plant Wars: Return of the Mint

The earwigs weren't present today on the lemongrass, but snails were! I actually think snails are quite charming, although they are considered a garden pest.

To sum up this post, the garden has become so diverse. It has so many facets to it, and it surprises me everyday. I notice its new things constantly!

Find me in my field of grass

I've been watering the herbs, and earlier today I decided to trim the lemongrass while I was at it. All was going well until I noticed an earwig perched on the underside of a grass. It caught me by surprise, but I ignored it and continued to trim the dead sections of the plant. Then I realized there wasn't just one; there was a whole colony (maybe I'm exaggerating). But I put down my scissors and stopped gardening for the rest of the day. I researched if earwigs and lemongrass had any relationship, but nothing came up oddly.
Anyway, later this week I plan on planting some tomatoes and chili peppers! They'll add nice new colors to a blanket of green. Since tomatoes are fairly easy to grow, I'm going to use seeds from grocery store tomatoes. Hopefully no other bugs are attracted to them.

Desmond has his barrow in the market place

Today my dad and I went to the swap meet and purchased ten herbs, including mint, basil, and oregano. When I went to the backyard later in the day, I was surprised to see that new weeds had already sprouted up, even though I had recently weeded them. Like Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park would say, "Life found a way." My mom and I weeded some of the ones not in the plots to make the garden a bit more aesthetically pleasing. I had to cut off some overgrown roots from the new guys to prevent another Mint Root Invasion of '12-'13. And this time, I added tomato cages to some of the herbs so that they would grow neat and orderly in an upward direction. My next mission to plant some tomatoes and peppers in Plot B.

There beneath the blue suburban skies

I finished pulling out the mint completely and the weed that I mistook for a tomato plant. The mint roots put up a fight! Another gardening technique I learned that you may find helpful is that if the roots are very stubborn, dig around the roots with your hand or a gardening tool to expose the smaller roots. Once a majority of the roots are visible, it should be much easier to yank out. Pull from the largest/thickest root so that when you do pull out the main root/"backbone," the smaller ones also get pulled out.
I also loosened the soil from the two larger plots with the garden claw. The soil was already moist (my dad was watering other plants in the backyard) so that made things a lot easier. However, the little bits of weed drank up that moisture, and it's incredible how fast they grow! New weeds popped up overnight that weren't there yesterday.
To make things clearer, Plot A is the largest garden plot, Plot B is the second largest garden plot, and Plot C is the smallest garden plot. Plot A will probably be home to the herbs, Plot B to the vegetables, and Plot C to the flowers since they shouldn't take up too much space. But then again, it would be more aesthetically pleasing to have the flowers in Plot B so that they'd be more visible since Plot C is in the back of the garden.
 Next on my to-do list is to loosen up Plot C's soil and buy seeds or obtain some already-growing plants from other gardeners. The project has gone along nicely and in time for most of April. The hardest part is over, and now I can begin on the more enjoyable part!

Plot B

Plot A

Plot C(I moved the garden decorations to this plot so that I could loosen up the soil of the other two plots.)

There's nothing you can do that can't be done

I finished weeding the two smaller garden plots entirely (except one weed that I mistook as a tomato plant), and I basically uprooted the majority of the mint (my dad helped pull out the "mint mound") from the largest plot. I'm still contemplating whether or not I should pull out the lemongrass from the largest plot so that I can start gardening from a clean slate, but I might just leave it there and transport it elsewhere if need be in the future.

Before and After

Here are some things that I learned while weeding that you may find helpful:

1. When trying to pull out a weed that is growing in a groove, pull the weed towards a direction along the groove. For instance, if a weed was growing in a groove running left and right, either pull the weed from the left or from the right. Go with the grain!
2. When trying to pull out a weed that is rooted strongly to the soil, move it in a circular motion a few times to loosen the soil.
3. If the soil is packed very tight around a root, loosen the soil with your finger or a tool.
4. When weeding, make your best effort to pull out the roots! It will be worth it in the long run as you'll have less weeds to deal with.

I'm going to loosen the soil some more with a garden claw since the soil hasn't been disrupted in months, and then I'll be able to begin planting!

"Springtime is the land awakening.  The March winds are the morning yawn." - Lewis Grizzard

Where do they all come from?

I started weeding the first garden plot today! Its the biggest one too. It was much easier and more satisfying than weeding the bits of weed that sprouted up in the rocky walkway. The big weeds were in clumps, so when I pulled  part of it, it made it easier to pull the rest as they were all attached to one another. So far, I've pulled out half of the overgrown mint and all of the green onion I planted months ago. My next goal will be to remove the rest of the mint and begin on the other two plots.
 I encountered one spider (but it was so bad) and a TON of pill bugs! They were scattered throughout the soil as I was pulling out the mint. I wasn't as freaked out as before as I've dealt with roly polies many a times, and I started a new strategy: pull the weeds quickly and stuff them inside the trash bag before I see some bugs or insects. I feel bad for the critters because I'm tearing up their home, but hopefully they'll enjoy the new garden more!
EDIT: So I just found out that pill bugs are actually crustaceans. Who would have known? Here's a link to more fun facts about them.

Tuck and Roll from "A Bug's Life"

I saw the photograph

This isn't part of my weekly blog posts, but I wanted to share some photographs of The Beatles out in various gardens that I found on the internet. I also wanted to point out that each blog title is from a Beatles song!

If you want to enlarge a photo, just drag the image to the address bar. I'll post more photos later on!

You say you got a real solution

Who knew weeding could take so long? I've barely scratched the surface since they continually grow. But I've figured out a solution (and increased my problem-solving skills). Since the most stubborn ones only affect how the garden looks, I will just focus on the ones that are actually growing in the soil plots. Once I finish removing those weeds, I can begin planting. And while I wait for the plants to grow, I can get rid of the other weeds. It's a win-win situation! So my next goal is to clear out the soil plots, which shouldn't take too long.

Hooray!

Lend me your ears

I pitched my project in front of an audience today and was it nerve-racking! But it wasn't so bad. When I actually gave it, anyways. I had trouble using the presentation remote, but the relief I felt after I finished my pitch washed away my earlier thoughts. This sort of mirrors my situation with the garden. My challenge: face my fear of another run-in with bugs/insects/spiders. If I do run into one of those critters, will it be so bad? It would just mind its own business, right? Unless it enjoys the comfort of human contact, I'm positive it won't go near me. A few days ago, I noticed something nested on a plant in my front yard. A spider. And it was fairly big and had white markings and green fangs. It did freak me out, but when I looked up the spider, I found out that it was harmless and actually sort of friendly. So, when I resume weeding, I won't let the fear of run-ins stop me.

Why can't we be friends?

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green

What's a garden without some flowers? The garden will look much better with a palette of colors instead of different shades of green. And a salad bar should have accompanying floral decorations, right? Ergo, I've decided that I will also grow some flowers.

The garden has three plots of land, one relatively large and two smaller. I will dedicate the largest plot of land to herbs, and the two other plots will be for vegetables and flowers. I still have to put into consideration which plants need more sunlight and which need more shade, but this is just a rudimentary plan.

Here is a list of flowers that I have in mind:

• California Poppies
• Cosmos
• Marigolds
• Goblin Blanket Flowers
• Hyacinths
• Becky Shasta Daisy Flowers

"Gardening is for pansies."

I have my plan down now, but I still need to get rid of all the weeds! Because of spring, they've multiplied even faster. The sector of land I had weeded earlier now has some unwanted residents again. This will be an ongoing, but conquerable, challenge.

The sea of green

I went to Barnes and Nobles the other day and browsed through some gardening manuals. I'm definitely going to keep bookstores on my list of resources as there was an abundance of great gardening guides! The only problem was deciding on which book to browse through first. I've conjured up a list of plants I'm planning on growing:

- basil
- parsley
- oregano
- mint
- lemongrass
- lavender
- green onion
- rosemary
- sage
- thyme
- chili peppers
- fennel
- coriander/cilantro
- chives
- lettuce
- cherry tomato
- beefsteak tomato

I'm aiming to grow my own salad bar (besides the salad dressing).

Twist and Shout

So I started to weed the garden today. An hour and a half, and I didn't even finish half of the job! I assumed it would be a lot faster to do, but each weed is stubbornly rooted to the root control fabric. Thus, my current goal is to still clear out the weeds so I can start gardening. I still have a large area highly concentrated with weeds and a plot of soil overgrown with mint to take on. Many sections are also littered with leaves.

I encountered 2 spiders, 2 roly polies, 1 giant moth, and several ants. I heard buzzing sounds twice next to my ear too. I don't mind looking at creepy crawlers on the television, but I can't stand to look at them in real life. Especially moths! Well, the roly polies and ants are alright, but the others send a shiver down my spine. I didn't realize how many critters I'd find gardening. The funny thing is, A Bug's Life is my favorite Pixar movie. And hey, "Beatles" are a type of insect too!


 "Garding requires lots of water —most of it in the form of perspiration." - Lou Erickson

You say goodbye and I say hello

My 20% Project will be to make a thriving vegetable/fruit garden. My blog, Sgt. Pepper's Gardening Club, is named after The Beatles' album and song, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Why did I choose this name? First off, The Beatles are fantastic. Second, I'm planning on growing a variety of peppers. And lastly, what's a garden without some "Beatles?"

 Things that I will be posting weekly include:

• What I've accomplished thus far
• Highlights of the week
• My next goals
• And more!

So far, as you can see, I've started a blog to document my process. My next goal is to remove the weeds that have flourished for many months. They've grown in between the decorative rocks and now mirror a lawn. My dad and I first started the summer in the summer of 2011, but it hasn't been properly looked after. The mint plant has taken over almost entirely one section of soil, and the basil has disappeared completely. This time around, I would like a greater variety of plants. We tried to grow some carrots before, but that didn't work out. Hopefully with more research, the garden will become a haven for bunny rabbits!