I’ve been a little hesitant to post about this because, well, what if everything goes wrong… but so far (fingers crossed) we’ve gotten seedlings started and transplanted, and some crops are taking off!
Which means… we have a garden!
When Ryan and I first moved into our little duplex last fall, we got incredibly excited about a few things, like our side yard.
Square-footage wise, it’s not big at all — but it’s the first time either of us have really had a yard in our adult lives.
We immediately started scheming about ways we could use the space.
Ryan wanted a little deck with a hot tub perched on top, and I wanted a garden.
Back in 2013, when I lived in Mount Pleasant, I had a little plot in a community garden. I was really enthusiastic about it at first, but then a combination of things — like work and grad school — kind of took over, and short of one tomato and three giant zucchinis, my garden didn’t really fare well at all.
Then, after that, I moved to a tiny train-adjacent Chicago apartment, then joined the Peace Corps, then faced unemployment… nothing at all conducive to maintaining a garden.
But, when Ryan and I moved into this space, I knew I wanted to try improving my gardening skills since you know how much I love local produce and sustainability.
I figured I’d start small, since if we’re being honest, I have no idea what I’m doing. Flagstaff’s mountainous climate (6a) makes for a bit of a challenge. Freezing cold snaps persist well into June, early-season drought means plants need constant watering or they can wilt and die, scorching daytime temps can lead to bolting and burning, and heavy monsoons can lead to damaged tendrils and leaves, as well as waterlogged soil.
Additionally, even though we’re lucky to live in the sunniest state in the U.S., our side yard is very small and shaded, thanks to our house on one side and the 12-foot tall fence separating us from our neighbors on the other. So I was worried about conditions being a little too shady for any growth.
Finally… Ryan and I both work in forestry, which means summer is better known as fire season… and it is a big deal in this household. Both of us have been known to drop absolutely everything to go tend to wildfires between April and September, which means that neglect is a real possibility.
Yikes.
But, still. Worth a try? We decided so.
I started with a whooooolllleeee lot of research. I used a combination of resources, like local gardening blogs, Farmers’ Almanac and the expertise of some of my local friends who garden, to figure out what I’m doing.
First, I figured out what crops were feasible in Flagstaff’s climate and decided what I wanted to try growing. After consulting with Ryan, I decided to attempt (key word: attempt) pole beans, sugar snap peas, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, carrots, kale, onions, beets and spinach.
Then, after researching both square-foot gardening and companion planting, I designed my entire garden layout, way back in January, before even planting anything. After that, I figured out which seeds to sow indoors and when, and which seeds to direct sow and when.
I figured that using the square foot gardening method and planting a little bit of a lot would help me figure out what works and what doesn’t, and then I could fine-tune that next year.
I’ve also been doing this in phases! I really didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on building supplies (for the raised bed and trellis), seeds, soil and compost, hosing and irrigation systems, netting, indoor seed sprouting supplies, etc. if I couldn’t get a single thing to grow!
So, I started with seedling soil, old egg cartons and an (affiliate link) indoor light + humidity dome seed starting system. I didn’t get a heating pad because we decided to put our seed starting system in our office/ guest room, which always runs 10-15 degrees hotter than the rest of our apartment.
Once things started sprouting, Ryan designed and built me a six-foot by two-foot raised garden bed!
(Yes, the treated wood is food-safe and arsenic-free with little-to-no risk of copper leeching, we checked.)
We lined the bottom with chickenwire, then covered that in leaves and twigs and then covered that with a mix of top soil, potting soil and compost so everything was ready for eventual transplanting and sowing.
Once the weather told me it was alright, I started hardening off my seedlings by exposing them to the elements. Then, after that, I started the process of transplanting my seedlings and direct sowing seeds, plant by plant, according to their temperature preferences.
And… things started growing!
My beets, peas, lettuce, spinach and carrots took off. I was so shocked! I was really worried that my plants wouldn’t take due to fluctuating temps, a lack of sun and general bad luck.
Once I felt comfortable with the way things were looking, Ryan came back from his latest fire assignment and built a trellis for my garden, and covered the whole thing in bird netting.
The back row of my garden is composed of pole beans, peas, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers, so we’re looking to maximize our vertical space (AKA: the giant fence between us and our neighbors) since we don’t have too much horizontal space.
At this point, everything is planted and growing minus the pepper seedlings… which will likely get transplanted next weekend.
And, our next step is an automatic irrigation system as well as some kind of rainwater collection system.
We’ve had a few problems so far, like Yukon helping himself to the onion seedlings while I was napping, and like birds decimating our peas and lettuce before we could get the protective netting up.
But, so far, I’m learning a lot! I’m excited to learn more and to see what kind of veggies our little garden gives us this year.
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