Planting has Begun/ Grow a Row

Remember back in February when I told you that you could already be organizing for your garden? Making lists and such? Well, if you aren't a seedling-starter person, now is when that becomes relivant to you!  Yes, the magical set-out-your-plants date is the May long weekend, but there are many garden plants that can be started ahead of time in the ground even! This is something I intentionally charted out for myself, which made today WAY easier!

 

 For example, all your root veggies can already be seeded, watered and in the ground. If we get frost, they will manage fine, because the plant bulk is below the ground. Peas, and sweetpea flowers also can be seeded in the ground already because  they prefer cooler weather. Also, any lettuce, spinach, kale etc... greens you are growing can already be seeded in your garden because again, they PREFER the cooler weather to the hot august heat! :) And lastly, anything in the Brassica family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Kohlrabi etc..) can also be seeded.

In addition to this, I also seeded my herbs since they take a while to germinate, and this spring seems to be unique in it's hotness and dryness.

Sidenote: I'm gonna toss in some photos of my seedlings to update you. They are growing very well! :) But the blog post is not really related to the pictures! (Just to clear up any confusion in fluidity with photo captions vs. post writing)

tomatoes tray 1

I'll do another post on my setting-out experience, once everything is in the garden. I will say though, that this is the first year I have ever done a staggered set-out. I usually plant everything at one time, on the may long weekend (and that works just fine!). However, last year (my first year in a 50X50 foot garden) it took me a full two days of working all day (with help) to get things planned,  plotted and planted and watered... so... Staggering my planting dates seems more optimal to me! Today was a full 8 hour day if you include my mapping and measuring of rows in the mix! And I planted just over 1/4 of my things to plant (and all of it, seeds. Not even plants, which take longer). So i'm already glad i'm staggering!

tomatoes tray 2

ANYWAYS! :)  Today I wanted to discuss something unique. As many of you may recall, Josiah and I made Christmas ornaments last summer, and sold them at a couple of craft shows in the fall to raise money to buy food for Winnipeg Harvest (our local non-profit food bank supplier for food donations). It was a wonderful time, and we raised a good amount of money, which God multiplied (through insane sales) when we bought the food. I'd say he tripled the value of our money in what we were able to donate to harvest! It was a really neat experience!

tomatoes tray 3

tomatoes tray 4

However, Winnipeg Harvest is having food shortages THIS time of year, not at Christmas... Sadly this seems to have become a normal thing this time of year. People stop being generous and start focusing on themselves. What they will do for the summer, anticipation of warmer weather and vacations etc... And forget that the homeless are still homeless. And the low income are still in need.

 I learn more and more about Winnipeg Harvest, the longer my parents volunteer there. And what i'd like to share with you, is that they have a program that is very relevant to gardeners,  called "Grow a row" (Click the link for their website's information on the program). Grow a row, is exactly what it sounds like. You can dedicate a row of your garden to growing food for Winnipeg Harvest.  Winnipeg Harvest accepts FRESH FOOD donations too if you bring it directly to the warehouse. They supply many kitchens and homeless shelters with regular donations, and fresh items are a wonderful asset to their program, and it allows them to save non-perishables for when they are needed! Growing a row in your garden for Winnipeg Harvest can make a change in someone's life!

Cucumbers 1

Cucumbers 2

Cucumbers 3

So this year I decided to give it a go. My mom brought home some excess Wpg Harvest seeds last year from their greenhouse program. Some of the seed companies nearby donate large quantities of garden seeds to Harvest (which is awesome). They use these in their greenhouse, and they also give them away for people to grow-a-row, or to community gardens etc... One thing that was mentioned to my mom last year, was that peas in particular were in short supply when it comes to produce. They usually get lots of root veggies from Peak of the Market, and other seasonal veggies come in their time, but pea pods, even in season, are so expensive that they rarely make it to winnipeg Harvest. So I took 5 packages of pea seeds to grow a row!

Peppers (overdue for transplant which is why they are still small)

Now... In my mind, 5 packages of seeds was more like half a row or less. I usually buy dollar tree seeds, and for the last two years i've harvested my OWN pea seeds. So when I opened the bags, they were actually suprisingly full of seeds! Now I had a conundrum... in my garden planning, the Harvest Peas were sharing a row with my BELOVED Kohlrabi!! (My favorite veggie at present). The thought of not growing Kohlrabi was too much to bare... and now that it was all written down, to move my kohlrabi, would mean less of something else that was already planned to plant! So what do I do? Do I simply plant less seeds, and return the remaining seeds to harvest (Basically rendering them useless,  but clearing my own concience)...


I can tell you I had a full hour to wrestle this out, since thats about how long it takes to plant an entire row of peas (I know... spoiler alert lol).

Calendula flowers, and a few more cucumbers

Then I began to think about things... life...lots... (gardening brings out my "nature" worship of God in many ways). The program is called grow a ROW. Not grow half a row...

Left: Snapdragons Right back:Nasturtium Right front: blue delphiniums

Not only that... But last year I did 9 rows in my garden, and this year, with proper measuring of the tiller and rows, I got in 11 rows instead of 9!  So I've gained 2 rows from last year. I've also saved money by starting all my seedlings. So I wont be buying bedding plants at all. I'm done with greenhouses for the year!

Lupine's second planting. Doing well!

Lupines first planting (blue) and a mishmash of stuff. Hollyhock, snapdragons, forget me knot

But it goes deeper than that! Because when I was planting my potatoes (which, funny enough were some of my harvested potatoes from last year that have been growing shoots for months aready lol)... When I was digging in the soil and planting them, I was praying a prayer of thanks... Thanks that I have the home I have, that God drew me to the husband I have, That I live in a free country, and in that particular moment, a prayer of thanks for such fertile beautiful soil to garden in. Not acidic, not clay, not salty or alkaline... just beautiful rich soil.

Marigolds and hollyhocks

So as I was slowly plopping seed-after-seed into my rows of peas, watching that half-way-mark draw ever closer, God reminded me of something else... That one row of my garden, is NOT EVEN ten percent of what I am growing...

The boy's easter gardens

ten percent... see that's a significant number in my Spirutal journey. Because 10% is all God asks us to give him of the 100% He gives to us. And this never made sense to me until I had kids, and I would give my son a special treat, and ask for 1 bite... Why do I ask for 1 bite? cant I get my own? Honestly, I DONT even know the whole answer... but part of it is to grow a spirit of generosity in my child. And to remind him that I GAVE HIM that treat. It's also a beautiful thing when my son says "Sure mommy!" And you know what? when he says "no", i'm not hurt, I laugh it off. And I think God is the same way. He gives us 100% and asks for 10. When we give it, his heart is over-the-moon with love for us... he just wants to take a giant bucket of love and dump it on our heads! :) And when we say "No God", I honestly Don't think he's judging us for it. I think he shrugs it off like I do, and says (as I do) "oh well, next time!".

nasturtiums and the earliest peppers planting I did.

So back to my situation... MY GARDEN GOD!! C'MON!!! I WORK IT, WEED IT, WATER IT, TEND IT HARVEST IT!! IT'S NOT A SOURCE OF INCOME, IT'S NOT MY CAREER, WHY 10% !?! And the quiet voice says "because its what you have to give"... You see God doesn't ask us to tithe 10 percent of our money... he wants us to give that 10% back in EVERY-SINGLE-AREA-OF-OUR-LIVES!

forget me knots and hyssop from several days ago. (forgot to take a recent photo)

God has been teaching me grace in generosity lately. Specifically, to STOP SEEING the "deserving" and "undeserving poor". To simply give to those in need. "ask and it shall be given to you"...And as I was popping in pea seed after pea seed, it dawned on me... I had made a judgement call about gardening... and that is this...

Poor people can garden too. Whether in their yards, or in a community garden or at a centre somewhere, they too can grow fresh produce in the summer, so why should I grow theirs?

various flowers and tomatoes that were dammaged in the greenhouse flip. all doing well.

yikes right!? SO MANY HOLES IN THAT LINE OF THINKING!! For one thing, I was raised with a mom who TAUGHT me how to garden. They weren't necessarily. For another thing, I have the knowledge and access to knowledge that they may not, in order to succeed. For another thing, I have the TIME that they don't. Whether they need to panhandle, or its a single parent, or simply a homeless person trying to get by... I am clearly at an advantage, and gardening is so so so so SO SO SO incredibly LOW on their priority list!! SHAME ON ME! Shame on my pride there...

my entire set up. Hasn't needed the cover for several days.

And there it was... a beautiful heart-changing moment... I can give God a row of my garden. A row of peas that aren't for me. I can do that... And I'll probably end up giving him another 10% or more of other garden harvest as the plenty rolls in. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, beans... I always have more than I need of all of them... I will share, and I will give...

So on that "light" note, I challenge you... will you give God 10% of your garden this year? why not grow-a-row too? After all, you're in such a position to consider it... :)