Please excuse the previous paragraph. The move has made me a bit...cracked. I guess I'm reverting to college.
While gaming helps with the "Not Thinking" part of the Doing Not Thinking challenge, it doesn't do much for the "Doing" part. :(
Here's a recap of my goals, and this week's progress:
1. Preparing to Move, Moving, and Setting Up Home in our new house in a controlled and organized manner. Doing everything in my power to make our new house truly feel like "home". I've gotten some more things done for the move, like organizing those nooks and crannies that always seem to gather random things, setting up the utilities, and scheduling a time for carpet cleaning.
2. Take to plunge into gardening, but at my own comfortable pace. I stopped at the Master Gardener booth at the farmer's market this morning, and asked the lady what kinds of edible plants grow well in the shade, since we have an abundance of shade in our new yard. She basically said she didn't know, why don't I call this here number? And I was like, I thought you were a MASTER! Anyway, she did have some basic info guides for beginner gardeners to give me, so I took those. I also cracked my Gardening for Dummies book open, but it seems to be directed more for growing flowers.
3. Being conscientious about my Internet Time, ensuring that Internet Time is productive and not just time-wasting, and scheduling Internet Time so that it does not conflict with interacting with my family. Haha. That's all I've got to say about that.
There are dozens of "non-traditional" food crop plants that can be grown in the shade. Just check out any edible wild plant book and then go for a walk in your nearby woods.
ReplyDeleteBut, when I started looking for things to plant in the shady parts of my yard, I wasn't as interested in planting trout lily as I was in planting something that was familiar to me and my family. I found a couple of herbs that do well in the shade. Lemon balm did okay in my part-shade garden area. Horseradish seems to love its part-shade home. Cilantro, supposedly, likes part-shade. Blueberries and cranberries can handle part shade, but they also like acidic soil. Most vegetables do best in full sun, but depending on your gardening zone, you could get away with planting some "cool weather" vegetables, like broccoli, lettuces, and spinach, in a part-shade area.
Of course, the best option for a shady area is planting perennials to create a "forest garden." Check out this video on forest gardening in England: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=659155658226666080. It's 48 minutes long, but it might give you some ideas about what's possible in a shady area.
Unfortunately, most common edibles require at least 6 hours of sun a day. Depending on your shade, maybe a wildlife habitat would work - something to feed birds, water to keep frogs, etc. Hmm, what about mushrooms? lol
ReplyDeleteAs for the "Master" Gardener's, it's a title that says you've gone through (a couple hundred) hours of classes and are committed to continuing to learn and volunteer in the community. If they have a hotline, call and ask who gardens organically and what days they answer the phones, then make real good friends with them. ;)
I think there is specifically a Vegetable Gardening for Dummies book. I haven't read it myself but it should cover the basics well. Otherwise, you could do what I do and gleen all you can from many resources. The 'net tends to be my first choice.
I'll try to post my DNT update today or tomorrow.
~Tara
Thanks y'all! That's great info. :D
ReplyDeleteI think moving is all consuming and that its hard to focus on anything else until you're settled. Getting those nooks & crannies cleaned out is awesome - I always hate that part the most.
ReplyDelete