My First Post...

My first post in this my gardening journal, date January 14, 2015. 

I need to step back in time a bit as this is my first gardening journal I need to bring this up to date.  My garden was started back in 2011, in zone 5A.  We hired a man to come and rototill a space approximately 20'X30' in an area that receives sun mid morning through late afternoon.  An open space but with trees all around.  My first year of planting, my focus was tomatoes, which will always be my main crop.  Other vegetables will certainly be grown but I do love tomatoes, many types mostly heirloom varieties.  I start my seedlings inside around mid to late March.  Tend them very carefully and hope and pray for the best.  Come planting time I have a host of seedlings, not nearly as vibrant as I would like but still plant able.  Usually I start seeding my garden the last week of May and set my tomato plants in the first weekend of June. I must add, in 2009 we purchased a 20X8' Shelter Logic greenhouse.  That year we planted a nice little variety of vegetables and they did amazing!  The following year I started seeding, in the green house,  around April, I planted greens, onions, garlic, and carrots.  The cover comes off of the greenhouse about the end of June.

 First year greenhouse garden.

My first year real garden.

My grand father was the real gardener in the family.  He came from Italy, married and raised a family of 9 children.  Gardening was a necessity.  He was a paid gardener for the local wealthy families and was very well known for his gardening skills.  
 

Growing up I watched my mom dirty her hands in the garden growing such things as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lettuces.  Gardening didn't really become a big thing for me until the kids grew up and left the nest.  This is a learning experience for me.  I would love to have just a percentage of knowledge my grandfather had but I like to think I'm following in his very experienced footsteps.

In future posts my goal is to post my progress, my wins and losses so as to learn from mistakes and perhaps devise new ways to make my gardening efforts easier and more bountiful.

 Next post I'll touch on a new method I've been researching and explain the process.