How to Love Your Garden Now - Not Someday

It's easy to look at anything in your life that you've been wanting and say "I'll do that when the circumstances are better..." but the truth is, we don't need to be waiting on perfection to fill our gardens and our lives with joy!  Let's use what we have right now to start making moves toward the garden of our dreams!

We all have a picture in our head of what we think our space could look like "if only we had more money," or "if only we had more time."  Guess what?  We can take the things readily available to us and begin making those wishes realities now!  

It can be hard to see just how this can be accomplished, so this week we are going over how we're following this practice in our own spaces this year.  

Our budgets are small and our dreams are huge...and we're off to create beautiful things by just starting with what we have.  There's a life lesson there, we just know it.  :)

Hopefully this week's episode finds you well and inspires you to just get out there and start creating, whether it be a little garden DIY you've been wanting to try, or totally moving things around.  You got this!

https://www.instagram.com/thegalswhogrow/

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Hi, I'm Monica with Lulu the A-Field. And I'm Cassie with Coppertop Gardens. And I'm Bailey with How Home and Garden. We've been cultivating our gardens and farms for years now, but something really special was sowed when we met and began working together.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Our shared passion for growing the best local flowers and food has made us realize the impact it's had in not only our own homes, but also in our local community.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

We are the gals who grow, and we can't wait to inspire you to grow too.

SPEAKER_04 0:28

Hello, welcome back to the Gals Who Grow. And this week we are talking about what our focuses are, what our goals are for the year, and how we're gonna achieve them.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Yeah. Yeah. I was just uh this week Joey and I were working on um spring cleaning in our house, and with that we've also been thinking about new things we want to do outside. Um my bedroom is cleaner than it's been in years, and I I love that feeling. Like when you wake up and you put your feet on a clean floor and like like a clean, clean, clean floor, like a wood, a wood, squeaky clean floor, and there's not a single article of clothing on the floor, and there's not a single dust bunny under the bed, like there's it just hits different.

SPEAKER_04 1:17

If only it could always stay that way. Like you do it once and it's forever clean.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

I always I always see these people's houses on social media. I'm like, I don't know how you do that. It's a full-time job. Yeah. I'm like, man, it feels great when you have time to do it. Yeah, kids. No, it's the kids, man. The kill me. Yeah, it's the kids. I love them.

SPEAKER_04 1:39

No, honestly, it's myself. I was gonna say someone with no bits or kids.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Someone with no pets or kids. My house is uh not as clean as it should be.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

It still happens, it still happens. It's just it's just life. It's life, and it's literally pretty much good job, Bailey.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

We do feel pretty good about it. I'm not gonna lie. I do have a mountain of laundry that I have to do as a result. But gosh, I will it's a balance. I will do it because I'm like, okay, our closets are we literally went through our clothes and like got rid of stuff. Oh, that's a good one.

SPEAKER_04 2:15

Is that what these bags are over here?

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:17

You have anything good in there?

SPEAKER_02 2:19

No. I mean, you can look. You can look, but uh, I'm not wearing it. So uh yeah, we are we are getting ready to donate and um just also thinking about things outside that we want to change and do new and like I don't know, do you guys have tasks that you've like put off for years because you're like, oh, I want we we can't do that until we can go buy oh geez, yes, right. So like perfectly yeah, I literally for years have been like, okay, well, once I can buy uh these four by four lumber to make beds again, which is expensive, like lumber's expensive, and I don't know if you guys have seen, but like prices are only going up. Yeah. So I was like, okay, I can't keep waiting until we want to spend the money on on these things. And on top of that, I want our garden to work now for us. So this is space that has already been used as grow beds, but it's just gets a little weedier and like has like, I don't know, it's just not it's not utilized very well right now because it's sitting there and I keep telling myself, well, when I can get this, I will make it better. And I just decided last night, like, you know what, we're not waiting for those. We're gonna, we're gonna actually turn it into a garden. So I have a little area where we've had four beds that were going to be turned into four raised beds, and now I'm just saying, let's take all the pathways that were in it. We'll make some smaller pathways through it, but actually make like a cutting garden that's gonna be both perennial and annual space. And it's gonna, it's it's had you know some treatment like with compost and stuff for years now. So like the soil's pretty good, and I do need to deal with the weeds, so we probably will till this one time and top up with compost, but then I'm gonna plan to plant out and like treat it like a real garden bed and make it an actual space. We also have found like in ground? In ground, okay, yeah, but just probably a little bit mounded, more so because that garden is mounded because it's been years of like cardboard and mulch on top and stuff. And I we just found like we made this little Astilbe bed last year with the Costco plants that we bought. And like we love it's just one little, we made one little pathway through it, and we we walk through it regularly just to look and like see things. And I think about that all the time that if if I just did that, we would we would walk through it nightly because we like to walk around our garden. Yeah. So that's gonna be something new this year. We're gonna just I'm gonna just go out there and rototill and expand my garden. And we talked about putting like two chairs out there and oh, that'd be nice. Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_04 5:04

Yeah, trying to focus on the spaces in rooms this sh uh or like create rooms within your garden. I've kind of like been pondering on that, so I don't know if that's totally gonna be a focus. It's already naturally happening for us because we're building our raised bed like spaces and you spend so much time out there. Yeah, but I really do. I did say this to Brandon Um, like we need to create, recreate our pond garden because we have we put up a fence, yeah. And so it's put up a barrier for us to going out there. We really don't go out by the pond anymore. And I'm like, we have two chairs out there that uh just need a little bit of love.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_04 5:46

Like Monty Don said on this week's episode fix up your garden furniture. And just create spaces where we can sit and enjoy our garden because that is not anything we ever do.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

And it's like And we enjoy our garden, we should. Joey and I love looking around our garden and we just don't have as many places to walk through. Like we can walk through the raised beds and we can walk through our little shade garden, but we only have like its paths and s and rectangles right now. And I was like, I want to be like in a pathway with plants around me.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

And so like a more organic feel to the space. Meandering.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

So that's that is one of my goals for this year is that we're gonna utilize the space we have and be smarter with it. Since we're downsizing the front garden, getting rid of it. I wonder.

SPEAKER_04 6:36

Can we put grass seed out there?

SPEAKER_02 6:38

Yeah, and then we're gonna plant trees. Like we have as far as we can back to our maybe I don't know if it'll be fruit trees as much as like we just want to do like natives, like like I think we'll probably do a couple oaks. I mean, I'd love pawpaws. I would. We have one pawpaw back that we have.

SPEAKER_04 6:56

Did you know that there's a national pawpaw day?

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Oh I've actually never had a pawpaw. Have you eaten a pawpaw?

SPEAKER_04 7:02

Yeah, my sister used to forage for them and she would make like pawpaw ice cream and is it good? Yeah, it's like a banana. It's wild, it is so wild to me that it grows here in Indiana naturally, and we don't like it's not our like hardly anyone knows about them.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

No, yeah. My parents have them in their woods in the house that they're leaving now, and I we never ever ever. You never porch for them? No.

SPEAKER_04 7:26

Oh wow, yeah, they're they're pretty good. And um it's just like I don't know. When the pawpaws are dropping the fruit, it's just I don't know. It's a good time to walk through the forest. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

That's so fun.

SPEAKER_04 7:40

Well, yeah, it's September 24th this year, National Paw Paw Day. Which is it's always the third, it's always the third Thursday of September. And uh that happens to be my birthday this year, so maybe we should do that we'll have to do a little national paw party. Monica's pawpaw day party. September 24th, Monica calendars.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Oh my gosh, it's so fun.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

I I I would do pawpaws. I I just think we're gonna do a mixture of trees out there, and that's probably not this year, to be honest. Like, we're gonna work on that's part of the reason we're fixing up the back garden is so that I can transplant the perennials that I have out there out back to somewhere where they can live. And then we will we will get rid of the front garden.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

But yeah, I have been like, I just have been putting things off because I was like, no, wait, we'll wait until we can get that. And then I'm just like, I have a thousand things that have to wait until something else gets done, and it's just not gonna work out that way. And gardening isn't meant to be perfect and it's not such a jigsaw puzzle. Yeah, you just gotta, you just have to do what you can do, and so that's what if we want to do raised beds later, we can do raised beds later.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

I was gonna say it's kind of a long game unless you've got like thousands of dollars to drop, which nobody does.

SPEAKER_04 8:53

I feel like my focus should be playing the lottery this year, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Like I mean, everyone everyone wants a perfectly manicured like raised bed garden, but it dude, how do you get them on Instagram? Yeah, I mean, your wooden beds are only gonna last you four freaking years.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

Yeah, unless you get the four by fours, which ours lasts a little bit longer.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Which are pretty dang pricey.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

They are very pricey.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

I think we dropped our life savings when we bought enough for four of them. Yes, but then you okay, so then you go metal raised beds. Well, those are all price, and then you gotta fill them. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

And that's what don't look at just the price of the bed and go, that's not that bad. Because the filling.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 9:38

I'm starting to regret my decisions.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

I mean, it's gonna no, I I'm still a lover of the raised bed and I always will be. But I'm very similar to you guys. Like, I'm going a different approach this year, as far as like I know I've already said I'm moving all of our garden space to the backyard. Um, I've been able to salvage two of the raised beds barely. Like, I maybe will get another year out of those strawberry beds I just put back there. That's fine. Yeah, I didn't have to buy anything. I literally just lifted up the bed and I moved the dirt and dumped it in and started going. So, like that was a good move for me. I was actually really proud of myself. I was like, look at me. I just did two raised beds and I didn't spin anything. Yeah, so that was great. Except for the dirt. No, the dirt was already in the beds. You put the same dirt? Yeah. My gosh, your dirt looked nice. I added some compost. Okay, that's what I was like, I was like, it did not look like year old dirt. But the dirt did is very nice because that was my cold hardy beds, and when my cold hardys are done, I just chop them off and lay them down. So I basically like mulch the bed with the cutting. That's really smart. So it turns out that it's very a good idea because there's actually landscape fabric under those beds, so it doesn't have ground contact, but those beds were full of worms.

SPEAKER_04 10:58

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

So tip if you are gonna do that. Interesting. Um, I've been working on the dirt in those beds for like three years now. So it's not new dirt, but I did recycle it and it's gonna be great. Um so then the other goal for this year is I have a lot of vegetable plans like tomatoes, peppers, a bunch of green beans, a bunch of potatoes, a bunch of onions, whatever else I can fit back there. But I'm putting it in a space that's all grass right now and where our old shed was, and it's got like old groundhog damage, so I have to work around that. I would love a raised bed situation back there, but I I just don't want to spend the money on it this year. Yeah, so I'm like, okay, I have I have a couple of issues here of the way that I like to do not like to do things, the way that I do do things. I'm I'm a I have big plans and then I'm a rusher to get them done. So then it doesn't get set up properly. Yeah. Quotations, it just gets good enough done for the year. And then I run into problems later with like weed pressure and you know, all the stuff where you're like, if you don't think it through, it becomes a problem later. So this year I told myself, I was like, I'm going to do it as right as I can for now. So I'm doing no-till. I'll probably till, like you said, just to loosen up the top layer of the clay. Um, but then I'm gonna do no-till for all the beds that I have planned back there. I already made my plan, so I know what I'm doing. I'm recycling my uh cattle panel arches, moving them back to the backyard. So it's like a bunch of like upcycling. Yeah. And using all the dirt I have out there, all my perennials that are out there are being transplanted to the back in a more in a more aesthetic way, I guess. Yeah. Other than just like, oh my god, I bought this and I have to get it in the room and then it doesn't make sense where it is. Like that's what I'm dealing with. But I'm really excited about what it's gonna look like when it is further along in the process, because I really think it's gonna be really awesome. It is, and like more just a more thoughtful space for us to spend time in. Cause like even my kids are like, can we get like a table with an umbrella? And because they like gardening. Yeah. And I'm like, absolutely we can, that'll be so fun. So I'm very excited about my plans. It is going to be a slow process. So, like, the in-ground beds may not be a forever thing, but it's gonna get us going this year while we can, which is the most important thing. Like, you gotta start somewhere. Yeah, um, and I think we do have pretty good dirt in our yard. So I may or may not do a soil test. I'm still deciding if I'm gonna go that far yet, but it's pretty loamy. Like, we have a high sand content in our soil at our house because we're we're close to the river. Yeah, so in certain spots it's pretty heavy clay, but you get digging around in there and you're like, wow, this soil is like actually pretty good.

SPEAKER_04 14:11

It's good. If we just keep I and I am like regretting all the years past that I haven't picked up or kept organic matter on my in my garden. Yeah. Like, so this year I'm like, I'm gonna give away free flowers for anyone who drops off a bag of leaves. Like it's gold. Bring me your leaves, bring me that's about it. Bring me your leaves. Yeah. But for me, like, I'm gonna try and keep some stuff on the property where I'm like, so I haven't cleaned up my front bed yet. But when I do, I'm just gonna for in the past, I'm like, pick up all the scraps, make it real pretty. And it's like, no, just leave that.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

If it looks bad for like a week, but after it decays down, you can see it. And you can mulch on top of it.

SPEAKER_04 14:58

Yeah, like don't remove it to add mulch. Like just leave it and mulch on top of it. So you're only gonna help yourself if you're gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

I will say we did have to we did have to blow out some of our leaves out of our borders because like we had leaves like three feet deep and it just is You have a lot of trees, right? Yeah, so like that makes sense. We had to blow some of them out.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

We did leave some, but like we can't we had like a spot where we could do that, but I'm gonna save it and move it back because it's just so good for the soil.

SPEAKER_04 15:25

I think that's my my main goal for the year is to um just feed the soil and kind of just take care of what's there, but also like in the same sense, stay on top of weeding. So like every single week come through with a hoe. And it's like a quick like when get them when they're little, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

And so well, now that you're moving into raised beds, it's so much easier.

SPEAKER_04 15:49

It's so much easier. Well, we ha we're adding raised beds. We are not omitting the ones that are already in the crown.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

But if you yeah, if you take a more proactive approach to it, but like you've taken up some of your space that was in ground to now be raised beds, no? No? Okay.

SPEAKER_04 16:04

Well we've only added. I was like, all right, well, we need a garden tour of each other's yards. Yeah. We should. But uh I am doing away with fabric in my far back gardens. Oh nice. So there'll be there's fabric in the rows, but not in the plants. So I have just planted them in rows so I can hoe in between. So I'm looking for like a good little hand um tool tool so I can come through and just like zap the little ones as they're gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

Did you put a calendar reminder for yourself that you need to go out there and hoe?

SPEAKER_04 16:41

But I'm gonna do that.

SPEAKER_02 16:42

You should.

SPEAKER_04 16:42

I I'm thinking Wednesdays, weeding Wednesdays, get your hoe on on the Wednesdays. But Wednesdays are also man market days, so I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

I was like, maybe not Wednesdays. Maybe Tuesdays.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

No, it can't be Tuesdays because those are harvest days. Okay. Maybe Fridays. I I love that and I think it's gonna work out really well. Yeah. I think focusing on the soil is such like people don't realize when they're new to gardening how important the soil has. Well, we never mulch. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:10

Like, because it's so expensive, but this year I'm just gonna mulch with I'm gonna get um the leaf compost.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

Yeah, and whatever you got.

SPEAKER_02 17:16

I actually mulch a lot. So we because we mulch pathways, so this year, and we mulch our like garden, garden beds, and we're actually gonna mulch everything this year. We've decided we're gonna like it saves watering, yeah, it saves the soil health, and like it just we it definitely helps us with weed pressure. A hundred percent it helps us with weed pressure. So, like, I'm gonna mulch our front garden bed, back garden bed. I don't know if I'll mulch the new perennial bed um or not, but we'll we'll see. I definitely wanna I'm going to put a border on it to keep weeds from crawling in.

SPEAKER_04 17:52

But um Oh yeah, we're edging this year too. Yeah, never edged, but we just found out that we have a tiller. And you can put a certain attachment on it so it edges.

SPEAKER_02 18:04

Yeah. Edging definitely would help. That's what I think.

SPEAKER_04 18:07

It's just these like little tricks.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Little tricks you can do to like you don't realize how it can make your life easier in the late season. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 18:15

Or just make your space look nicer. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

Honestly, the earlier you start weeding too, the better off it is for the later season. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:24

Yeah. It happens now. Like it's gonna rain all day today. Tomorrow out and pull the weeds. Do a little Easter weeding.

SPEAKER_02 18:34

Uh I I will not be here on Easter to weed, but I should be.

SPEAKER_04 18:40

I promise Brandon, I want to work. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

Well, you know, it just I think part of it too is making sure that when you're out in the garden, like every once in a while, like I I was talking to Joey about it that while we're out here, like if we're talking and discussing something, just pull a couple of weeds while we're while we're standing here. Like just pull a couple of weeds. No, I was literally like, we were standing there and we were like talking, and we'd probably been out there talking for 15 minutes, and then he was like, Yeah, like it's just it's just so many weeds. And I went, Yeah, and we've been standing here and looking at these like five that are in this raised bed, and all it would take is just pulling five, and like that raised bed was done.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Honestly, so I when I was growing cut flowers, I would come home on my lunch and check on them or water them, and that's all it took. Yeah, it was like 15 minutes to just boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop while I was walking by checking, and I kept up on the weeds like that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:41

So yeah, I think that is a goal for all of us to stay more on top of weeds.

SPEAKER_04 19:44

Yeah, maybe I'll weed in the rain today. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

The other thing that I have as a goal for this year is to save my own seed because when you spend as much money on seeds as we do, you definitely quickly realize there are seeds you're buying every year that you could easily save yourself if you would just save them. Yep. Because especially like things that you know won't cross, or like you might only grow one variety of something. It is literally dollars in your pocket if you plan to buy them next year.

SPEAKER_04 20:20

I have this dream of like not spending any money on any plants and any seeds. And then still having a ton of flowers because I have like cuttings. I have the seeds already.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

I've seen your seed collection. It is totally possible.

SPEAKER_04 20:36

It's quite extensive. It is.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

It is ext. I feel like Monica just like sees seeds out on the side of the road and is like, you know, bees are poking.

SPEAKER_04 20:44

Yeah, pull over.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

Yeah. It's literally like I it was one of the first things that you've said to me, like, did you save the seeds? And I was like, uh no, uh no, no, I won't. I'm not doing that. But like I'd have to get better about saving them and using them. But I think if I can just be strict enough with myself and and actually label them correctly, and you know, if I take the time and the intention of saving them, then maybe next year I will save money on buying them. And that's like a goal because I sometimes, you know, like sometimes I sell flowers, sometimes I don't, and then it's just money that I've spent rather than being able to save the seed and potentially not have to buy it. And if I sell it, I sell it, if I don't, then there was no harm in it. I just saved it.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Aside from the financial aspect, it's a sustainable way to grow your garden. Yep. And how cool for you to be like, wow, I grew that flower two years ago, saved the seed, and now here it is again from seed that I gathered myself.

SPEAKER_02 21:47

And not to mention scientifically those plants become more acclimated to your own environment. So they know your soil, they know your temperature and humidity. Requirements and it's grown there, and every year the plants that you save seed from should be your strongest ones, and therefore you're gonna get better and better plants.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

You're like a little plant breeder without even realizing it.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

Yeah, you it might come back looking like the exact same flower. However, that flower is is better acclimated to your own environment.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

I've I definitely will grab seed heads now after hearing Monica do it for so many years now. Yep, so I'm fine. Yeah, I'll be like, oh let me just like grab it and see what they look like. I did it yesterday with my echinace. I found a seed head that hadn't been eaten, and I was like, oh, and I just like ripped it out and just like sprinkled them out.

SPEAKER_04 22:38

I started a lot of my seeds this year, like I never I never start them. I'll throw them or sell them, but I never start them in trays, and I did this year, and my verbena did so good.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

Do you want to have any like extra? Because I wouldn't mind one plant or something.

SPEAKER_04 22:54

Yes, I have a whole tray of verbena.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

I forgot to get seed for the verb.

SPEAKER_04 22:57

I started in like a little a little like meat tray, you know. Uh-huh- uh-huh. And just put dirt in it and it's like a what? Like, you know, like your little hamburger trays. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, the hamburger trays. Yeah. And so I put dirt in that and just sprinkled the verbena. And verbena is like this cute little purple flower. It it creates like a purple cloud.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

And they're yeah, they're like on sticks. Like the stems are like very sticky.

SPEAKER_04 23:23

Do the pollinators like them? They love them.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:25

I need that. I want that. And so I started them there, and then the other day I was like, wow, those are kind of getting big. I need to break them out. And so I just literally broke them apart and it took me two seconds and stuff them in more.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

I definitely will.

SPEAKER_04 23:40

I did that with my basil.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

I'm gonna get some of that.

SPEAKER_04 23:42

Yeah. Yeah. You can totally have some. I have like a bunch of basil that I started. My fever few did not do well. I have like three fever few that I saved from um the yellow ball, the sunny ball, fever few, which I don't know how that would work. I don't know how I wanna cross pollinates or whatever, but I have three plants. Some of my seed is clearly old and needs to go. So that's kind of what I wanted to do this year. Is like I'm just getting through all my seed.

SPEAKER_02 24:10

I also I find that like sometimes I have much better germination from stuff I save versus stuff I buy in. Yeah. And I think it's just, you know, a matter of like sometimes seed breeders don't go through their whole stock in a year and they save it for the next one.

SPEAKER_04 24:25

No, it's illegal to do that.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

Really? Yep.

SPEAKER_04 24:28

It's illegal. The horticulturist at Baker Creek taught me that. Interesting. There are so many regulations around seeds that I didn't know. I believe it. I just yeah, it's not something you know. You have to have a lot of number, you have to have like the year it was harvested or created.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

But like not all seed packets I've bought, I mean, I don't always remember them. I didn't know you were seeing that. Yeah, there's look up the regulations. I just like I think of some seed packets I buy farmers, yeah. Yeah, it's like it's just sort of like I had really poor germination on that.

SPEAKER_04 25:04

It's just the genetics. The genetics, because like, for example, I'm growing the ballerina variety and the linen variety of zinnias from Johnny's. The linens look awful. The germination rate was bad. And that's a weird are from the same parent. Yeah. And the ballerina is right next to them and they're doing great. Interesting. Interesting. So I think, yeah, just some and that's why they that's why they're constantly working on them, right? And creating new varieties, and they're like, oh, that's no longer a thing. So interesting.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

I just think I think save saving your own seeds is worth it, especially if you're the type of person who just wants to like mass so like a big hedge of zinnias or marigolds or something. Like, you need to be saving your seeds, so then you can just pfft yeah. Otherwise, you're gonna be spending like 30 bucks.

SPEAKER_04 25:57

Experiment with kids. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Because they can see the whole life cycle of a plant.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:04

And it's very rewarding.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

We did that with our green beans that we found that hung on our arch all winter. Oh, yeah, did they come up? They did. So we we harvested, like, we cracked one open on accident, and I was like, um, there are like pristine white, shiny green bean seeds inside of here. So then we pulled all of them down, so that was fun for them. Then they cracked them all open, we threw them in a bowl, and I was like, okay, let's do like the little elementary school like germination test on the window in a bag, and probably like 80% germination. So I saved all of them. You started your green beans already.

SPEAKER_04 26:39

Do I need to start mine?

SPEAKER_01 26:40

I didn't start mine, but we we were outside one day and just happened to see them stumble upon the seeds, so I was like, well, let's get them before they're like ruined from the spring rain. So they're just waiting in a bowl for us to I just direct sew green beans. Yeah. But um I need to start. But we did the germination test, so I know that they're good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:00

I have saved seed from a delcata squash that I got from like I think the grocery store, so we'll see how it goes back. I bet it sprouts. But I've had the save seed for so long, and I'm like, I just need to start these. Like, kind of like what I've been pondering on this whole year is a seed is not gonna grow in the packet. Yep. So just start it. So I have out of six, I got four, and I'm really curious what it comes up as.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

I mean seeds are so interesting. I've seen people lately do like micro greens with lentils that they bought from a bag at the store. And I'm like so smart, dude. Or like chickpeas.

SPEAKER_04 27:36

Yeah. I've seen that. I think the chickpea is ugly though. I don't think that greenery is pretty. It looks like a weed. It does look ugly. It is weird looking, yes. I have seen that trend, but flax is another one that people swear by. Yep. I kind of want to try it, but I also am like, ugh.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

That's actually really important to just buy the organic bag and the baking section and just sew like a whole bed of it.

SPEAKER_04 28:01

I am very kind of into microgreens, which maybe we can dedicate.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

I would like to actually I would actually like to learn more about that. So next week's episode. Yeah, for real.

unknown 28:12

No.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

Um we don't know anything about microgreens. We'll figure it out. We'll do some reading. That's a winter project. Um before I forgot to mention one thing. So one of my plans this year is I do want to try some fruit trees.

SPEAKER_03 28:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

So I will be getting some because the side of our house is like perfect for a little fruit grove. It really is. Now that we've cleared it of other things. Do you think that you're gonna have to spray them with stuff? I'm not going to. So we'll see. I keep saying that.

SPEAKER_02 28:41

I want them, but Joey keeps saying, like, you realize we'd have to spray in order to get fruit. And I'm like, I don't I don't want to do that. And neither does he, which is why why he's like, let's just not do it.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

I don't think you have to. I think I think I'm going to try, I would like to try the spell how do you say that? Espalier. Yes. I would like to try that. I don't know if I'm going to yet. It just depends on the timing.

SPEAKER_02 29:06

I'm going to watch your fruit trees, and if they do well, then I'll get some fruit trees.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

Yeah. But I'm going to do like the the food foresty thing at the bottom of them with all the beneficial like herbs and stuff. So that's what I'm going to try if I get that far. If I get that far, that is my plan. That'd be awesome. Um, but I do have blueberries coming. You have blueberries coming. Did you buy blueberries? Yeah, blueberries coming. We all have blueberries coming. What? So, yeah. I don't have beds ready. Figure that out. Neither do I, but I have the beds picked out.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

I'm putting them in a raised bed. So mine to manipulate the soil. Sell mine. I'm putting mine in a little raised bed, but I'm putting strawberries around them, and my rhubarb plants are gonna get moved over though. That's gonna be so cool.

SPEAKER_04 29:47

But I don't know what we're doing with the soil though. All I know is it has to be acidic.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Yeah. Don't worry, we're we'll figure it out. They're not shipping until like two more weeks. So we're easy.

SPEAKER_04 29:57

Yeah, so if you want to grow blueberries, this is the year to do it because we're all growing blueberries. We're learning together, we're gonna figure it out.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

And actually, yeah, I should say we went to tractor supply and a guy we were buying soil acidifier, and he came up to us and said, What are you growing? And we were like, Oh, we've got some blueberries coming. And he actually told me to not get the soil acidifier and instead get something else. And I I did. So but I don't remember what it is. And sometime when we talk about blueberries, I will tell you what it was. Look that up and let us know because I haven't bought my stuff yet.

SPEAKER_04 30:35

But can't you just like I was thinking like I have pine trees? Can't I just put some pine trees?

SPEAKER_02 30:39

So mine are going underneath my pine trees. Literally, that's the whole plan, is so that that's that soil stays acidic and I it gets topped with it every year without putting anything in a raised bed. In a raised bed. Under the pine trees. Under the pine trees. Not like it's like on the edge, so it's gonna get it's facing south beneath pine trees.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

I might get one of those little pH testers too, just to check it periodically. Because I'm like bound and determined to be successful at this.

SPEAKER_02 31:08

My pH tester lied to me when I got one the first time, but I think maybe I just did it wrong. I think maybe I tested compost with it because it told me that mine was neutral, but I have since I got my soil tested actually with the lab, and they were like, your soil is is extremely uh alkaline. Yeah. Extremely. And so that's what I've been I realize that that's why a lot of my plants in ground have struggled because they've been so alkaline. Flowers really like acidic on the s on the more acidic side of neutral.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

Mine was I think when I got mine tested back when I first started, it was like a 6.5, a 6.7. It was kind of high. It was on the acidic side. Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:54

I'm pretty sure mine's like a nine. Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_04 31:58

The roots or what us what in a pine tree is making it? The needles. The needles. So they have to fall.

SPEAKER_02 32:06

The needles fall, and that's like the acidic. So like, you know, like um anything pine is acidic. So like pine bark mulch or like I um mulched my strawberries with pine bark. So yeah, strawberries like an acidic.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Like pine shavings will make something more acidic. I don't know if it will or not, but in my head it would.

SPEAKER_02 32:24

I think it does. I think and like um, so they say if you have really like um alkaline soil to not water with your tap water as much, but like I mean, you're sort of stuck. If we could use our well water, it would be good. Rainwater is more acidic, so they say like it's always better for it to get natural rainwater over, especially seedlings, because seedlings I feel like all plants do better with rainwater. Always. Always. Um, but like part of it is you're like washing away the acidity with your alkaline.

SPEAKER_01 32:56

You can literally tell, like, when the flowers get some good rain, you can literally look so much better. Yes. You can see the growth in a day, and you're like, holy crap. Yep.

unknown 33:06

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 33:07

And then you start cutting.

SPEAKER_02 33:08

So we're gonna try and put things under the pine trees to try and help with the acidity. Um, and I'm just gonna try and put it on the edge and it's facing south, and then we're gonna put strawberries underneath them and rhubarb, and it's gonna be a little fruit.

SPEAKER_04 33:23

Just so strawberries like acidity too. Yeah. So I should just move all my strawberries underneath the pine trees.

unknown 33:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:30

As long as they're not shaded. They need shaded. Yeah, they need sun. That's what mine, we've like a little bit cut up our understory of the trees. And that's for joy to be able to fit under with the mower, and then on top of that, we're gonna, it's gonna be able to get sun.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

Yeah, so it sounds like we're trying berries. That's our new thing. Yeah, we're just trying berries of different varieties, which is great. So, um, yeah, that's all we got for you.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

And there's a lot of stuff going on in the garden. Make sure that you don't get too overwhelmed. I had a friend send me on Instagram that was like, pro tip, if you get overwhelmed with life, go out to your garden and let it overwhelm you. It felt very weird.

SPEAKER_01 34:08

Okay, but like one step at a time. I know.

SPEAKER_02 34:11

Don't let it overwhelm you. It is not, it's meant to be something that is supposed to be. Get your chair and sit in it. Yeah, and only pick the five weeds, you know?

SPEAKER_01 34:22

All right, see you guys later.

SPEAKER_02 34:24

See you next time.

SPEAKER_03 34:25

Goodbye. Hey, thanks for listening to our podcast. If you want to follow us on social, find us at the Gals Who Grow Podcast on Instagram, and follow us on Spotify or your favorite podcast app.