our friend mel.

Well, he's not really our "friend," but he sure helps us out when it comes to gardening. 

Mel Bartholomew is the author of Square Foot Gardening and is a famous gardening guru. In the first edition of his book, he outlines everything you need to know to be a successful gardener - and then goes one step further by profiling a variety of commonly-grown vegetables (including basic information, fertilizing tips, how to start seeds, etc). It's impossible for one book to be all-inclusive but Mel's book is a great place to start because it goes over all the basics thoroughly.

The theory of square foot gardening seems pretty common-sensical, but if you notice, a lot of gardeners/farmers grow their vegetables in rows. Row cropping has its benefits but in smaller spaces, square footing rules. The idea is that each vegetable can be grown in increments of square feet (one tomato per one square foot, sixteen beets per square foot) - so you maximize your crop for your space. Then, when one vegetable is harvested, something else can go in the square. The gardens that Erin and I are planning contain approximately 70 square feet or so. There's at least 50 sqft in the gardens that will be up against the house and I'm estimating another 15-25 against the fence where we want to plant our corn. One day I'll upload my sketches so you have a better idea of where we're planting.

Along with Mel's book I've been doing extensive reading in another gem called Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte. This book goes over vegetables, herbs, cover crops, trees, natural pest controls, and more. One of the main issues this book covers (and my favorite thing about it) is companion planting, which is the act of planting certain species together that benefit each other. For example, basil enhances the flavor of tomatoes and helps protect them from insects - so these two can be planted together. Flowers can be good companions too - corn and sunflowers may be planted together as a 1970 study showed that when sunflowers were interplanted with corn, corn yields were higher than fields planted with only corn. 

For some reason I get really excited about companion planting. Diversity in the garden is important and using plants that benefit each other just seems like the most natural way to enhance your productivity. Also, there are certain flowers like nasturtiums, coreopsis, and marigolds that act as natural insect-repellents for your garden. While they are obviously not as effective as some chemical weapon, they are a natural aide and add color and texture to the veggie plot. 

There are also some exciting combinations that reduce how much space you use. For example, even though we have a troublesome growing climate, we're going to try growing corn. Beans may be planted amongst the corn and allowed to grow up the stalks. The corn helps to protect the beans from searing mid-day sun, and beans help restore the nitrogen to the soil that the corn eats up. However, pole beans do not do well near sunflowers - so will I plant the corn with sunflowers or with the beans? It becomes an exciting puzzle (and experiment).

killer deals bru.

Here is a selection of containers that we've picked up from thrift stores for cheap. That big boy on the right is a 19 gallon tub - $3 at the Humane Society Thrift Store (killer place and all funds go to the Humane Society), the two big black tubs that are standing on each other we got from ReStore for $.50 each, the little green dude on the left was $.75, and the others I think were like $3 each. The smaller ones were pricier, but they're in perfect condition and have pans which is nice. The smaller ones will be good for herbs and small flowers. I washed all the planters out with a mild bleach solution in the event that they were harboring any nasties.

At any rate, we have three mega-sized containers that are at least two or three square feet each (more about square feet in the next post) - which means multiple vegetable plants in each - for $4. Score.

Today was such an uncomfortable day for me. I think, without seeing it coming, I was hit by the truck of purposelessness and am still stuck to its grill. After a summer of non-stop motion, non-stop managing of details, non-stop hanging out with energetic kids, I wasn't prepared for the sudden nothingness of the last two days. Erin called and is doing fine, but she sounds very, very tired. I don't think I've ever been so excited for her to come home; strangely enough, instead of feeling distance after all this time together, I keep falling in love with her. There is a comfort level that I have with her that I've never in my life had with a male. She's beautiful, funny, and can't dance worth a shit. She's perfect.

So I guess I'm lonely too. At least when she left on assignments before, I had roommates, friends, and family to spend time with. That combined with the looming reality that I have zero job prospects has been unsettling to say the least. I've been slightly manic, distracting myself with completely useless tasks and ignoring the cleaning and sewing that I've been really wanting to use my time for. Fortunately I have a babysitting gig for the next few days and at the very least, it will keep me busy and make up the cash that I have to pay the city of Bend for breaking the law. Fortunately the judge lowered my fine today and will allow me to go to traffic school, which will keep the ticket off my record - whew. 

I miss home, too. I miss the freedom of picking up and driving out to see Tiara and spending if only a few short hours with her, because those hours are inevitably filled with laughter and sharing. Tiara and I have been on the same wavelength since we were kids, I think; once, in highschool (and this will sound silly to all of you except the two of us), I was searching for a completely random name in my head and Tiara tried to chime in to help - simultaneously, the word "Jeremiah" came out of our mouths. Neither of us knew anyone named Jeremiah, but we said it at the same time and followed it by a stunned silence and staring at each other. I still remember it, too - we were walking up the stairs to the second or third floor for class. This, among other things, I have taken as assurance that Tiara and I are soulmates, and I couldn't ever want for a better friend. I routinely think of her husband as my brother-in-law, and he and I have been tossing around the idea of writing a kid's book together. If it happens, I'll eventually have it in my Etsy shop, available through the authors and not through a bookstore. 

I also miss spending the day with my mom, making her pee her pants laughing (sometimes I'll hold her down and tickle her until she laughs so hard she can't breathe) and chasing Tink around the yard. Home calls to me, but not so loud that I would consider moving there again, not yet anyway. I'm just not satisfied being so far away from her, so I've planted the seed in her ear of moving out here with me. I think it's growing, but still far from blossoming. 

I can't wait to have something productive to do tomorrow.