Seedlings and New Gardens...

The Blue Hubbard squash was huge coming up out of the soil, but the seed was larger than my thumbnail. I was surprised it germinated and grew so quickly considering the thickness and size of the seed. The Blue Hubbard squash is a large, thick skinned grey/blue colored squash with an orange center that stores for long periods of time. I've used it in place of pumpkin in recipes once it's baked and it's delicious. Once the second set of leaves forms we will be transplanting the seedlings into slightly bigger pots.

Since I'm in an area with poor soil, the vegetable garden is done in wide, elevated beds. There's a wonderful gardening book out there called "The Vegetable Gardener's Bible" by Ed C. Smith. His technique for raised beds is using the anagram W.O.R.D. Which stands for Wide rows, Organic methods, Raised beds and Deep soil. I particularly like this type of bed because the drainage is good and the beds are more manageable as far as weeding, watering, ammendment amounts etc. This spring we are expanding the gardens and adding 14 beds to the side yard. Once the crew is assembled (meaning my older children) and their days off are arranged, we will be posting photos of how to go about putting in new beds. Plus, some perennial and annual flower beds are also going to be prepared and planted with photos of their progress. There's a lot of work to be done, but there's just nothing better than diggin' in the dirt!