WARNING ~ LONG POST WITH LOTS OF GARDENING LINKS AT THE END! 
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Even though it’s still January and in the middle of winter…I can’t stop thinking about my garden! I’m getting itchy and twitchy! I want dirt under my nails!
In between the rains last week and the snow over the weekend there was a brief break in the skies and the sun came out. I rushed out back and busied myself with my raised garden beds. Checked the soil, threw on some leaves, newspaper and grass that was mulching in a corner and some of Starbuck’s coffee grounds. Did you know that all Starbucks have a bucket near the door that have spent coffee grounds for free?! If you’re anywhere near UNR…the Student Union Starbucks has more then plenty.
Last year was my first garden in the raised beds we made…and there were no wormies in the soil then. I dug around and found lots of wormies in my beds. Eat and poop my little ones!
Here are the plans for and what the raised beds looked like before I took it apart and made it smaller. PLANS FOR RAISED BEDS
The BEDS BROKEN UP INTO TWO instead of one massive bed.
And THE BEDS ALL PLANTED.
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While over at ECLECTIC CULTURE FARM I found a great site called Local Harvest ~ Real Food. Real Farmers. Real Community!
LOCAL HARVEST ~ Nevada (I linked to the Nevada part of the site…it’s country-wide though.)
Here is a little closer to home ~ NORTHERN NEVADA & EASTERN CALIFORNIA
There are lot of local farms listed where you can buy from…also a shop page to buy seeds, gifts, and whatnot.
My mouth is watering over the HEIRLOOM TOMATO SEEDS! Are those the most beautiful lip-smacking things ever?! I’m all ah-giddy!
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I’m going to start my seeds soon…last year I planted most of my seeds right into the ground. But I think I’ll start my peppers and tomatoes inside this year…I harvested a bunch of seeds before eating them. Hatch Green Chiles and Heirloom Maters….yummmmmie!
After some doing some online research I found that you can start your seeds in almost any type of container as long as it is at least 2 to 3 inches deep and has some drainage holes.
The seeds should be started in a soilless growing mix that is made up of fine, moist and spongy blend of sphagnum moss, vermiculite and perlite. You can mix your own, using 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 perlite, 1/3 milled sphagnum moss. This mix hardly contains any, if any, nutrients. Start feeding the seedlings with a weak fertilizer solution several weeks after they germinate…they’ll need to be fed weekly until it’s time to transplant them into the garden.
After the wee plants are 6-8 weeks old, they can be transplanted into larger pots with a coarser growing mix with up to 20% garden soil or compost…that will help the plants get ready for garden life.
Here is a cool schedule I found ~ WHEN TO START YOUR SEEDS from The Gardner’s Supply Company online site.
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MORE HELPFUL LINKS FOR NEVADA GARDNERS!
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION'S HORTICULTURE PROGRAM
THE NEVADA MASTER GARDNER PROGRAM
WASHOE COUNTY CALENDAR ~ if you live in a different county than Washoe, just click on the drop-down menu and it will let you click on your county!
A Great Link for Teachers ~ SCHOOL GARDENS PROGRAM.
HORTICULTURE PUBLICATIONS for the State of Nevada.
SEED SAVERS EXCHANGE ~ Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange members have passed on approximately one million samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. They are a non-profit organization of gardeners dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.
A great write-up on THE THREE SISTERS GARDEN
~ The Three Sisters garden is a special way of growing corn, pole beans and winter squash, and its first use can be traced back to the Iroquois Confederacy.
GARDENING IN NEVADA ~ The Bartley Ranch Series. FREE CLASSES on Tuesdays starting 3 February through 31 March 2009.
You sound like me. I love to get down in the dirt in the spring.
Karen
I hear you:). Still waiting on seeds I bought from a christmas gift. Bought from an heirloom company. Started my cyanne and a few other peppers. I keep going to check if they’re up yet.
Oh goodness. I am so bookmarking this, because someday I’ll want to do the same!!
I would love to see a gardening post giving ideas for apartment gardening (i.e. herbs in the kitchen etc). I know I’m going to want to be planting as soon as I get married, but I’m doubting we’ll have a yard right away…
Anyway, just an idea!
Great post today!
I still so love those beds of yours. I have pix of them tucked away somewhere for inspiration.
[...] I’ve noticed lots of people looking at my posts of how to make yourself a raised garden bed ~ Here’s what mine ended up looking like…Finished Raised Garden Beds. [...]