Growing My Garden Week #2!

in #gardening7 years ago

Will plants grown in our gardens dynamically produce the nutrients we need the same way a mother's milk is customized to the baby? According to the book Whole by a medical doctor specializing in nutrition, our bodies are like factories that dynamically process every ingredient meaning what we put in and how our bodies process it are equally important.

Meanwhile, nutrients in fruits and vegetables can vary as much as 40 times from one to another. This means while the label might say 6 mg of vitamin C in an apple which equals about 10% of our daily value, one apple might have 1 mg of vitamin C while another on the same tree may have 40 mg. The apparent cause of this is that the plants attempt to produce exactly what the person growing them needs the same as a breastfeeding mother's body automatically does the same with the baby!

This research combined with my mother in law gardening and consistent advice for me to "go outside" motivated me to start my own garden as I wrote about in my first post documenting my journey into gardening! My greater vision is to grow a significant portion of our own food as a part of living a life in this body filled with joy and health for 150+ years! Will you continue the journey with us as we see what is new this week in my garden because maybe reading this post will spark and fuel a passion for gardening?

When I said in the last post I was a complete beginner, that means I have a lot of supplies to buy to even get my garden started. After making a beginning with grow bags the previous week, I dive into all types of plant seeds at Home Depot based on what a calendar online says I can grow in Saint Petersburg, Florida!

IMG_0341.jpg

The seeds are incredibly cheap at about $3 a package with enough to make hundreds of plants!

IMG_0340.jpg

I prepare at home by setting up more grow bags and Home Depot buckets which I since learned are not food grade ...

IMG_0336.jpg

The kale plant in the middle was a gift from @laurabanfield's mother and one I paid little attention to until last month!

IMG_0337.jpg

During multiple trips to Home Depot's gardening center, I load up on organic garden soil despite having learned since that what I really need is potting soil ...

IMG_0342.jpg

I load 10 of these into the backseat of my Toyota Corolla!

IMG_0344.jpg

And carry them all about 50 yards at home!

IMG_0346.jpg

All this new soil helps me add buckets with carrots, onions, and broccoli!

IMG_0347.jpg

Madeleine loves gardening with her nana which was a big part of my motivation to start the garden because we now get to do this together!

IMG_0350.jpg

Pretty much the same picture as above. I took a photography course and am not sure I learned anything.

IMG_0354.jpg

The spinach plants are still alive from last week!

IMG_0355.jpg

No dog poops in the garden thanks to this fence!

IMG_0356.jpg

We planted broccoli in these.

IMG_0357.jpg

Amazing how fast the gardening area is filling up!

IMG_0358.jpg

Planted lots of kale in the black grow bags without following the instructions on the label which stated the kale needed to be further apart.

IMG_0359.jpg

Back to Home Depot for more soil where by dumb luck or unconscious incompetence I grab the potting soil!

IMG_0360.jpg

Well some of it was potting soil ...

IMG_0361.jpg

Remember the white picket fence above separating part of the yard to keep the dogs out? @laurabanfield bought that for about $350 and put it together. I decided to try and build one for less ...

IMG_0362.jpg

It seemed like a great idea until ...

IMG_0363.jpg

I was surprised to learn how difficult it is to nail stakes in standing up and gave up on the crossbars after the first section turned out to be a royal PITA.

IMG_0364.jpg

Here we see the task at hand and regret our choices especially when I could afford the nice fence ...

IMG_0365.jpg

Nevertheless I pound all the stakes in and get a functional fence up.

IMG_0366.jpg

Success! No dogs in this part of the yard and now a huge amount of space for a garden!

IMG_0367.jpg

This fence is a good analogy for how I have built my entire business online ...

IMG_0368.jpg

Bottom line is for under $100 it works as intended despite no experience building fences!

IMG_0369.jpg

In the next week's gardening post, we will see the expansion of new grow bags into this side of the yard! I appreciate the huge upvotes from @hasoon, @nikolai, and @teamsteem on the last week's post which helped me pay for the supplies alongside the top comments by @nearbird, @eco-alex, and @modemser!

Thank you for joining me on this adventure and I hope what we saw here today is useful for you!

Love,
Jerry Banfield

Sort:  

@jerrybanfield Im so happy to see peaches is still part of your family! :-D

Thank you for noticing @newyorkdude!

Hey Jerry do you have videos teaching Steem it? I’d like to learn how the bots work and some other stuff

http://steem.guide has the best collection of my Steem tutorials!

Congrats @Jerrybanfield you picked a great time to start your garden, I'm getting ready to start mine back up now that spring is near. Here's a little tip from Club Tampa Bay, well water and rainwater work the best. So if things start looking droopy check your water. Your post was featured this week in Club Tampa Bay!

Your off to a good start!

I really recommend you get into sprouting broccoli sprouts.
They are 100 times healthier than broccoli and 2x more healthy when frozen. You can sprinkle them on a salad or put them in shakes...you can sprout a lot in just a few days and would be a great addition to your healthy garden.
I got all this info from Dr Rhonda Patrick seen here with the broccoli sprouts (looks like something else lol)

I love broccoli.
Need to check if and why the sprouts are healthier, and how to grow them.
The problem is, for most people the space needed to grow stuff is more expensive than buying them.

this video is where I got my info from and answers all your questions

This comment has received a 21.74 % upvote from @steemdiffuser thanks to: @stimialiti. Steem on my friend!

Above average bids may get additional upvotes from our trail members!

Get Upvotes, Join Our Trail, or Delegate Some SP

You got a 3.04% upvote from @upyou courtesy of @stimialiti!

Truce: Now you already know what im about to say

Duce: DONT

Duce: i mean DON'T*

Truce: what?? they look like bags of cole slaw :)

I think this is a good suggestion. Some thing that takes just few days to grow is a good thing. Usually it would take months to grow broccoli. At small scale won't be sufficient for whole family.

This is awesome @ssjsasha. I thought you were holding weed at 1st. I almost fell in love for a second there. I appreciate this, because last year my folks were growing brocs and they were so fresh..

@ssjsasha thank you I will learn more about broccoli sprouts and Dr Rhonda Patrick!

This is the actual video where I got all my facts, to save time I listen/watch videos at 1.25, 1.5 or 2x the speed...but rhonda patrick talks fast and just keeps spitting out knowledge like you wouldnt believe

Nice. Looks like a lot of work. Hopefully you get a fruitful crop.

It just goes to show how much work and energy goes into growing the food we all take for granted at the supermarket. Especially so if people are consuming animal products. They are VASTLY less efficient when it comes to calories produced per kwh/or litre of fuel used. Crazy stuff.

Nick

Exactly Nick! Thank you for reminding me that I forgot to mention how much growing my own food helps me appreciate how much others do in growing most of what I eat for me!

We used to have a garden in our backyard and it was so refreshing to see. I really want to have it again

hey I just noticed that you mentioned me here, and i'm quite happy for that.
I just hope that your system is working well and that you took in to consideration aquaponics controlled by RaseberyPi or other small computers

Is it just me @jerrybanfield or does it look like the Dogs could just Jump over the Fence ???

They did dig through it once already which I will mention in the week 3 update!

Wow, you must be some where really warm. Im currently in Florida and I don't even think it would be warm enough to plant something here right now.

I am in Saint Petersburg Florida where it is pretty warm here!

Oh cool. Im currently in Jacksonville, not as nice as St. Pete!

amazing
I am myself planing to do a little gardening (but no way near your scale)
I hope I get success because I really find gardening kinda interesting now adays
wish me luck! :)

Looks great @jerrybanfield!