Outdoor Starting

         As I have said before, all plants are different. Some are vulnerable to cold, yet some enjoy the cold. Some have small minuscule seeds, and others have large ones. Some can be broadcast, others need their space. All of these factors and more decide whether you should plant indoors or outdoors.
         Though most of my plants were started indoors, I did start a few types outdoors. To start with, you can soak your seeds to germinate them faster, and then plant outdoors. If you do, however, than it will be harder to plant outdoors by broadcasting.
         That brings us to our first point: space. When planting indoors, you are sacrificing space for time. It is true that your plants will have a longer harvest season, if they are started earlier than when they can move outdoors. On the other hand, however, the plants will have grown large enough and spread out enough roots, that you will need to give them more space than you would if you are planting seeds. It is difficult to describe, but I will attempt to do this. Say you have two pots. In each pot is one plant. Say that you are planting in one square foot of dirt. Without being started indoors, say that about 4-6 plants can be put in this square foot. Moving huge plants with surrounding dirt from indoors to the outdoors, however, can only fit two plants. So, though you could plant more, there is no room. Therefore, it is better to plant large plants, plants which need more space, and singular plants indoors, and leave the bunched, small, and numerous plants outside.
       Another thing you must consider is broadcasting. When soaking, broadcasting (where you toss the seeds unevenly across an area) is made more difficult. When indoor planting broadcasting is made impossible. For some plants, broadcasting is a better idea than planting in an organized manner. For example, leaf lettuce is better grown in clumps, rather than individually seeded. Same thing for oregano. Peas use each other as supports (though it is better to at least have some equal distance between the plants. I do about 4-9 plants per square foot). Broadcasting is also a more time effective planting strategy, but it can choke the plants if too many are planted. Plants do need some room. If you over broadcast, be prepared to have to thin out your plants (remove weaker plants so others do not have as much competition). This is especially so for root plants, which if too close together will not produce.
      Size is another factor to be considered, for where to plant, as well as soaking. Peas are a perfect seed to soak, and I get good results from peas which I soak for about 24 hours. Oregano, thyme, spinach, carrot, basil, radish, and other such small seeds are a real hassle to soak and then plant. They are also very difficult to plant in orderly amounts. Therefore, I tend to broadcast smaller seeds and only soak larger seeds. Yes, I do also broadcast root plants, though this is not the best idea due to thinning.
       The biggest decider of whether you should plant indoors or outdoors is, of course, temperature. Some plants do the best in the cold weather (spring and fall plants). Others can only survive in the summer months (summer plants). What I usually do, is plant my spring plants in the outdoors. Peas, carrots, spinach, radishes, etc. were planted outdoors. Though cold resistant, you still must make sure that there are no super frost days where they could die.
         Summer plants need extra time to grow, so I start them indoors, rather than out. Squash, pumpkin, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, and other such plants are started indoors. They are also the larger plants. Though thyme, basil, and coriander are much smaller seeds, do not mind close space, and may produce more under closer planting, they are vulnerable to the cold. Therefore, the temperature factor trumps the size and space factor. You will see how I learned how important temperature is, in a coming blog.
          When planting outdoors remember to water frequently while the seeds are underground or in the seedling phase. The plants require an enormous amount of energy and water to grow. If you can, plant your seeds right before a storm (with not too heavy rain, of course). The water will help start off the process of growing for the seeds.
        The planting depth of each seed, depends on the seed. Peas and beans have a depth of 1-2 inches; squash and pumpkin 1/2-1 inch; tomatoes and peppers 1/4 inch; lettuce and carrots 1/4 inch, spinach 1/2 inch; and others just a light sprinkling. There is really no rhyme or rule for the planting depths for different vegetables. I got these depths off my seed packets, and it is almost certain that the depths needed will be on your seed packets too.
         When planting, you can:

• Use a pencil or stick to poke holes in the dirt and drop in the seeds.
• Create trenches and place the seeds in. Cover.
• Push the dirt back into one giant trench. Plant. Cover. This is a particularly good method, since you can determine what depth you want the seeds. The only trouble is that you are pushing dirt into other parts of the bed, and might disrupt seeds that are there. 

I used the square foot gardening method of planting.Therefore I had certain number of plants per square foot. I found the square feet by making marks on the edges of my raised beds and using string. I than put the exact amount in each of my beds. This was for the spring vegetables. Later, I planted my indoor plants and outdoor planted my oregano. At this point, I was feeling lazy, so I broad casted my oregano seeds. As you will see later, the result convinced me to plant differently the next year. 

Earth Day

I am extremely sorry for not posting for the past 5-6 weeks. Between preparing for the garden, increased amounts of homework, sickness, concerts, and preparing for the BLOM event, I have been unable to write. What was this year's BLOM event? This year's BLOM event concerned climate change. It was a very small event, and was planned within the week before Earth Day. This was because, it is hoped that there will be one more larger event before the year is through. On Earth Day itself, I presented a speech about climate change. I followed this by asking my grade to agree to some task to help reduce climate change. Such tasks were changing 5 light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs, planting native plants and trees, walking instead of driving, reducing trash, and other such things. I decided on this event after I read the article of the National Wildlife Federation about climate change and the polar bears. I had never realized just how bad things had become. The biggest problem for climate change is how slowly it occurs. This is the case for most environmental concerns. From the time of DDT and poison through chemicals, to climate change, the effects that are caused by environmental concerns occur slowly. Because of this, the public is not as concerned. That is why teaching them is so important. The problem is that there are not enough people who will act on what you tell them (especially 8th graders). That is why I believe you have to act in order to help. I did a joint project of information and action. Unfortunately, the speech was lost on the audience. It is questionable what exactly they heard. Also, the tasks were not enforced in anyway. Once signed, there was no way to hold that person to doing the task. Therefore the action portion of this event was also unsuccessful. I am not discouraged, for I am coming up with an event which will make people help. For those of you who are curious, this is what I read during my speech:

Hello everyone,

Today, April 22^nd, is Earth Day, a day started in 1970 to encourage people to help the planet. This is BLOM’s (or the Big Local Organic Movement’s) first and hopefully not last movement of the year. Last year we focused on organic local food, but this year, I am here to talk to you about a subject which is quickly becoming a major problem. I am talking about climate change. Climate change has been known for a while, since the 1960s when global climate computer models showed that greenhouse gases could potentially alter the climate. Even in the 1890s some scientists believed fossil fuels could impact the world. And even with this knowledge, people continue to aid the destruction of the ozone and the change of the climate. We must change our actions now. Research done by World Bank leaders gave just how much our actions could affect this planet. Almost all scientists have said that without serious changes in our style of living, by the end of this century the earth will be 4° C hotter. This is equivalent to about 8° F. You might say why does it matter that the temperature will be 8° hotter? That is understandable considering the fact that our temperature changes in large increments here. It matters. An analogy was given in a newsletter of the Sierra Club. It doesn't take more than a few degrees to get a person majorly sick. Now imagine adding 8 degrees to a person’s temperature. That is a 106 fever, where the human nervous system begins to shut down. Just like this, the Earth and all its life (including humans) will be majorly affected if the Earth becomes that warm. Even 1 degree can have horrible consequences. I trust that you all believe in Hurricane Sandy. This hurricane was nicknamed Frankenstorm Sandy. Why? Because it wreaked havoc, destroying lives, property, and buildings. This was a truly large storm. Why was this such a bad storm? Part of the problem is due to the warm tropical water which creates a hurricane. The earth is one degree warmer since the start of the Industrial Revolution. One degree increase was a cause of this super storm. President of the National Wildlife Federation says: “Since Hurricane Sandy was in large part the result of warmer-than-normal ocean water caused by a 1-degree F rise in global temperature, imagine what will happen with a 7-8 degree F average increase.”

Besides this storm what else could occur? Well, let’s see:

·         Ocean levels will rise: they rose one foot in the past 100 years. As more ice caps melt, the sea level might rise so much that it will flood 30 miles into land, and flood 30% of the human population.

·         Disease: As temperatures rises so does the number of disease carrying insects.

·         Heat: Heat waves and extreme heat will also occur, making the chance of heat stroke more likely. Wildfires will also happen more due to the heat.

·         Wildlife will disappear: 20-30% of the plant and animal species of might become extinct because of climate change. Among these is the famous polar bear. By 2050, it is predicted that 2/3 of the polar bear population will be gone.

 

Now there are some that say that climate change is a “scientific conspiracy”, much like some believe the moon expedition did not occur. To these people, I say: Please tell this to the polar bears. Tell the four females found dead because they drowned in search of ice. Tell this to a mother bear and her cub, who swam 426 miles in nine days to find ice, losing 22 percent of her body weight and her cub. And explain the fact that it took 11 millennium for the Earth to warm 1 degree, yet it only took 150 years after the Industrial age to warm another degree.  NO, everyone, if we are to accomplish anything in trying to protect the Earth from destruction, we have to first accept that there is such a thing as climate change. But, again quoting the President of the NWF, “It is not enough to care; we must link our concern to each other and act collectively.”

I am reading a book: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Many of you don’t realize how lucky you are because of Rachel Carson. We take for granted the fact that we can look out a window and see a robin. During the years of the 1950s, places which were drenched in chemicals were lucky to even see one of these birds. Places which were sprayed lost as many as 80% of all its birds. America had become a death trap, not only for the wildlife but for humans. Rachel Carson wrote the book, but it would have been useless if the public had not demanded change. You guys are the public. You have an unbelievable amount of power. The public back in the 1900s brought America out of that environmental Dark Age. But now it seems we have entered another one. We are too close for comfort to an environmental collapse, what with our speed in consuming resources, and our growing population. I remember hearing that the Earth can only support 6 billion people. We have cleared 7 billion. Now is the time to act. To quote the NWF: It’s Later Than It’s Ever Been.

Here is what you can do:

·         Speak up- Convince others to help, write to our government. Use the voice you have.

·         Be Aware of the Resources you are Using- Try to conserve or recycle where you can. Recycling is especially important. Did you know that 75% of the trash in the ocean is recyclable?

·         Be Environmentally Aware in General.

·         Join in this BLOM Event- To start off your awareness of climate change, we are going to be coming around with clipboards and little tasks you can do. Sign up, and please do the task that you chose, for we will try to use the numbers of what tasks were done to see if we can find the amount of carbon reduced in the atmosphere.

Join in with the world leaders in trying to stop the planet from warming beyond 2 degrees C. We can never repair the damage we have done to this Earth; it will forever more be 1 degree hotter. Once again in the words of the President of the NWF: It may be too late to make climate change disappear, but it’s not too late to act boldly and make a decisive difference for the future. It’s your choice. I hope you make the correct one.

Sources: 

http://theweek.com/article/index/241144/scientists-say-earth-is-hotter-today-than-it-has-been-for-nearly-all-of-the-last-11000-years

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/02/when-discover-climate-change

http://www.sierraclub.org/planet/199707/portents.asp

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_high_a_fever_can_get_before_you_can_die

Silent Spring

Glencoe Physical Science

National Wildlife Magazine: Various Articles

http://www.environmentabout.com/34/global-warming-why-a-few-degrees-temperature-rise-matters

https://www2.ucar.edu/climate/what-difference-can-few-degrees-make

http://www.skepticalscience.com/few-degrees-global-warming.htm

http://www.oocities.org/mskokopelli_it/what_will_a_few_more_degrees_matter.html

I hope that those of you who read this blog, will understand that the thinking period for climate change is over. We must act now. 

Indoor Starting

In this post I will talk about indoor planting.

You use indoor planting early on, before spring has started, to give the plants a growing head start for the season. The reason these plants manage to survive in the cold... is because they are not in the cold at all! Some plants like peas are hardy enough to be planted outside early, but others like tomatoes and squash are not hardy and must start indoors to get a head start. 

First, I will talk about what I put the seeds in. I had many options for what to plant them in.

1. My dad had saved many toilet paper rolls. If the rolls were placed tightly and vertically in a box, then it would be easy to fill them with dirt without them flopping over. Then when we transplanted them outdoors, hopefully the cardboard would be so rotten from watering we could tear it away and put the clump of mud in the dirt. We could always try placing the whole vessel, container and plant, in the ground where it would decompose; hopefully quickly. I did not like this idea very much. I actually do not know completely why, for now it seems like a sensible or even better idea than what I actually chose. I suppose one thing was I thought the roots would be blocked from spreading by the enclosure. However, my dad said this would force the roots of the shoot to grow vertically, rather than horizontally. This is good for it allows closer planting, and plants can access water which is deeper in the soil. 
2. Another idea was using large, shallow pans like my class in school was using for their transplants. (I will talk about this more, later). My dad and I did not want to do this for it was not deep enough for the roots, or so we thought.
3. I had the idea of just a large box filled with dirt, for I had thought that many people used this method. The problem was that it would be harder to transplant and that it would be unnecessarily bigger than we needed for each plant, plus it would require too much dirt and too many boxes. 
4. Then how about plastic or glass jars? Glass jars would be bad since there would be no drainage of excess water. Both of them would make transplanting difficult. We also  thought, once again, that this was too big and too much dirt for seedlings. 
5. Finally, there was an idea of peat pots. Peat pots are small rectangular containers made from peat moss sold for the reason of planting. They have drainage holes (though some were covered by a small film of peat and I had to gouge them open with scissors) and are made of peat moss so that they can decompose in your bed. This way, come transplant time, you will never have to remove the seedlings and clumps of dirt from the container. I am a little skeptical on how efficiently they decompose, for I found that a few months after planting that many were still intact and hardly rotten and decomposing. I will talk about the other problems in a future blog. Anyhow, I chose this idea, for I thought that, though the containers were small, that it was a big enough vessel for a seedling, and that it's decomposition process would help during the transplant process. Also, I thought that, since these were made specifically for gardening, that they were the best or most usual indoor garden planting style. 

      To get the dirt we went to a nearby spot where the township supplied compost for it's residents. Look around, there might be spots like this near you. We brought it back and filled each vessel about 1/2 or 1/4 inch from the top. This was so that, if we watered, the seeds would not rise and flood over the edge. Here is a picture of these peat pots filled with soil.      

        Most of my indoor plants were soaked/germinated seeds since this gave them an even longer head start. For the smaller seeds I either directly planted them, or I used that paper towel- egg shell container method I spoke of before, to place them in the vessels. Instead of planting the whole egg shell container in,  I just placed the paper towel in with the seeds. At first I started to pick up these seeds by hand, but my dad said that you could use a small rod (a pencil or twig) to pick up the seeds since the water on the seeds would stick to the rod. He also showed how to separate the small seeds by ripping the paper towel in the middle. We planted the seeds in sections, and took careful note of where each plant was. The diagram looked similar to the germinating one. Also similar with the germination was the fact that seedlings, like seeds, could look very similar. There are certain planting depths for each type of seed, but remember: not too deep that the roots won't have room to grow and not too shallow that the seed will float to the surface or get washed away . Usually, the larger seeds are planted deeper but smaller seeds are planted shallower. Always plant more than you need for some plants will not grow. Also try not to plant two plants per one peat pot. Only for coriander and other such plants which are actually two plants per one seed. If another plant grows, it is not bad. Choose the strongest one and pull out the weaker one later. 

     Next was placement. Place the planted seeds in a spot where they will not be disrupted by you or your pets. They must also be in a place which receives sunlight. Instead of sunlight, you can always use grow lights (artificial lighting which acts like the sun indoors). Now, it can be quite hard to find a spot like this. What I did was I put my seeds in a garage at night to protect from the wind and harsh weather, but placed them outside each day so that they would receive sunlight. I pulled the peat pots on pizza boxes; I did not pick them up. Doing so, would disturb the seeds and create a chance of me accidentally dropping it. Pulling the plants outside also made watering them easier. For any harsh weather (like snow) during the day I kept my seeds in the garage. Rain, however, was a different story. I left them outside to use the rain. 

      At first, these containers were not good at containing water. Perhaps the holes drained them out. Perhaps the container acted like a wick rather than a sponge. Anyhow, at first when I watered the peat pots the water thoroughly soaked them.When you water, remember, do not use a high powered hose since a jet of water would push up all the mud and disturb the roots. I messed up a bit with this. Though it will take a while, use a watering can with a head, and sprinkle water on the plants. Due to the fact that the hose water was not always an ideal temperature, we would put the hose water in the watering can ahead of time to reach room temperature. I needed about 4 to 5 watering cans of water.
      The peat pots dried very quickly, and towards the very end of this indoor planting (probably because I did not transplant for a long time) the water started to slide off without sinking into the soil. It was the strangest thing. The only way to describe it is like when you put a drop of water on wax paper. This, though, only happened at the end. The watering issue was mainly just the containers not holding the liquid. I would water them every day when I came back from school. Perhaps I should have watered them in the morning since that is the best time (in the afternoon the water could shock the plants, in the night diseases and moisture loving pests come). I, however, chose the afternoon and tried to water diligently.  Still, that was barely enough. My dad decided that a way to contain more water was to put the containers into a few boxes and plastic boxes. They held water. This was a great improvement to the pizza boxes we had the peat pots on, since the pizza boxes were not ideal for keeping in water in their broken state. Of course, the problem of too much water arrived, since, although some boxes had holes, others did not. Because of this, some plants got too wet and the boxes had to emptied regularly. We were very fortunate to have quite a lot of rain, so between the boxes and this precipitation, the plants got plenty of water. Sadly, I did not have the foresight to take a picture of these boxes.

     In later posts I will talk about transplanting, watering, and outdoor planting. This should for the coming gardening season. Later, as I promised, I will talk about the nature visitors of the garden and the Bald Eagles. 

Germination and Slimy Beans

        In this post I will be discussing how to germinate seeds, and divulging the queer "Slimy Bean Incident".
        First, I would like to call your attention to the poll at the right. In an attempt to see the reasons for why my blog is being viewed, I have made one. I ask that you all, whether a first or second timer, whether a gardener or a person who just accidentally came across it, answer the post. I believe that you don't need to be a member or anything. If you could, I would appreciate that greatly. I apologize for the fact that you may have to scroll sideways. I failed to be concise.
        Anyhow, back to germination. Germination is the sprouting and growth of a seed. When you put a seed in the ground, if it germinates, it is well on it's way to growing. My dad brought my attention to speeding up the germination process.
         When a seed germinates it is using water from the soil and around it, to a)soften the shell around it, to let out it's roots and b)unlock the stored energy and nutrients in the seed. Now water does not unlock these things on it's own, but it is an important factor to this process.
          My dad said that, instead of letting the water in the soil (which might not be a lot) germinate the water, if I soaked it in a large amount of water for a couple days, the seeds would germinate a lot faster.
          What we did was we took a plastic container and placed a segment of paper towel in it. We then took the larger seeds and opened the packet. You do this by placing a pencil in the packet opening and rolling it while sliding it forward. That should be able to open the packet neatly, so you can close/staple it later.
           Then using my plan, I decided which and how many seeds to germinate. You always want to germinate 5 to 10 more than you plan to use, since some seeds will not germinate.
           Now some seeds look alike, such as the pumpkin and the squash, and the spinach, carrot, and lettuce. Because of that germinate these seeds in two groups. Also, make a diagram of where each group of seeds are. Here is my diagram:

              I made the mistake of putting the two tomatoes together, and the spinach and carrots. 

              Next I put another section of paper towel over all the seeds, and got half a glass of warmish water. It can't be too hot or too cold that it shocks the seeds. Not shocking the seeds, while germinating and planting is one of the most important things to remember. While in their dry shells, the seeds can put up with some force, pressure, and roughness. However, once the shells are soft, handling the seed even slightly rough can damage a seed. Pour the water over everything, dousing it thoroughly. Then cover up the container with a lid and place in an area where it won't be disturbed, and where it is humid and warm, such as near a radiator. It is important that you make sure the container does not have air holes, or a way for the water to evaporate or dry. We put some of our seeds in a tomato container with air holes and when we came back, it was bone dry and the seeds were dead. 

              For smaller seeds, which you can not plant by hand, you can use an egg carton and put small pieces of paper towel in each slot. Then you put a couple seeds in each one, and cover with a paper towel. You then use the water. Later, when you plant it, you can cut away the carton and put the whole thing in the ground. The paper towel and egg carton should dissolve in the ground, as long as it is a small piece.

This doesn't always work, and it might be better and easier to just place the seeds straight in the ground. If you water them zealously for a week or two, they should sprout just fine. 

              Generally, seeds take a few days to germinate using the method. Check after the 3rd day and if some of them have tails (a sprout that sticks out of them) then they are ready to plant. Here is a picture of a seed with a tail. It is not mine:

http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-do-seeds-sprout/

When you plant, place the tail down (it is the root).

                 What we did was our biggest mistake with this germination. It is also the reason the "Slimy Bean Incident" happened. We never had time during the week to plant, so we always let our seeds sit for a week-week and a half in the water. Because of this, our plants might not have grown well in the future, I am not sure. Anyhow, our seeds would sit there, and the paper would rot. Finally, we would plant them. The first batch did not at first show signs of that they had been over germinated. The only thing was that I wished I had planted my carrot seeds without this method, for they are actually quite small and hard to pick out. 

                 The second batch, however, was when it happened. The beans had leaked open this thick white, sticky, disgusting mucus. It covered the other seeds and mixed with the smell of the rotten paper. I remember opening it in the kitchen. It took a while for the smell to disappear. Anyway, we were worried. We thought either a)beans were not supposed to be germinated in this way or b)the seeds in this packet were bad. I did some research, but I don't really remember my results. I also don't remember what my dad got except the fact that some people actually eat this! Maybe it tastes better, if you cook it. We still didn't know, so I contacted the seed company. The man who responded said that as long as the bean is germinating it is okay, but if it doesn't, then it is probably rotten. He said that beans need a temperature of 70 degrees and that you should probably plant them  in the ground. Anyway, between this email and Google search, we found out the bean had fermented. This can be caused by too much germination. Oops. We planted our beans directly into the ground and they grew fine, until the bugs. That's another story, however. We did plant one or two slimy beans, and they actually grew!

                  One other thing I noticed, was that basil seeds actually get this transparent glob around them. This is perfectly normal, but makes it easier to shock this plant.

                  So, next year I have learned some important things about germinating. I do not have any actual pictures of this, but I will take some pictures the next time I germinate. 

                  This is the Blomer signing out. 

Pictures For My Plan

Here were the pictures I said I'd upload.

This is the pea vine climbing up our string structure. This is called Vertical Gardening.

As you can see, the plants grew much bigger than I had expected. The middle of this picture is the aisle of our plot. It is covered by the pumpkin plant. (Sorry it's sideways).

This is the left side of my plan for the garden. The dates are horizontal, while the vegetables are vertical. You will see what the letters and colors mean.

This is the middle of my plan.

This is the end portion and the key for my plan

The first plan is what I wanted it to be, before my dad told me to consider size, and such. The bottom one is what I finally decided on. You will see what the colors and signs mean.

This is the left side of the key for my garden bed layout.

This is the other side of the key for the garden bed layout

This is the left side of my garden cost sheet

This is the middle of my garden cost sheet. I did not fill it out completely so it is not up to date

This is the last side of my garden cost sheet. Again it is not up to date.

This is a more simplified version. It does not have costs or savings. It just has the savings I made off the vegetables alone without any subtraction. Once again it is not up to date.

I am sorry if these pictures are late, and not perfectly clear but this should give you an idea of what I did. You will have to refer to my previous post: My Plan for what is what. I hope this helps you when planning your garden. If you have any questions, join this site so you can post a comment/question. I'll try to help out. It would help if you post it under the latest post, no matter what the post is about. 

            The Blomer signing out.

Garlic and Arugula... Or Is It?

          The first few vegetables that we grew in our garden was not, in fact a seed. We were handed these by a fellow gardener, one of the head ones I believe. One was a couple of garlic plants which were doing well. The other, however, was a few dying sprigs of a leafy green. They were no bigger than a tiny basil leaf. We were told that it was arugula, and planted it, thinking of it's pitiful state. To the right you can see the green plant and to the left is the garlic.

          Surprisingly, this John Doe vegetable seemed to do better than the garlic. It grew and became huge leaves stretching towards the sky. The garlic stems became green and lush, and we were very pleased that our start at gardening had worked out so well.

          Now let me tell you something about garlic. There are two ways to harvest it. The first way, is the one that is know by many, waiting until the bulb has grown. You will know that a bulb has grown because the stems will brown and wither. Be careful however, for your garlic could start rotting if you wait too long. If you want you can pull them out a little early the first year and from there you can decide for yourself. The second way you can harvest garlic is by cutting off the fronds like a leafy green and using that as a herb. This is a good idea while you are waiting for your bulb to grow or if you plant the garlic too close. Planting too close and not thinning would result in bulbs not being able to grow, so you would get more green but no root. When you cut a stalk off, leave some fronds so that photosynthesis can occur to regrow the garlic.
          Anyhow, back to the arugula. When I first ate this, I was shocked not to find the bitter taste, that arugula gives. My parents were also surprised, and speculated that this was due to the cooking of it. We also noticed though, that the leaves were not spiky like the arugula plant.
         We finally were enlightened a week or so later, when a gardener saw our plant and said that it was not arugula, but romaine lettuce. That explained it. Sadly, as I will tell later, the slugs and pests ate at it, but this romaine lasted until the end of spring, and is one of the hardiest plants I've ever seen to make such an amazing comeback.

Costs

       Now that I had my garden bed and seeds, I am going to give my first cost. I set up my cost in a spreadsheet (the picture will also be included with the other photos, I am uploading to this blog).
       In the first section I had the expense. The second section had the cost. After this I added the vegetable savings. I first had the vegetable name, then the total weight and amount, and finally the total cost of each vegetable that I grew. I also added the savings that were left over after each vegetable paid it's amount of the garden cost. With that I added the amount needed per type of vegetable to get a saving. I know this all seems very complicated, but the picture will clear things up.
      Anyhow, I had a few things to add to the expense side. First was the participation fee and the space fee. The full cost of these two things are for the area of 3 raised beds. Considering that I am only keeping track of my bed, I divided the cost by 3. The final cost for these fees was $47. $17 for participation, and 30 for space. Also, though the compost was free, the Spagnum peat moss had to be bought.  The Spagnum peat moss came to $14. When we were getting this peat moss, my parents did buy many more seed packets, however I didn't use any. The seeds that I did buy came to $15.84.
      Finally, the discussion of gas came into the factor. I couldn't walk or bike there, since the road leading to it, is very dangerous. I think I might have come up with a long detour, but I'm not sure. I decided that there would be a cost of gas, so I decided to keep track of how many trips I took. I made a chart. I gave the date, the number of times we went that day, (going there and back would be going 2 times), what we did there, and who went. Next to all of this, I would make a star. If I worked on my bed, then I would put a star counting the trip. If I was just looking and didn't touch anything, or if I worked on beds other than my own, then I wouldn't count it. I found the cost of a one way trip, by first finding the mileage. Our route is two miles long. Our car is a only 18 miles a gallon, which I know is non-environmental. A gallon gas is about $4, so you simplify 2 out of 18 miles to 1 out of 9. Then you find 1/9 of $4 and you find the gas cost. It was a stunning 44 cents there and 44 cents back.
         So, in total, not counting car trips, the expenses have come to $76.84.
        Already, a home garden would be winning, with no fees, or car trips. However, I still believe that more vegetables will grow in the community garden, so I haven't given up.