Progress - Definitely Not Perfection

Tomatoes

Okra (Swiss Chard & Onion trying to get in the shot)

My first round of seedlings encountered some loss thanks to me being a newbie in seed starting. I over watered them and they weren't receiving enough light in the north facing window sill I had them in (you should put them in a south facing window) So, about half of them are goners. Most of them were lettuce varieties, beets, kale, swiss chard, and a few onions. So hopefully I wasn't too late for the remaining tomatoes, basil, parsley and peppers. I'll keep you updated.

I've since planted the second round which includes spinach and succession plants from the previous batch (more tomatoes, lettuce and onions) and I replanted what I lost. It probably seems like I'm overdoing it, but I'd like to try to enjoy garden fresh produce year round and I'd like to share with friends and family.  I spent hours planning and and researching, so hopefully it will pay off.

Here's a few great resources for gardening in NW Florida that have been very helpful to me:

• Florida Gardening Calendar Tips for what to plant and regular maintenance every month.
• Vegetable Guide (Table 3 was VERY helpful during my planning)
• You Grow Girl I have the book, but the website has even more great info and pretty pictures. The author, Gayla Trail, has a new book called "Grow Great Grub: Organic Food From Small Spaces."

Planting & Purpose

I planted seeds last week (January 21st). I planned out four 4X4 raised beds. So far I have planted Romaine, Tomatoes, Sweet & Hot Peppers, Leaf Lettuce, Beets, Onions, Basil, Parsley, Bok Choi and Cherry Tomatoes. Everything has germinated so far. I hope I can keep at least half of the seedlings alive. My compost is started and I'm hoping to make a couple of rain bins.

Cameron and I are very interested in what they're calling "Urban Homesteading." I just call it back to basics.

We're starting with the vegetable garden this year and in the next few will hopefully venture into raising poultry, planting fruit trees, home brewing, canning/preserving, needlework etc.

There are so many blogs and books with tutorials and great information. I'll have to pick through my faves and share them here. I'm sharing this information because I think that this blog is going in the direction of tracking our experience and growth as "Urban Homesteaders" I will probably change the name of my blog to correspond with it's purpose and hopefully will get a new look and some kind of logo. Maybe...if I'm successful enough I'll even do tutorials and giveaways!

Here's the family that gave me the final push of inspiration I needed to start really making efforts in transforming our lifestyle. Meet the Dervaes family.