First Post

Hello all, well whomever reads these things. I'm writing this as a way to keep track of whatever I do in my garden, as this is my first garden outside of a few pots at my old apartment. So, if you are not me and you read through this, I apologize for the many rambling/incomplete sentences and grammatical errors and I recommend that you just stop reading, as I have no wisdom to share and probably won't improve my writing abilities. I'm just not capable of writing well due to a combination of the facts that I studied math in college and my job consists primarily of reviewing websites written by people who only have the faintest notion of the English language. I called the site"experimental garden" because I don't know what I'm doing, not because of any illicit plants, just fyi.

I know very little about gardening so I was looking around the internet for advice and instruction (I sorta owe the library like a hundred dollars, so they're not too keen on lending me books right now) and I found this great podcast done by an adorable lady named Emma in the UK called Alternative Kitchen Garden ( http://coopette.com/akg ). I think she has similar growing conditions to me in Woodinville, WA (same latitude, I'm in zone 7b, I think she's in 8a) and like me she wants variety and organic practices in her garden. Unlike me, she's an absolute genius and I can't wait to get my hands on her book, which is around 25$ on Amazon. A slight problem with this podcast is that I want to try everything she mentions! For instance, did you know that tea bushes can grow in the Pacific Northwest? I mean, that's not what she actually says, but we have the acidic soil they need, thanks to all the cedar trees. They might good to try, since Josh (hubby) drinks about a gallon of Crystal Lite tea everyday and I'm sure it's going to give him cancer if I don't switch him to something natural soon.

I do have real life garden mentors I can ask questions until I'm blue in the face, but their needs are a bit different than mine; one has a fancy proper garden with shaped topiaries and whatnot, and the other is actually a biodynamic co-op farmer who taught me everything I know about how to raise food while I volunteered at his farm. The farm is called Jubilee Farm, and it's just Southeast of Woodinville in Carnation ( http://www.jubileefarm.org/index.cfm ). The delicious food Erik grows taught me that I'm never trying Kohlrabi or apple trees, Plums and grapes are better grown here than from the store, and that one day I must grow my own celery. I would continue to volunteer at Jubilee for my veggies, but Josh and I just bought a house on a whole fifth of an acre and I'm very excited about trying my own garden. If this is a complete failure, then back to Erik I will go next year. Actually, I feel guilty for not going to Erik this year, but he's a very sucessful farmer, so he can manage without me.

I may or may not link this up with my Facebook page, it all depends on wether or not I can figure out how to.