Best Grass Seed Ever!

I'm so happy with the results of this grass seed I just had to write about it!

For years we tried to grow grass at our old house with no luck. Oh sure... it would grow, but the second we walked on it, the grass would die!

So when we moved into our new house we decided to try our hand at grass seed again. We kind of had to. My husband drove on the front lawn all winter so we could easily unload our boxes at the front door, great idea, right? Well, when the snow melted in the spring, all the grass was dead...lesson learned!

Here it is, SCHULTZ High Traffic Lawn. We purchased it at Menard's for about $7 for a (small) 3lb bag, but in my opinion it's worth every penny.

Being very pregnant, I just wanted easy. So I thought I would experiment with one bag of grass seed first. I didn't do any prep at all to amend the soil. Just opened the bag, sprinkled it by hand onto the dead lawn, and watered. Voila, we have grass!

It's been about a month now and we have mowed it three times. SUCCESS. It's still living! And it keeps getting thicker every day.

Here's a photo of the bag along with our new green lawn.

You can read more about it here. This is not a paid endorsement.
http://www.menards.com/main/outdoors/gardening/lawn-plant-care/schultz-3lb-hardy-lawn-mixture/p-1920567-c-10116.htm

Potato Hilling with Straw

This is my first time growing potatoes. We go through so many of them in our house. And for years I kept hearing how there is nothing better then a fresh, homegrown potato! I chose to grow the Yukon Gold, they are my favorite! I love the creamy texture and the buttery taste of them.

So last week I finally made it to Gertens garden center to get my straw bales and had planned to get five bales so I can cover my potatoes and then mulch the rest of my vegetable garden with it.  Much to my surprise the price of straw has doubled since I last purchased it a few years ago as a Halloween decoration for my yard. It was $9.50 for one straw bale, needless to say I only purchased one and that will be used for the potatoes. (I mean, there has to be a reasonable limit to how much money I stick into this garden right?)

Here's how my potatoes looked before mounding them with straw.

 

 

I'm hoping I didn't wait too long and let the plants get too tall. They were about a 12 inches high before I got them covered. I guess we wait and see!

  

  

And here they are all covered up. I have nine plants in a three foot section of a raised bed. I used chicken wire to make a cage to hold the straw in. They are a little crowded, but I didn't want to give up any more space in my garden.

 

 

I left the top four inches exposed to sunlight so they can continue growing. And with all the rain we've been having here in Minnesota, I've had to re-cover them again since I took this picture just a couple of days ago as they grew another eight inches.

 

I would love to know if any of you have had success growing potatoes this way?

 

Lisa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Planning your garden for next year!

Here's a little tip for you if you didn't get the chance to do a garden this year, or if you plan on expanding your garden next year. Start tracking the amount of sunlight you get and marking it out NOW!

This is the mistake I made. We had just moved to our new house a few months ago and I was extremely eager to get the garden started. I only tracked the "sunlight to garden" area for two weeks, I made my adjustments and started planting. Unfortunately the sunlight has moved SO much more than I expected. Some of my beds are now only getting four to five hours of sun...big bummer! I am crossing my fingers in hopes that everything works out and my little veggies will thrive.

First Step: Pick your spot
To begin the process you will need to first mark out the area you would like to have a garden. Choose an area south of tall trees and an area far enough away from the north side of any building structure that can obstruct light (about fifteen to twenty feet). South and west facing areas are ideal.

Next step: Rise and Shine
You will have to get up early and go out to you designated area on an hourly basis until the sun goes down or is no longer shining in that area. I did this daily, but if you are tracking the whole season I think once a week would be sufficient. The sunlight started at 9am in my location and ended around 7pm.

 Note: You want to have 6-8 hours of sunlight for you vegetable garden.

Last step: Mark your territory
You can stake out your area that is in the sun using garden stakes and twine, large rocks, leftover lumber or even spray paint (as long as you don't mow the grass in that area) You will have to keep moving your markers to adjust for the suns (earths) movement, and then track how much sunlight the new area gets.

Don't forget to write it down in a notebook or journal so at the end of the growing season you can compile your findings and choose the perfect location.

I am currently doing this myself and will most likely be moving a few of my raised beds to a sunnier location this fall.

Happy Gardening. Lisa

Welcome to The Minnesota Garden Girl!

Thank you for reading my blog as I am just getting started! I am excited to bring you photos, gardening tips and updates on my gardening success and failures as the season progresses.

My reason for starting this blog was out of my own frustration of trying to find gardening information online specifically geared toward our CRAZY Minnesota weather!

Now a little about me. My name is Lisa, I am a wife, and a stay at home mother of three boys and another (boy) on the way! I'm by no way an expert gardener, but it's something I thoroughly enjoy and have been doing since I was a little girl.

Me and my Boys. Ryan, Tycen & William

Off to the garden center to buy some straw bales now, have a good evening. Lisa