Iguana Garden 2001 At The Iguana Spot

Iguana Garden 2001

February, 2001

     Every year around this time, my thoughts turn to what I am going to plant in my garden this year. I was so thrilled when we finally decided to buy a house because I would finally be able to have the garden of my dreams! As it turns out, the house we purchased was built and formerly owned by a locally famous family of florists! In fact, the remnants of what used to a green house are in our backyard and there is a room off of our basement that still houses the safe (built in 1867 or thereabouts) that was used, we believe, for the flower shop.
     Our first growing season here I decided to let nature take its course and see what secret treasures the yard would yield. I was not disappointed! Wild flowers galore and a beautiful, mature blueberry thicket that we all, including the iguanas, ate well from. Sadly, just as planting season started last year, I had a horrible accident and my plans for a container garden fell by the wayside. Because I was incapacitated for the better part of May through July, the few containers I did manage to plant withered. Only my petunias thrived and I'm not at all sure how!
     This year, I have decided to plant an iguana garden! That is to say that 90% of what I grow will be food for them and us! I have already purchased my seeds and in a few weeks it will be time to start them inside! This is the first time I am attempting to grow some of these items and am not sure how well they will thrive here in New Hampshire where winter seems to last forever. Keep checking back here every few weeks to see how the garden is doing! I'll be posting pictures as they become available.

This Year's Crop
Everything will be started from seed!

wax beans
zucchini
mustard greens
turnip greens
collard greens
cherry tomatos
bell peper

cilantro
flat parsley
dill
morning glory**
nasturtium
petunia

**These items may not be edible for humans or iguanas, please consult your vet before feeding these items.

As some of these items take awhile to start growing before they can transplanted out doors, I'll be starting the seedlings the first week of March. A rule of caution to those who want to try this themselves, do not, under any circumstances, use chemical fertilizers or pesticides on these plants if you are going to feed them to your iguana! While the chemicals may be safe for humans, there is a chance that they are not safe for iguanas. It is best to use all natural items for fertilizing and pest controll.

March 5, 2001

It's snowing, in fact, if the weather men are right, we're headed into a blizzard the likes of which have no been seen since the seventies! I've also heard a rumor that there is a storm behind this one that will be arriving this weekend. So much for starting the seedlings this week!
Even though I'll be keeping them indoors, they still need to be exposed to sunlight. If it's going to snow for the better part of the week, there will be little sun flodding through the kitchen windows. So, I've decided to put off starting the seedlings for another week!

April 22, 2001

I managed to get the seeds planted a few weeks ago even though I haven't had time to update the website. For those of you who are regulars to The Iguana Spot, you know that we have 2 gravid females in the house, one of whom has already laid 21 of her eggs. It's been rather hectic around here.
Planting the seeds went fine and we even have some growth, I'm looking forward to being able to pick the fruits!!
In addition the seeds I listed above, we have also planted the following:

Strawberries
Chamomile (for tea)
Moonflowers
Ipomoea (tall mixed color morning glory)
Lavender (for its smell and healing properties)
Blackberry bushes

I have't had time to scan in all the pictures but as soon as things clam down I will!

June 25, 2001

So much for getting the new photos up, atleast we are beginning to gather the fruits of our labor in the garden! While the collards and turnip greens aren't doing as well as I had hoped, the mustard greens and cilantro are making up for by leaps and bounds! Infact, we already polished off one crop of cilantro and must now wait for more to grow! We've also had a few wax, beans, strawberries and nasturtium flowers but nothing else yet!