June Pictures

It has been super rainy until this week and super hot!

I was able to harvest the broccoli crowns and a cabbage. I finally gave in and dusted them with Bt which really helped. The old leaves started turning a bit red last week, so I side dressed with bone & blood meal. Now they are very green again. Hopefully we will get more broccoli shoots now that they've gotten some fertilizer. The biggest dill plant is super pretty now and is attracting wasps (hopefully of the parasitic kind). Note to self: for companion planting to work, the herbs/flowers must be planted ahead of the vegetable. We've also had lots of turnip greens, although some of the roots have rotted due to all this rain (or slugs). I think it's about time to pull it all up as it's getting too hot for the leaves. I also harvested one, single head of romaine. Why does this plant elude me so? In the very back are okra seedlings. They are too small to see from this angle, but they soon won't be.

The potato bin is one project that got really left out in May. We've added one slat, but as you can see the potatoes have outgrown that one. I don't know how well these guys will end up doing. We should get a few potatoes though.

In this front bed is swiss chard and beets on the left. We've really enjoyed the swiss chard, but the beets are still bulbing very tiny. I probably have them planted too close together? In the middle was mostly onions, which I have pulled up. They also didn't bulb that well. But I do have some. On the right are my red gold potatoes. They should do well and be ready in another month.

The bushyness in the middle are 5 roma tomato plants that I didn't get caged. Next to them are a couple of unstaked peppers and an eggplant that I have struggled with. I am constantly spraying for the flea beetles, and I am determined. In front are two sad zucchini plants. I finally pulled them up because of bacterial wilt. The rest of this bed is 18 sweet potato plants.

In the middle here are beautiful nasturtiums. As you can see, I really only have one hill of corn that did ok. The rest withered away. I just can't get the hills to retain water. This is definitely the last year of the three sisters. On the right front hill are a few volunteer potato plants. The rest of the hills are my replantings of cucumbers, squash, and melons. These look very nice too. On the left side are pole beans and the right are pole limas which have both just come up.

I forgot to take pics of the other tomatoes and the porch plants. I will try to get those up tomorrow.

Late Planting

Today I finished replanting the squash, melons, and cucumbers. I also finally planted pole beans, pole limas, and basil, as well as a new round of looseleaf lettuce and a salad mix I got at Pinetree. I can't find sweet potato plants at this late date, but I did pick up some cantaloupe plants, so that will give them the same start my seeds would have had. The okra I planted on Friday is already sprouting. Yay for soaking seeds!

I also picked up some Bt dust for the cabbage worms, although it's probably too late, and some pyrethrien spray for the flea beetles on the eggplant. These are considered organic pesticides, and I'm a little desperate. I think that the eggplant will recover. It even looks like it's about to flower.

Hopefully I will get pictures of garden progress up soon.

Restructuring

Lesson #1 - If you neglect your garden for a month, it will be utter disaster when you get back to it.

Lesson #2 - Don't plant seeds in peat moss. It's a 1 in ten chance that they will sprout. The peat just doesn't hold moisture.

Of all the seeds I planted in the brand new bed, only zucchini sprouted. Since I was really behind in planting the second two sisters, I decided to plant one curcubit per mound. The three sisters bed was overloaded with weeds and most of the corn has withered away, so I've spent most of the morning trying to get the bed under control. The good things are that I had volunteer watermelon, pepper, and potato plants from last year. I transplanted a pepper and potato to see how they will do, and I left the watermelon and planted a few watermelon seeds around it. The other good thing in that bed is that the nasturtiums look fabulous! I can't wait to see flowers and also to see if it really helps with squash bugs.

My other big problem is flea beetles on my eggplant and cabbage worms. I successfully grew cabbage and broccoli for the first time only to have it decimated in days. I did pick some broccoli, but I'm not sure if I will recover any cabbage.

Lesson #3 - I must use row cover next year!

I have been harvesting tons of greens. I made a yummy pasta with fried garlic, onions, greens and Parmesan. Today I think we will just be basic with steamed greens and rice and beans.

Curcubits

Today I finished the new layered bed. I planted a row of canteloupe; yellow squash and zuchhini with nastursiums; and a half row of cucumbers and a half row of watermelon. The sun was very strong today, so I kind of thought that's all I would do. However, after supper I was inspired to finish. I put in 4 roma tomatoes, 2 different bell peppers (Golden Doe & Islander), and a galine eggplant.

In the next few days, I hope to add sweet potatoes and perhaps some sunflowers to this bed. I think I will plant okra where I had the greens. The mustard is bolting now and the collards and kale didn't really come up.

We had nice lettuce, spinach, radishes, and the first of the peas in a yummy salad tonight! Yay!

Fourth Bed

DH helped me build my fourth and last, I think, vegie bed this evening. I got a layer of peat moss and straw laid down before it got too dark. Hopefully tomorrow I will get the final layers finished and get some planting started.

Tomatoes

On Friday I planted tomatoes in my rose bed: 2 brandywines that I had started from seed, 1 moskivich, and 1 Arkansas traveler. I tried to start them with a great start following Love Apple Farm's advice. I have done bits and pieces of her advice every year, and this year is no exception as I don't have everything she calls for. In each hole I did put: fish parts for lots of nutrition, 2 aspirin to jump start the immune system, 3 crushed egg shells for calcium to prevent blossom end rot, a handful of bone & blood meal for phosphorus to help with blossom production, and 2 handfuls Miracle Grow slow release 10-10-10 pellets. (I'm trying to use this up.) I planted the tomatoes deep so they will grow more roots and watered them very, very deeply.

I also planted two cherry tomatoes, one sungold and one black cherry, in containers on the back porch. These were in Miracle Grow potting soil, so I only added some bone & blood meal, aspirin, and egg shells.

Today I had planned to build my newest lasagne bed. I do have all my materials and bought the boards for the box. Unfortunately, rainstorms came and the bed will have to be built later this week, I hope.

April Pictures

Look what I harvested last week! Yes, as usual, I'm slow in posting the garden's progress. As of now there are more radishes and tons of mustard and turnip greens ready to be picked as well. Salads are now officially more interesting. Yay!

I took pictures of the garden just before we went on spring break the second week of April. It looks so much greener today, but here's the pictures that will be recorded for April.

This is the root vegetable bed. It has a lot of fall leaves on top that, unfortunately, are not very composted. Currently there are red gold (early) potatoes planted on the far left, then onions, carrots, chard, and beets. I put a little peat moss on top for the seeds to germinate in. On the far right are a couple of extra russet potatoes that didn't fit in the potato bin we built.

This is the brassica bed. In the back are greens (collards, kale, and mustard. For some reason the collards didn't really germinate that well, I will have to buy new seed for the fall. I planted parsnips in the next row forward, they also didn't germinate that well, but I did get a few. Next is turnips, then radishes and romaine lettuce. The romaine is another seed that didn't germinate well this year. Near the front is cabbage, broccoli, and dill. I also had trouble with the dill germinating, but I'm hoping that what did come up will not only be nice for pickles, but will also shoo away the cabbage moths.

Here is the pea teepee. They might be twice as high today and are starting to put out flowers.

Here is the potato bin we built for the russet (late) potatoes. The idea is as the potatoes grow, you keep piling leaves/straw/soil on and build the bin another slat high. The higher the potatoes grow, the more you get. Apparently this only works with late potatoes and not early ones. We'll see how that goes.

I am so proud of myself! I actually did get tomatoes and ancho peppers started from seed this year. They look pretty good, if I do say so myself.

This is the green ice leaf lettuce. It did look better, and then something dug in the middle of it. :/

My strawberries look the best they've ever looked, I think.

Left to Right: Parsley, Spearmint, Cilantro, Greek Oregano, and Thyme

Left to Right: Sage, Rosemary, Chamomile that volunteered from last year, Chives, and Parsley

My spinach also looks twice as big now. Salads are going to be a wonderful thing!

I just had to add some spring pictures from my front flower bed. I just love my tulips!

I love the daffodils too!

Here's the front of our house at the beginning of April. As you can see it's a nice day, so all the windows were open. Now all the flowers are gone, and the Bradford pears are in full leaf. Now I have to wait for my daisies and day lilies.

April Planting

Sunday I transplanted the broccoli as well as some cabbage I got at Lowe's into the brassica bed. Only one dill and no romaine had come up, so I planted more of them as well as some more radishes. The radishes are starting to be ready to add to salad. Yay, my first harvest!

David built a potato bin for my russets. I'm very curious to see how it works. All of the seed potatoes, except two, fit into the bin. I planted the extra two into the raised bed for a comparison of growth. I also planted more carrots in that bed.

I had intended to transplant the celery, but the sun burned them. I will have to try that once again next year. I am getting better at starting seeds since I have successfully started broccoli, tomatoes, and chili peppers for the first time this year. However, celery is still eluding me.

I also got almost all of my herbs started on the porch. I bought sage, oregano, thyme, and rosemary as plants and started chamomile, spearmint, and cilantro. The parsley I started a month ago is starting to produce small leaves, so it shouldn't be too long before I can use some of it.

I had hoped to get my corn planted, but I still need to get another load of mushroom soil. Hopefully that will get done this Sunday, if not before.

Pictures and Progress

Almost everything is up in the garden! It was so awesome to leave for spring break with nothing up outside and the daffodills not quite blooming, and then to come back with beautiful daffodils in the front yard and seedlings in beautiful green rows in the garden.

I have been hardening off the celery, broccoli, and leeks, and today I transplanted the leeks outside. I also planted onion plants and another row of carrots. So far, so good. I took pictures two weeks ago to record the garden for March. Since I went on spring break that day and work has been crazy, I am just now getting pictures up.

Can you see the spinach just starting to come up?

The circle of pots for my pea teepee. They're not up yet in this picture, but now, two weeks later, several plants are over an inch long and just starting to put out tendrils.

The first two raised beds. Greens are in the back one, and root vegis in the front one. Nothing up yet though! The garbage bags are fall leaves from a free source waiting to build another bed and add to my compost.

There's some yellow coming... Now the daffodils are in full bloom!

A view of the whole front flower bed. A nice transition from the red nandina to the green of spring!

March Planting

My indoor seedlings are up and growing fast! I've already transplanted the broccoli to bigger cups. So far so good. I need to relook at how to harden them off properly.

Sunday I planted collards, turnips, parsnips, radishes, romaine lettuce, and dill in the brassica bed. I also weeded and finished setting up the bed that will hold my root crops. I put in old soil from my containers and then a generous layer of fall leaves. In one section, I added some peat moss just so I would be able to have some structure to plant seeds. Then, I planted the mokium carrots, scallions, swiss chard, and beets. I also planted parsley in a container on the porch.

Nothing I've planted outside has come up yet, but it has been really nice and warm since Saturday, so hopefully I'll see something soon.

One Bed Prepped

Today I prepped the bed that will hold the brassicas & greens this year. Since this rotates after the three sisters bed, I weeded and smoothed out the mounds. Then I put a new layer of mushroom soil on top. Now it looks very nice. I went ahead and planted kale and mustard greens in one end also.

So far, nothing has really come up outside. It is much colder than usual this year, and in fact, we will probably get some more snow again tomorrow. Boo! Inside however, almost all my seedlings are up and happy. They are now in their south facing window, and they are embracing the sun. Only the celery and anaheim peppers haven't sprouted.

I hope real spring comes soon!

Starting Seeds

Tonight I started my indoor seed tray. I planted celery, broccoli, leeks, anaheim chili peppers, roma & brandywine tomatoes. I've had a hard time with starting seeds, but I am determined to take care of them this time. Hopefully, I'll have some transplants to harden and set out in a month or two.

Restart

So, last year was bad. It wasn't too terrible in the garden, but it could have been better. However, it was super terrible in the recording department. I'm determined to do better this year. It really is so helpful to me to look back at how the previous year was.

I'm also determined to do the garden really right this year, and I'm already making a decent start. Yay! Part that reason though is because we've had a really cold winter and quite a few snow days. Today was one of those days, but I still went out as the snow was falling and planted peas, spinach, and lettuce in their containers with fresh new potting soil. It will be interesting to see if they take longer to germinate than they should because they're a bit cold.

I also made my seed order at Pine Tree last night. I can't wait to get my package, and moreso I can't wait for it to be spring!