Its gardening time…FINALLY! We had such beautiful weather a few weeks back that I was chomping at the bit to get everything planted. This is what the garden looked like a few weeks ago…(that green patch in the middle is Sweet William, a flower).
And this is what it looks like now…
What a difference a few weeks make. I can hardly wait to see what its going to look like a month from now!
Here’s what’s growing:
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| Onions |
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| Beets |
I’m growing lots and lots of beets this year. I’ve been on this beet kick lately and can’t get enough of them. Suzanne’s neighbor, Bernie the Saint, makes the most delicious canned beets in the universe, and being the saint that she is, she gave Suzanne her recipe. I’ve never canned beets before, and I think I’m more excited about the beets maturing than anything else in the garden!
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| Spinach |
I harvested a small bowl of spinach the other night to throw into our green salad. Its the first thing that we’ve eaten out of the garden so far. I planted another whole row last weekend.
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| This is either collard greens or kale |
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| ditto |
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| Spring mix lettuce |
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| Pea pods |
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| Tomatillos |
I’ve never grown tomatillos before. Actually, I’ve never done anything with a tomatillo, but my goal is to make some salsa verde.
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| Green beans |
I actually don’t really even care for fresh green beans too much, but I love the height and depth they add to the garden when the vines grow up the poles and fill in the teepee. I might try making some canned dilly beans…we’ll see.
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| Red potatoes in the potato tower |
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The tower on the right is the red potatoes,
the one on the left is Yukon Gold |
Last year I didn’t get one stinkin’ potato out of my potato towers, but I think its because I used regular store bought potatoes that were sprouting. This year I bought seed potatoes, and just to be safe, I planted some in the garden as well. The idea behind the potato towers is the same as the old tire concept that my parents used to do, where you start off planting potatoes in the lower portion, then as they grow, keep covering them up with dirt and adding another tire, eventually all the way to the top. Apparently, it never occurred to anyone that there would be some nasty chemicals leeching out of those tires and into the dirt. These towers are made with wire fencing, straw from the chicken coop, and potting soil.
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| Tomatoes |
Aw, my beloved tomatoes! The whole reason why I started gardening in the first place. Home grown tomatoes are like no tomato you’ve ever tasted. And when the little cherry tomatoes are ripe and still warm from the sun….heaven! I planted a Better Boy, Sweet 100’s, a Roma, an Heirloom and I still have to plant the Early Girl. I’m growing my tomatoes in pots this year in the hopes of avoiding black spot/blight/whatever its called. I heard the bacteria/disease can live in the soil and my tomatoes got it last year. So I put fresh potting soil into their pots and am hoping for the best.
What isn’t pictured, but is growing in the garden is: carrots, flowering sweet peas (I love mixing in flowers with the veggies), cabbage, cilantro (that is coming up all over the place, all by itself from the seeds from last year’s plants – I love that!), red and green peppers (to make my mom’s famous pepper jelly), jalapenos, cucumbers, romaine lettuce, iceburg lettuce, zinnias, pumpkins and rhubarb. I also have a flat of basil that is growing in the house.
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| THE ENEMY! |
Does anyone know what this plant is? It has a bamboo like look and grows like a giant magic bean stalk. I pull it up all the time. Please take my advice and put weed block down before you make your garden beds. I have no idea why we didn’t and I’m considering at the end of this growing season emptying out at least the one bed that is rampant with it, putting down weed block and refilling it.
How is your garden growing? Do you grow in raised beds, directly in the ground or in pots on the patio?
I’ll keep you posted on my progress. Happy Gardening!
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