Garden Update

The garden is reaching a transition point where I really need to pull up all of the lettuce type plants and plant some hardier things in their place (or not).

Eggplants

(Japanese Eggplant)

Peppers

Ok I have to admit that I ran out of room in the garden and had to plant this bell pepper plant in a pot.  But it's doing great especially since I took it off the deck ( I noticed one of the bells had gotten a bit of sun scald, so I moved it to a somewhat shadier spot).

(Poor Bell outside the garden in a pot)

(Sun Scald - Where the sun has burned the fruit.). This can be prevented by making sure the fruit is well protected wite plenty of leaves and making sure that the plant is well watered so the leaves don't wilt when the sun is at it's hottest.  Sun Scald doesn't ruin the fruit, however that spot is usually mushy and and soft.  I will usually pick the fruit and cut out the soft spot or donate the whole thing to the compost bin.

These peppers can be eaten at any stage.  They will go from green to red (this particular type). The red peppers will have a much sweeter taste than the green.

This little guy looks to be on his way to turning red, so he won't get very big.  But the little ones taste just as good as the bigger ones, so I won't be discriminating in the kitchen.

(Mild Poblano Peppers)  I'm a real wuss when it comes to hot peppers, but I usually grow them to put in my pickles every year because my mom and husband like 'em spicy. No pickles this year so I can grow mild flavored peppers for salsas and sauces that I can eat.

 (Mild Chiles)

Squash

So I made a poor planting decision by planting this squash in front of my cucumber plant.  You can see the cucumber leaves peaking out next to the fence.  I had to make a decision and dramatically cut back this plant although I hated to do it. So what you see now is a quarter of the plant that it originally was. It was also beginning to encroach on my bean plants on the bottom right.

The trellised Butternut Squash experiment still seems to be doing well.

Beans

(Various Shelling Beans - Cranberry, Black Peas, Navy, Edamame etc)

(Soy Beans)

(Green Beans - lettuce in front that needs to be put out of it's misery, and a very vibrant Sweet Basil plant to the far right)

Plants on Their Way Out

(Left to Right - Arugula, Broccoli, Mustard Greens and Collard Greens)  The Collard Greens will be staying

And Then Comes the Hard Part

I spent the winter drooling over seed catalogs and wishing for spring sunshine.  I imagined all of fun and satisfaction my garden would give me come spring. However, I did forget about the painful, back-aching and all over soreness that comes first.  How soon we forget. I guess it's like child birth from what I hear and you forget about all the pain when you see your plants begin to grow and produce tasty treats...Well I haven't forgotten yet :) the ache in my back and arms keeps reminding me.

This weekend, I pulled a weekend warrior and got the winter garden cleaned up, turned over and fed the soil and prepared for the my spring garden.  The weather wasn't as beautiful as it had been during the work week (Murphy's Law) but it was warm enough for me to be drenched in sweat within 30 minutes (Heck, I could have cancelled my morning workout at the gym had I remembered I'd be working this hard).  The survivors of the winter clean-up were the Onions (which are doing marvelous this year),  the Chard and Leeks.  The Collard Greens had begun to flower so, I harvested the tender leaves and pruned them down in preparation for spring growth.

Winter Garden Remains

Rainbow Chard and White Onions

Every year I try my hand at starting my own seedlings for those hard to find veggies. (Sometimes they make it sometimes they don't).  This year I started Black Eyed Peas, Soy Beans, Thai Egglplant, Celery and Moth Beans. I usually use one of those 75 plant greenhouses placed on top of a seedling heating mat underneath a grow light.  This has worked very well for me over the years to sprout my seeds rather quickly.

Emerging Peas and Seedlings

After the heavy labor was done on Saturday, my hubby and I went to Lowe's on Sunday to start picking up my "bought" seedlings.  Now mind you, I had already drooled over all the nice plants on my preview trips to my 2 nearby Lowe's and Home Depot stores  and had my list in hand.  To my disappointment, a lot of the plants looked a bit bedraggled and the Bok Choi and Beets I had been eyeing were nowhere in sight.  My treasure hunt only turned up a few Green and Red Leaf Lettuce flats, Marigolds, Sweet Basil, Onion Chives (We already had tons of Garlic Chives in the herb garden) and Box Leaf Basil.  At that point I knew I'd have to go store hopping and hope the selection was better.  My poor husband wasn't up for it, having recently gotten over the "crud" (fondly known by everyone as the cold/flu ailment that  is going around) and I let him go home.

So I was off on my own and after a trip to two Home Depots and another Lowe's, I hit pay dirt at Orchard Supply.  I loaded up the back of my  crossover ( better known as the mini van) with Walla Walla and Red Onion sets, Spinach, Fennel, Egglplant, Broccoli, Thyme, Texas Tarragon, Pinapple Basil, Kentucky Pole Beans, Soy Beans, Bunching Onions, and Greek Oregano.  Still no Bok Choi or Beets though :(.

With veggie booty in hand, I drive up and my hubby and Remy (the pomeranian) greet me planning on giving me a hand. As the back hatch slowly opens, my "help" heads back into the house after seeing this load was going to take more than 5 minutes to unload and they had ice cream "melting" inside. 3 hours later I had "most" of my treasures nestled in their new homes complete with a splash of Bone Meal, Blood Meal, Kelp Meal and ground feathers.  I had previously amended the ground with Steer and Chicken Manure.

Soy Beans, Tarragon and Baby Chard                       Green Leaf Lettuce in front of Kentucky Green Beans

 

By dusk on Sunday the garden was planted and watered and the only thing left to do was wait another week or so for the soil to be warm enough for my peppers and tomoatoes and I'd be set. Except I still needed to find a home for the rest of the veggies I'd bought with wild abandon not taking into account my current garden space (as I do every year :)). Now what's fennel not compatible with?

The leftovers

This week....the herb garden, the leftovers and the drip system, stay tuned...