Saturday, May 30, 2009

2009-05-30 Update

A couple of quick thoughts this week: I was supposed to plant my fall crop of broccoli two weeks ago and forgot, so I did it this week along with some more cauliflower. I'm thinking I want to stagger my planting of these next year so I don't get eight heads of cauliflower at the same time.



I also gave up on the celery. It never really thrived in the peat pots, and it pretty much withered up as soon as I put it in the garden, despite being hardened off. I'll have to treat it like broccoli next year, starting early in February. The habaneros are not doing well. I will probably try them earlier next year, too.



We've been enjoying fresh lettuce, spinach and radishes for the last couple of weeks. And we have our first tomatoes, pumpkins and zucchini, as you can see. Happy gardening!

Friday, May 22, 2009

2009-05-22 Update

Just a brief status of each thing in the garden:

We have been harvesting lettuce, spinach and radishes all week. I planted more lettuce and spinach earlier this week and need to do the same on radishes. The onions are doing well, but a few of them have been eaten off at the base. A co-worker suggested it might be snails. Not sure what to do about that.

The peas have really taken off, already climbing up the trellis. I expect to see some blossoms in the next week.

All the beans have sprouted, but I went too long between watering on some of the dry beans and a few of them are toast. The yellow bush beans look like they were eaten by a bird as soon as they came up, so I'll probably just replant some of those squares with something else. The pole beans are doing well.

The broccoli was blown partially over by the wind on a couple of occasions this week. I think I'm going to try putting some horizontal nylon trellis around them to give them support. The broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are all huge, but don't look like they're even close to producing what I'm actually after.

The summer squash is doing well, each plant having about four true leaves and a bunch more starting. The winter squash is just getting its first true leaves. The pumpkins are growing quickly, and the baby pam and jack-o-lantern varieties already have tiny pumpkins on them. Don't know if they'll actually set, but it's fun to see them this early.

The corn looks good, about 2-3" high already. I need to build up the potato boxes and get some more soil on them. They're growing almost as fast as the morning glory.

The tomatoes are growing quickly, too. The two early varieties have already set some fruit! Yum! The peppers are doing alright, although the hot peppers seem to be struggling somewhat. It may just be too cool for them.

I transplanted the celery sometime in the last couple of weeks and it is pretty much dead. I think I need to start it in early February with the broccoli. I'll probably plant some more radishes and/or carrots in the two celery squares.

And lastly, the melons. I transplanted them this week and they're doing well so far.

I'm really wishing I had put down some weed cloth under some of the boxes, or that I had some protection over everything and could turn the chickens loose in the garden to knock the weeds down. I need to find something to put between the boxes to kill the weeds.

I spent some time earlier this week putting up some more frames. Tonight I got the nylon trellis netting up on all the frames I have. I need to do three more frames, then put a horizontal support in for the broccoli and probably the green peppers and the bush tomatoes. Oh, and build up the potato boxes, too. I thought I was done with all the hard work!

Friday, May 15, 2009

2009-05-15 Quick Update

I'm loving the gardening boxes! Unfortunately, so do the cats. I finally got a fence up last night to keep them out. They've been digging up the corn and the beans, and even a pepper!

The good news is that the corn, string beans and winter squash have started sprouting. So have the melons, which are still indoors. The potato tops are showing above the soil, so I have to add some more to bury them again. The dug-up kidney beans had some good-sized taproots. And the broccoli and cabbage look amazing! I've never grown stuff that looks this good.


Broccoli


Peas


Lettuce


Radishes


Pumpkin


Tomato


Green Beans


Spinach

Sunday, May 10, 2009

2009-05-10 Quick Update

I did a marathon session in the garden yesterday, and now I'm glowing like a nuclear fuel rod (a la The Simpsons). But, I finished my boxes and got everything else into the garden except the melons and celery. Along with the final tomatoes (Mountain Princess), I also planted boston beans, black beans and kidney beans. My string beans have yet to sprout, but I dug one up and it has a nice long taproot, so it's just a matter of time. Neither the winter squash nor the corn have sprouted either.

A friend asked how to support tomatoes without poking holes in the weed barrier at the bottom of the box (which I didn't use, and will probably regret). So I'll have to think about that one. I will probably want some kind of support for the Mt Princess tomatoes, but I don't want to use tomato cages. Maybe just rebar, conduit and trellis netting like for the others...

I had a few casualties this week: one of my bell peppers was snapped off, probably from the robins that are nesting in the trees behind the garden and are frequently hopping around in the boxes; one of my habaneros just fell apart (no idea what happened to it); and one of my pumpkins looks like it froze yesterday morning. It did get cold, but that one plant was the only thing that showed any kind of frost damage. Really weird.

Anyway, the forecast is for lows in the 40s and 50s, so I'm feeling pretty confident that the last freeze is behind us. Woohoo!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

2009-05-07 Quick Update

I've had lots of stuff going on over the last couple of weeks, including a little gardening. Since the last entry on April 27th, I've done the following:

May 1: Started melon seeds indoors.
May 2: Planted pole beans in the garden. Also got the potatoes in.
May 4: Planted winter squash, corn and bush beans outside. Transplanted the pumpkins.
May 6: Transplanted the summer squash, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers.

So, the only things not in the garden are the celery, melons and the determinate tomatoes, which need their own boxes. I have spent the last couple of weeks putting my seedlings outside during the day to harden them off. Everything seems to be doing well. I did a few things earlier than scheduled because I think we've had our last hard freeze. I've been monitoring the weather models and there is a slight risk of some cold next week, but nothing serious. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Here's what the garden currently looks like:



And here's why I have deer fencing (note the orange streamer at the top left, which is on the corner post of the fencing):