August photos, as promised

\Welcome to the Garden of the Kitchen Witch, August edition :) This is Yeti, my familiar and constant companion. Isn't she sweet? She's a 9 yr old border collie/basset hound/lab/chow mix and I love her dearly :)
Ah, the tomatoes. We've had to string up the tomatoes, the 'cages' just weren't working. Neither were tripods. I realize now (way too late) that I've got too many plants going on here, next year I'll be better about my thinning out. The far back with the white PVC pipe support is the Cherokee Purple tomatoes, center with the rope support is the cherry tomatoes and in the back in tripods are the beefsteaks. We've had 1 red cherry tomato so far...lots & lots of greens on the vine, and a few starting to blush. Come on August heat, work your magic and redden my 'maters! Please!

This is a Cherokee Purple that's stringing out, I just thought it was pretty and graceful with its long branch and yellow flowers.

Cherokee Purple starting to take on a hint of blush.

Cherry tomatoes starting to blush! Looks like we'll have homegrown cherry tomatoes if nothing else :)

Beets. None of us are really beet fans - so why did I plant them? Because I saw a recipe for crimson mashed potatoes, made with beets. And I've been obsessed with making them ever since. Hence the beets. I hope these stupid red mashed potatoes are good, otherwise I've got a lot of beets to use. Joy...


Cucumbers, FINALLY starting to climb the trellis. I've had to coax these babies along the entire way. They did NOT want to climb it, but I think I've convinced them that its the only smart thing to do. There are some baby gherkin size cukes on the vines, I'm beyond excited!!

Baby green bell peppers, there's about 6 of these on the plants now and many more blossoms. Hooray, bell peppers are a hit in the Witch Household!

Front yard garden from the front door view. The morning glories are really taking off around the trees, love it!

Front yard garden, the 2 big ones in the front are zucchini, the trailing vine is spaghitti squash, the ashy one on the left is butternut squash.

Front yard garden, south side, from the street view. There are close to 20 spaghetti squash out there!! WOO HOO!

Zucchinis on the vine, long & slightly crooked, good thing they all taste the same. There's 2 here, one for tomorrows harvest and a 2nd with the blossom attached, it'll be ready in 2 days.


Morning glory flower bud, should be pretty tomorrow am!

Zucchini observation

I noticed something the other day while checking for ripe zucchinis. The 1 plant that survived from seed is not producing zucchini! I've harvested about 2 from that plant, compared to the 10+ from the other 3. The fruits form, blossom, then shrivel and die. I'm assuming its from lack of pollination??? It just seemed strange to me that the one 'from seed' plant is the one that isn't producing, whereas the nursery bought counterparts are going ape shit. Whats up with that? Anyone know?? Suggestions? Do I need to go out there & hand pollinate all the babies as soon as the flowers open, cause I can if I have to :)

Also, raspberry season is over for us now. I harvested 2 gallon size bags of berries, and we ate quite a few while harvesting, too. And I made an awesome raspberry galette with some of them too. Soon I'll make jelly out of the ruby gems I've harvested. I'm really excited about that, last years jelly was the best I've ever had. the berries were even bigger, sweeter and juicer this year than they were last year so I'm beyond jazzed about this years jelly :)

I'll post pix later I promise! the tomatoes are HUGE - I realize now that I should have thinned them out more, D'OH! There is not a lot fruit on the tomatoes, I blame me and Colorado - me for not thinning properly and CO for not being warm enough at night for the fruit to develop properly. Someday I'll grow tomatoes that actually turn red. What a great day that'll be LOL :)

1st zucchini!!

Well actually, that's a lie. Brian harvested a tiny one for us the other day, I needed a zucchini for a galette I was making, he found a small 'gherkin pickle' sized one. While it was wee, it did its job and we feasted. So this is the 1st zucchini of real size that I've harvested. There are at least 6 more on the vine that I can see, viable & ready to harvest in the next few days. EXCITING!!!

this plant is the only one that survived from seedling, and its the 1st to have a harvest. Yay!

7 inches, oh yeah baby!

The raspberries have been producing nicely this year. For the most part they are nice & plump, the more scrawny ones don't' get as much water. Something we need to address next year! I started harvesting the berries July 2nd, so far I've filled 1 gallon size ziptop bag and started a 2nd. I've also made a galette out of 7.5 oz of the berries. I'd have to average our harvest yield around 12 oz a day! Not too shabby! Jam will be in our future, soon.

July 7th already?!?

Holy cow I've been a lazy blogger! I just realized that the post I started over a month ago never got published...maybe I shouldn't have so many blogs LOL :) This shot is of some pretty snapdragons growing in my front yard. I've never planted a single snapdragon here, and they come back yearly. I did read somewhere that snapdragons grow around witches to protect them, that could explain why I've always got so many of the little beauties around. I like that!


Seedling/Plant report:

Tomato plants: Doing good. The Cherokee purple are the heartiest of the plants so far. The cherry tomatoes are next. Beefsteak - still pretty scrawny but growing. This could be due to placement in the garden, the Cherokees get the sun first, that may explain their success while the others are lagging. But really, does 30 min of additional sunlight really make that much of a difference? Who knows?!

Back yard garden, tomato plants, you can really see the size differences here, the larger along the back (fence) side are the Cherokee Purple, 2nd row is cherry tomato and back row is beefsteak.

Cherokee Purple tomato plant

Squash, including zucchini, butternut and spaghetti: only 1 zucchini seedling survived the transplant. I replanted butternut and spaghetti by seed and they are doing great, as well as the seedling that survived and the nursery zucchini plant. The home seeded zucchini has fruit on it, a blossom that should be open in the am for pollination. I'll be out there, to help it along :) No other flowers yet on squashes, zucchini started flowering males about 10 days ago (late June)

Zucchini baby with its flower attached. I hand pollinated this myself :) Come on baby, grow!

overview of the left side of the front garden, there's 2 zucchini, 2 butternut and 1 or 2 spagheitti squash down there. Not too bad for the 1st year planting in this garden area.

Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli: poor. All but 1 Brussels sprout plant has died. All broccoli perished as well. Reason unknown, but they didn't do well after the transplant to the cups.

The sole survivor of the cruciferous plants

Lettuces: did well, they tasted funky however. Not sure if this is a variety issue or the soil, whatever it was it was gross. It made my hands and kitchen stink, too. Very unpleasant. I'm over trying to grow my own lettuce, its dirt cheap at the store and honestly it tastes better.



Cucumbers: transplants all died. Reseeded early June, they are doing great.



Peppers: doing well. Growing and thriving, no fruits or flowers yet.



Beets: seeded early June, doing very well.



Watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkins: all failed. Seedlings did survive for melons but after transplant withered & died. Causes are most likely not enough water for location, in raised beds so they get hotter than usual and the water just isn't enough to compensate. Maybe if we try again next year add drip irrigation and augment soil.

All in all the garden is doing well. There's been a few rough patches (failed transplants, hail, lack of water, etc) but its pulling through nicely. One thing I really realize after doing this post is that I need to get out there & weed again!!

Let the weeding begin!

Progress update first:
Front yard:
newspapers laid down and mulch on top. this should stop the weeds (or at least slow them down!), help hold in precious moisture and provide a nice are for the squash plants to have fruit rest upon.

Added compost to growing areas. Replanted zucchini, spaghetti and butternut squashes. Zucchini I broke down & bought 2 seedling plants from the home depot at $3 a piece. We enjoy zucchini and only 1 seedling survived, so I caved & bought nursery plants. Sue me LOL :) But I did reseed everything as well. Last year I planted butternut squash late in the season, 2-3rd week in June and still yielded about 15 squash, so I'm confident that we'll have squash this year :)

Planted herbs in the front as well, bed under windows is now floral & herbal. There are also herbs in the front garden - lots of basil planted, lets see how it grows in the lousy soil out there.

Back yard:
UPDATES:
planted beets, more cucumbers (all but 1 died in transplant), pumpkins and the melon seedlings.

Made a raised bed for the watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkins in the rocks of our back yard (75'x15' of flat rocky weedy area), the vines do well back there, lots of room to roam and their big leaves help control the weeds.

Planted herbs in pots on the deck. We have cilantro (which normally I hate but I figured I'd try growing it & see if it tastes less nasty homegrown, I've heard that its better homegrown than from the stores, and I got a free packet of cilantro seeds so I figured why not!), dill, cumin, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme all in pots.

The strawberry, the only one to survive, in the container, is growing. A lot slower than I though it would, but hey, its growing, I can't complain. We might get a berry before fall is here :)

Still need to weed & compost the back garden. It was 95 today and sunny, so I wimped out as sitting in the garden with the sun blistering my back just didn't seem like fun.

Garden is mostly planted

Wow I've been a slacker! I need to get caught up on what's going on in the land of the garden. (talk about a slacker, I've had this post ready since may 22nd and never posted it! OOPS!)

May 10: herbs are moved from main backyard garden to flower/herb beds. They have been quite successful in their new locations. I lined the new beds with compost/garden soil mixture and took large root balls when transplanting. Happy with this transplant.

May 15, 16 & 17 the bulk of the seedlings were planted.
Sat May 15, warm day, mid 60's. Rained for 2 days before planting so ground was nice & moist. Planted beans, broccoli, brussles sprouts. 3 hours after planting it starts to rain. Then it starts to hail! So we ran outside and covered the plants with milk jugs with the bottoms cut out. The pole beans were covered with a tarp. Everything survived the hail storm.

Sun May 16, warm day, low 70's. Planted the tomatoes, butternut squash, spaghitti squash, zucchini (all squash in front yard along with 3 tomatoes, 1 of each varity), bell peppers, lettuces, cucumbers. Much like the night prior, it hailed 3 hours after getting everything into the ground. Back outside with milk jugs and tarp. Again, thankfully, everything survived the storm.

Tues May 18 planted herb garden in spotted pot. It contains parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and marjoram.

Left to plant still:
herbs, watermelon, canteloupe (all seedlings)
beets
pumpkins
lettuces
radish (maybe)
carrot (maybe)

Its been 1 week since the seedlings were transplanted. Some of them are doing better than others. However, some of the seedlings looked a LOT better than others did going into the ground. The tomatoes are looking really good, which delights me beyond belief. The broccoli and brussles sprouts weren't the strongest seedlings going into the ground. I don't know what went wrong with them. The didn't seem to thrive very well once they moved from the mini greenhouse to the beer cups. Possible reasons: too warm, too little water, not enough sun
again I'm not sure which of these is the reason behind their delay. They are looking pretty good now that they're in the ground. I want to say its a combo of all the above, these are colder weather veggies, after all.

The bell peppers are still covered with recycled plastic 1lb strawberry containers. I covered the 'lid' with a scoop of soil to anchor it. Its providing hail protection, cold protection and warms them up nicely.

I have 3 wall of water rings that I need to try on my tomatoes. People swear by them, the water holds in the day's heat which helps them grow better in our altitude. I need to get them out this weekend. I'll try a wall of water on 1 of each varity.

I need to
add compost to the front garden badly!
buy soil for the melon/pumpkin patch
adjust sprinklers in back garden and for melon patch
plant herbs
plant remaining seeds
take pictures
fertelize - check the liquid fert. I have to see if its organic, if not get organic
get a pitch fork to stir compost pile

2010 Garden, 30 days in

Its been 30 days since the seeds were planted. Things are going very well I'm happy to report. Out of everything that was planted 2 green beans and the sage didn't make it. The green beans never sprouted, well one did but then it got moldy, and the sage was doing good until it didn't get enough light. That is totally my fault!! The peppers have finally sprouted and will be ready to move out of the mini green house soon.

I did a 2nd planting of peat pellets for herbs and a few lettuce. I want to have some pots of herbs on the deck and various herbs planted in the front yard and in the flower beds. Now I've got at least 3 of each herb/spice sprouted so I'll have good seedlings for the pots, the flower bed and herb garden in front I'll use seeds.

Speaking of the front, our manual labor to transform it from a weedy mess to a garden is done! We moved a pathway and recycled the blocks to make a retaining wall. Ironic really as these blocks are retaining wall blocks, they've just never been used that way. About 1/3 of the front is now ready for planting. I do need to get some compost, peat and manure down before I plant - the soil isn't the best because of the pine trees and weeds. Hopefully with a little TLC we can make it into a nice garden.

What else has been happening? We started a compost pile! Its in the dreaded rock area of our back yard and its really just pretty free form right now. I have been diligent in collecting kitchen scraps for the pile, its very satisfying knowing that what I used to throw away (peelings, mushy veg, etc) is now being put to use. I love knowing that I'm using every single cent of what I paid for these precious pieces of produce and that they in turn are helping my own garden and produce thrive. So cool! The little Witch is really excited about the compost pile, she's been asking for one for over a year now. And yes, she's only 3. Curious George composts often so she should too, right? Right!

Turns out the green beans we planted are pole beans, not bush beans like I thought. SO those have been moved to the bathroom (only place I had room!) and I've got strings hanging from the blinds for the beans to climb on. It works but I'll be very happy when I can get them planted.

All the other seedlings are looking pretty good. Some of the melon aren't as big as I'd hoped. I think its a light issue, too many plants and not enough light lately. Strawberries are OK, the container ones are doing a lot better than the garden planted ones. Only 3 of the 6 garden planted plants survived and those 3 have milk jugs over them to protect them from the cold nights. When there's been a frost advisory we've been bringing in the container berries, which is why they've been doing so much better than the garden planted ones.

We've had freeze advisories the past few nights, yet its 80 outside today. Tomorrow is looking like 60 as a high and slight chance of rain.

I plan on putting the beans, cucumbers, broccoli and Brussels sprouts the 2nd week of May. Unless I see something in the weather forecast to delay that, of course.

I'll post more pictures later on, I've run out of day light today.

Seedlings 2.5 weeks

Here are some photos of the seedlings at 2.5 weeks old. They have been moved from the greenhouse to cups in anticipation of moving into the ground in a month or so. They are doing pretty good considering I've never done this before! Sure its my 3rd garden but my first from seed strictly.
all of them lined up in front of the window in my bedroom. I get to gaze upon their lovely green stems every morning when I wake up. It makes waking up a lot easier :)

This is a tomato seedling. Can you see the first 'real' leaves starting to show? They've got the classic serrated edge of tomato plants. So exciting!

Here's the first real zucchini leaf. In a few months these leaves will be about 18to 24 inches big!

Cucumber showing its first real leaves as well.

This is a watermelon. The baby leaves aren't doing good but you can see new growth starting in the center. I think they got a bit sunburned while outside during the transplanting. Fingers crossed that it continues to do well.

Heres one of the strawberry plants in a container that'll live on my deck where it can be shaded from the intense Rocky Mountain sun. April is pretty early to plant these, however since they are in a container I can bring them inside if there's a frost overnight.

Lastly this is the groovy pot I got last weekend - I plan on making a herb garden in this - one that can come inside and live on my counter in the fall & winter so I can have year round herbs.

Seedlings update

The seedlings were bursting out of the green house. I had weighted the top down but that was causing the leaves of the bean plants to be in contact with the condensation on top of the greenhouse lid, which in turn was causing leaf rot. Not cool! So I had to transplant them into larger quarters, until it decides to warm up enough around here to put them into the ground.

This was a challenge, simply because I don't have a lot of room around my house for 72 seedlings in beer cups. Oh yeah I said beer cups. I got 100 of the red plastic 'kegger' cups, you know the ones, cheap, usually filled with semi warm & flat beer from a party, well now they have plants in them. I have these cups on a half sheet tray, 2 of them actually, in front of my bedroom window. I have to rotate the trays every few days so everything gets equal sunshine.

I'll be planting some herbs and lettuces in the mini green house for this round. My hope is that as soon as they are large enough to be moved it'll be warm enough outside to plant them. I want to have herbs in the following places: front yard in a flower bed under the windows, in the back yard garden, in the new front yard garden area as well as potted ones to keep on the deck for easy access to herbal goodness as needed. I found a really cute pot at Walmart that I plan on using for the herbs, the colors will look great in my kitchen after the outdoor season is over. My hope is that I can keep fresh herbs growing in this pot inside year round.

Since my last entry I've bought a few new things:
seed potatoes for fingerlings including french fingerling, rose finn apple and banana.
purple potato seeders
beet seeds
10 bare root strawberry plants
various herbs & spices including: cumin (HOORAY!!!! I use SO much of this spice - I'm really excited to grow my own!), ball basil and lime basil.

Last year I grew lemon basil and it was good. The lemon flavor really helped overpower the anise flavor that basil has, which I don't like. I'm pretty excited about the lime version this year. And the ball basil will look great in pots, its leaves are quite small for basil & it forms a compact ball, should be pretty, like aromatic topiary.

I'll be back later on with some photos of seedlings as well as the front yard. We've started the demo/construction/manual labor portion of transforming it from 1/2 grass 1/2 weeds to 1/2 grass 1/2 garden. I dug the stump of an old pine tree out of the yard last weekend (GO ME!) and Brian transplanted the lavender bush in its place. We also have dug out the perimeter of where we want the garden and have laid 1/2 of the border stones. Hopefully today won't have 60 MPH winds and I can get out there & do some more work. Watch out yard, I'm taking over LOL :)

Holy seedlings!

Oh my goodness. I planted these babies on Sunday. Its 7 days later. They are literally blowing the top off the mini greenhouse!!! I'm not kidding, every am I have to go and put the lid back on because the overzealous cukes have pushed the lid askew. Even with the lid not staying in place (I can't blame the plants alone, I also have an overzealous 3 yr old who LOVES to watch the seeds growing) they are doing amazing. The only ones that haven't sprouted yet are the bell peppers. Come on peppers, your housemates are blowing you out of the water developmental wise.

Here's some pix of the baby bounty

Wax bean with seed attached at tip still. Wax beans have black seeds - you can see the variegated color in this one still. Beautiful!

Canteloupe these seeds were harvested from a tasty melon we enjoyed last year, from Rocky Ford. We hope these babies are as yummy as their parent melon was! And their awesome growth makes me think I can harvest seeds from my own garden this year for next years season :) LOVE THAT!

more cantaloupe

Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes

Broccoli

Cucumbers

Zucchini, its hard to believe that in less than 5 months this will be HUGE, around 3 feet in diameter with vines that trail all over the place, beautiful yellow flowers and slender tasty green fruits. I can't wait!

Greenhouse chart

I planted the seeds on Sunday. Its Wednesday and we have seedlings people!! The Brussels sprouts are sprouting, the beans are as well. I'm really impressed with this little greenhouse! Looks like the garden from seeds only is going to be successful (I HOPE!)

Seedling chart for little greenhouse:
1A-4A Broccoli
5A, 6A, 1-6B Green beans
1-6C, 1-2D wax beans
3-6D zucchini
1-4E cucumbers
5,6E, 1F butternut squash
2-4F spaghetti squash
5,6F, 1-6G Brussels Sprouts
1-6H bell peppers
1-4I beefsteak tomatoes
5,6I, 5,6J watermelon
1-4J Cherokee purple tomatoes
1-4K cherry tomatoes
5,6K sage
1,2L rosemary
3-6L cantaloupe

seedlings planted

Its done. On Sunday Mar 28, 2010 the seedlings were planted in their peat pellets in a mini indoor greenhouse. 72 peat pellets are seeded and now (HOPEFULLY!) growing. I've got the greenhouse set on a TV tray in my bedroom in front of the window. Its an east facing window so it'll get lots of am sun. Later I'll post the list of what was planted so I can track success.

Its actually happening - the garden from seeds is more than just a coulda woulda shoulda idea! Woo hoo this is a big deal for me. I'm one who seems to buy all the stuff but NEVER make it happen so I'm very proud of us for getting these seedlings started.

This will be my 3rd garden, the 1st ever from seed that I planted solely (no store bought seedlings or 3rd party seedling like years past :)

Today its supposed to be 81*! March 30 and 81 :) I'm not sure when our next storm is but I can guarantee you that we are not done with snow and cold here in Colorado Springs - yet as I check the 10 day outlook I see no snow! Lows are around 30, dropping to 27 on Friday - however by and large we're starting to see overnight lows above freezing. Still too early to plant outside but its warming up!

Seed info for 2010

broccoli (organic)
~~produces a 3-4" blue-green head with non-uniform medium sized shoots to follow. ~Spring and fall
~48-85 days harvest
~Full sun
~Sow in avg soil in early spring OR midsummer for fall crop.
~Rows 24" apart, cover 1/4 " fine soil.
~Seedlings 10-21 days - thin to stand 16" apart when seedlings are 1-2" high

blue lake green beans (organic)
~~pods 6" long
~harvest 60 days
~Full Sun
~rows 18-30" in apart, sow seeds 3" apart, cover with 2" fine soil
~seedlings 7-14 days - thin to stand 6" apart when seedlings are 1-2" tall

mesculin mix lettuce (organic)
~ includes argula, cress, endive, radicchio, lettuce salad bowl, oak leaf, red salad bowl
~Full sun
~Early spring OR midsummer for fall crop
~rows 12" apart cover with 1/4 in soil
~seedlings emerge 10-14 days, thin to stand 6" apart when 1-2" high

Zucchini - dark green (organic)
~6-8" long fruits
~Full sun
~Sow 36" apart, cover with 1" soil
~seedlings emerge in 10-14 days NO THINNING required, use judgement
~maturity 51-60 days

Cucumbers, double yield (organic)
~5-6" fruits
~harvest 50 days
~full sun
~4-6 seeds 3 in apart in hills 36in apart, cover with 1 in soil,
~seedlings emerge in 7-14 days
~thin seedlings to 2-3 per hill, once 2-3 in high

Watermelon Jubilee varity (organic)
~large oval fruits weighing up to 35 lbs
~90 day harvest
~sow in very warm soil full sun in spring
~4-6 seeds about 3 in apart in hills 5-7 feet apart
~cover with 1 in soil
~seedlings emerge in 7-10 days

Peppers, California wonder, red & green mix (organic)
~harvest in 75 days after transplanting
~start indoors 8 weeks before planting outdoors
~sow seeds 1/4 in deep,
~seedlings emerge in 10-21 days
~75-80* F
~before transplanting move sheltered outdoors for 1 week
~18-24" across
~75 days harvest from planting outdoors

Tomatoes, Beefsteak (organic)
~fruits 1-2 lb each
~start indoors in warm well lit area 6-8 weeks before planting outdoors
~sow 1/4 in deep
~seedlings emerge in 7-10 days
~move to sheltered area outdoors for 1 week before planting
~70-75* F
~3-4 ft across
~harvest 80-96 days

Tomatoes, Cherokee Purple (organic)
~fruits 3-5" fruits, darkens to a deep dusky purple
~harvests 85 days after transplanting
~start indoors 6-8 weeks before planting outdoors
~18-24" across
~85 days harvest from planting outdoors
~70-75* F
~full sun
~3-4 ft apart

Winter Squash, spaghetti
~oblong fruits store several months in cool dry place
~harvest 100 days
~sow 1-2 seeds about 36" apart
~cover 1 in fine soil
~seedlings emerge in 10-14 days
~full sun

Winter Squash, butternut
~1 1/2 lb squash
~store at 45-50 F in a dry place
~harvest in 80 days
~sow 1-2 seeds about 36" apart
~emerges in 10-14 days
~full sun

Brussels Sprouts (Long Island)
~sprouts grow along 20" stems
~ready for picking in 90 days
~sow from spring to early summer
~rows 24" apart
~sow seeds thinly and cover 1/4 in soil
~seedlings emerge in 10-21 days
~thin to stand 20" apart when seedlings are 2-3 in high
~full sun

Parsley, double curled (organic)
~biannual
~full sun
~sow thinly cover 1/4" fine soil
~emerge in 14-21 days
~thin to stand 6 in apart when they're 1-2" tall

Chives, Garlic (organic)
~perennial
~full sun
~seedlings emerge in 7-14 days
~thin to stand 3 in apart when they are 1-2" high

Dill Mammoth (organic)
~annual
~full sun
~seedlings emerge 10-21 days
~thin to stand about 24 in apart

Sunflower, Mammoth (organic)
~12' stalks
~100's of seeds in 80 days
~annual
~plant 8 in apart
~emerges in 7-14 days
~harvest when flower heads dry on stalk, dry heads in paper bags for 2-3 weeks

Morning Glory, Heavenly Blue and harvested seeds from Danielle
~annual
~aid germination, soak seeds overnight
~sow about 6" apart and cover with 1/2 fine soil
~seedlings emerge in 7-21 days
~thin to stand about 12" apart when they're 1" high


Marigold, happy days mix, edging, 10" ht.
~full sun
~sow about 6" apart, cover with 1/4" fine soil
~emerge in 7-14 days
~thin to stand 9-12" apart when they're 1" tall

Marigold, Burpee's best mix, 12" ht.
~full sun
~sow about 6" apart, cover with 1/4" fine soil
~emerge in 7-14 days
~thin to stand 9-12" apart when they're 1" tall

Wax Beans
~5-6 in long yellow pods with black seeds
~Full sun
~rows 18-30" apart
~sow seeds 3 in apart cover with 2 in fine soil
~seedlings emerge in 7-14 days
~thin to stand 6 in apart when 1-2 in tall

carrots Nantes half long
~7 in orange roots
~full sun
~harvest in 70 days
~thinly in rows 12" apart
~seedlings emerge in 14-21 days
~thin to stand 3" apart when 1 in high

oregano
~perennial
~full sun
~barely cover seeds
~seedlings emerge in 10-21 days
~thin to stand 12" apart

Bibb lettuce
~harvest in 75 days
~full sun
~early spring, late summer
~sow thinly rows 12" apart
~cover 1/4 in fine soil
~emerge 7-10 days
~thin to stand 8 in apart when 1-2" high
~sow every 2 weeks to extend harvest

Radish
~ready in 22 days
~sow in well worked soil early spring
~sow thinly in rows 6" apart
~cover 1/2" fine soil
~emerge in 4-6 days
~thin to stand about 2" apart when 1-2" tall

Cantaloupe
~plant in hills 6-8" high
~4-8 seeds per hill
~plant 1" deep
~water every other day
~thin to 4 plants per hill when 2 in high
~harvest 75-90 days

Mar 18, 2010

The garden is officially turned over!! Woo hoo!!! We need to bring in more compost and augmentation to the actual garden again this year, the top layer of soil was very rich and black but its still quite sandy underneath. I'd love to have a truck load of black compost brought in - and if its cheaper we'll prob do just that, borrow the truck and get a load.

We're also going to need a lot of augmentation for the front yard. Sigh, its a LOT of work!!! It'll be wonderful once all the unfun manual labor is done, until then it remains a drag LOL.

Seeds have not been started yet, I'm a slacker. I want to document their growing stats per seed variety, so I have a record of what I'm growing as well as what to expect. My starter green house has room for 72 seedlings. I have a feeling I'm going to need a 2nd one of these!!!! However do I have room for all this greatness? I don't know...time will tell!

Lots of worms in the garden this year, that's a great sign!!! And no signs of cocoons from the dreaded tomato hornworm, thank goodness!

2010 Garden Season...GO!

I've decided to start a garden blog/journal. Last year I kept saying I was going to, and of course I didn't. This year I've decided to do my garden from seeds, starting them indoors and transplanting after the middle of May, or whenever we get our last frost advisory. I figure 6-8 weeks of being inside should make for nice strong healthy plants.

The seeds I have this year are:
Vegetables:
broccoli (organic)
blue lake green beans (organic)
mesculin mix lettuce (organic)
Zucchini - dark green (organic)
Cucumbers, double yield (organic)
Watermelon Jubilee varity (organic)
Peppers, California wonder, red & green mix (organic)
Tomatoes, Beefsteak (organic)
Tomatoes, Cherokee Purple (organic)
Winter Squash, spaghetti
Winter Squash, butternut
Brussels Sprouts (Long Island)
Herbs:
Parsley, double curled (organic)
Chives, Garlic (organic)
Dill Mammoth (organic)

Flowers:
Sunflower, Mammoth (organic)
Morning Glory, Heavenly Blue
Marigold, happy days mix, edging, 10" ht.
Marigold, Burpee's best mix, 12" ht.

Seeds from 2009 season
Cantelope from a Rocky Ford melon, this was a tasty melon I hope its babies are yummy too
Wax Beans (these did really well last year, heavy harvest around July, continued until Sept, averaged 8 beans per plant per day!)
Butternut squash, again did very well, 8 squash per plant average yield.
carrots (didn't do too well, didn't thin enough when they were small)
rosemary (did well but needed to get into ground a LOT earlier than I did)
oregano (again did well but needed to be planted earlier in the season)
Bibb lettuce (individual heads, didn't thin properly and they bolted too fast)
Radish (did well but didn't thin enough)
Parsley extra curled dwarf - did very well but I didn't thin. It stayed green thru winter, heck there's still some green out there today - I think its regrowing itself since I didn't rip it out in fall.


SEEDS STILL NEEDED:
Cherry Tomato, red or gold, not sure
thyme
basil, round & lemon varieties
sage

QUESTIONS:
broccoli says its a cool crop, usually a spring or fall harvest, so can I plant it early, harvest then replant for a bumper crop? I think so but must find out!

Danielle might have morning glory seeds from her yard, ask if she does!

I need to figure out the mature size of these plants so I can get planning on a planting guide. I plan on expanding my garden into my front yard this year, we have problem areas that I think zucchini and other squashes will do really well in. I also plan on planting a lot of easy spreading herbs in the front for culinary use as well as decorative use. Plus they make the yard smell good and are very hearty.

The marigolds will be planted in with the veggies to act as a natural pesticide, especially around the tomatoes. At the end of the season last year we were invaded by tomato hornworms. ew. they are green and have a red horn on the end of their nose. They cocoon under the tomato plants and then lay their young so the young eat the plants. Not good!! Apparently marigolds are a natural repelant of these nasty guys. Lets hope it works!

The sunflowers will become a living border between a messy neighbors house and ours. They have junk cars in their yard and the 12 foot giant blooms should do a nice job of blocking our view to their junk yard, err I mean front yard.

The morning glories will go in the front of the house as it faces east & gets the AM sunshine. I might plant some against the back fence too as it gets am sun. I love the bright faces of morning glories!