Week 10

Hero of the week: Ladybug

Ladybugs are great for your garden and eat aphids. Thank you!

50% of the job done weeding the carrots

Done!

Satan

Any gardener reading this post has faced the challenge of keeping weeds out. The reality of the job pictured to the left is this: "Honey, I need 30 more minutes to finish weeding the bed of carrots. Well, don't be too much longer, our son is having a fit and I'm about to make dinner. Ok, just 30 more minutes and I'll be in."

1 hour later, the carrots are finally done and your hands are covered in dirt. You look proudly down at your 2 square feet of success and if you're as nerdy as me, you snap a photo by wrapping your dirty hands with your less dirty t-shirt to hold the phone and tap the touch screen with your knuckle because it is the only clean part of your hand. The sunlight is disappearing and it is time to go inside, not to mention you have explaining to do because a husband's guess-timate is about as accurate as a psychic's medical opinions. This time, I got out of it without any consequences as I cleaned the house from head to toe while my wife was at work. Score!

I hereby pledge to kill all the weeds that threaten my therapeutic sanctuary! I used both boiling water and a homemade weed killer to take the weeds to task this weekend. Let's take a moment to appreciate two methods of killing weeds at the perimeter of your garden. 

Homemade weed killer (do not use close to your desired plants)

Boiling water in action

The homemade weed killer requires the following materials: 1 gallon of white vinegar, 1/2 cup of salt, liquid dish soap, and an empty spray bottle. Put salt in the empty spray bottle and fill it the rest of the way up with white vinegar. Add a squirt of liquid dish soap. This solutions works best if you use it on a hot day. Spray it on the weeds in the morning, and as it heats up it will do its work.

The boiling water seemed instant, but time consuming as you have to walk back and forth between the kitchen and the garden. Boiling water may be the best solution for a few tough weeds. You also run the risk of burning yourself, where as vinegar can be washed off if it irritates your skin.

I have way more lettuce than I need so I am starting to cut heads of lettuce rather than pulling off individual lettuce leaves. I have to say that it is saving me a lot of money on produce. My coworkers must think that I am some kind of salad snob by now because I bring in beautiful salads on a daily basis by using multiple varieties of lettuce in the same bowl.

Don't ask what I was thinking, but next year I will be planting less lettuce and I intend on planting them weeks apart. It is also important to consider that each variety takes longer than the other to become ready to harvest. 

I didn't know what to expect when I grew broccoli. It was my wild card plant, as I had no idea whether it would work out. I have been pleasantly surprised at how large the broccoli plants have grown and that they are now producing broccoli heads.

This may sound silly to some, but I find myself not wanting to pick the vegetables right away because I love how beautiful they look when they are full grown. I suppose this blog will be a good way to remember how special this first spring of vegetable gardening has been so far. It isn't over and there is a lot more to look forward to. Check out how fast squash plants grow and see how big they have gotten, not to mention the squash blossoms are everywhere! I think we will have plenty of squash this year...

May 11, 2014

3 days later

5 days later

5 days later

6 days later

6 days later

Week 9

The herb garden was 95% grass and weeds. So, weedless to say the bed is now 95% herbs!

Before                                      After

My new policy on weeding: 1 to 2 beds per week, no more and no less or I will get overwhelmed.

Truth be told, I am already in over my head, but I love working in the garden. If I didn't love it and have a little luck, my drive wouldn't have survived the late freezes with having to run out to the shed at 9pm after work to cover up the rows of seedlings night after night. I can't express how happy I am that we have gotten through the last freeze.

Take a closer look at some of the herbs that are popping up.

True Lavender

Chives

Cilantro

Basil

Parsley

Rosemary

Thyme

The spinach is ready to be picked, but I plan on leaving some of the smaller leaves so they can get bigger.  I plan on growing some edamame as soon as the spinach and mesclun mix has done its job. 

The squash plants look beautiful and seemed to grow a foot high in roughly one week. I saw people on Pinterest growing them upwards, so I added some bamboo and a wooden frame to support the plant. We'll see how this goes, as I am beginning to think the variety of squash that I have planted will not work well with the vertical growing idea. The cucumber plants were planted at the same time, but nowhere near the size of the squash plants.

Don't forget to include some marigolds in your garden to aid in pest control plus they add a pop of color! I moved a large St. Francis of Assisi statue into the garden and it fit the space perfectly. It is my understanding that he is a fan of the animal kingdom which is why he is chillin' near the chickens. 

Peas are continuing to take form and I can't wait to starting picking them off the vine and shelling them. I started another variety of carrot in a new bed that I haven't shown, some brussels sprouts, arugula, and a sweet pepper plant. 

Tomato Tomata! The tomato plants I direct sowed into the ground are starting to mature. I will try to remember to remove the suckers that grow in between the main stem and its extensions that bear tomatoes. Using google and the words "growing tomatoes," you can find a wealth of information on how to grow them in a healthy and productive environment.  

Peas

Check out some before and after photos to see how far the vegetable garden has come since it began 9 weeks ago in early March.

0 weeks

6 weeks

9 weeks

Week 6

The peach blossoms have fallen, revealing new peaches as spring launches forward. 

"If I have to cover my plants one more time, I'm gonna have a hissy fit!"

The mesclun mix has grown to maturity and can be cut as a nice addition to the main course for dinner. The potato plants are looking happy and growing rapidly. After the photo was taken, I added another inch of wheat straw around the potato plants. Wheat straw was also applied to all of the walkways which I will show in next week's post. The straw will help keep moisture in the garden and control "some" of the weeds. I want to use wood chips in the future as they are usually listed for free on craigslist and look beautiful. Wheat straw costs a few buckaroos which makes it a quick and affordable solution to a common problem. 

This long row of bush beans are quick growing and will provide beautiful supply of fresh green beans in only 2 months time. The plants are getting hungry and they are due for their fertilizer this coming week which will help out all of my new plants. I have no idea what to expect from my garden this year, but I can't help but to have high hopes for an abundance of veggies. My worst nightmare would be a rainy summer like last year and having to combat moisture which increases the risk of plant disease, fungus, and bugs. Keeping my fingers crossed as I am experiencing both feelings of excitement and nervousness. I keep asking myself, "What did I get myself into?"

Week 5

30 days of progress

3 bags of soil and compost to motivate me

For the first time, I can breathe. The garden is more than complete per my original plans. Here is what I have in my garden so far:

• Herb Garden: Chives, Garlic Chives, Lavender, Mint, Chamomile, Cilantro, Thyme, Basil, Oregano, Parsley.
• Lettuces: Romaine, Black Seeded Simpson, Sylvestra, Buttercrunch, Mesclun Mix

Romaine Lettuce

• Greens: Spinach, Kale, Broccoli
• Other: Cucumber, Summer Squash, Roma Tomatoes, Delicious Tomato, Orange Wellington Hybrid Tomato
• Legumes: Mellow Yellow Bush Beans, Bush Blue Lake Beans, and an improved Bush Blue Lake variety.
• Fruits: Strawberries (transplanted from other areas of the garden) and Peaches (thank you previous home owner!)

I made miniature green houses out of plastic containers and milk jugs for the tomato plants so I could sow them directly in the ground. If you put a stick through the container and into the ground, it won't disappear on you. I have noticed less squirrels lately and I'm not sure why, but I'm not complaining.

The potatoes are making a full recovery from the late frost and they have grown back with a vengeance. I have thinned out all of the sprouts from my early planting except for the onions. I'm waiting on bush bean plants, more peas, squash, cucumber, tomatoes, and a row of herbs listed above to start sprouting up from their raised beds.

The strawberry blossoms are fading away to reveal green fruit that will hopefully grow in size and ripen for the picking. The mesclun mix of salad greens are looking more beautiful with each day and getting closer to the dinner table. My wife and I have already picked out a yummy vinaigrette to put over the top of our salads.

Week 3

After getting through the third week of mother nature having mood swings, I have finally caught my breath. Pictured above is spinach beginning to stretch and show how different it is compared to its next door neighbor, the mesclun lettuce mix. 

 As you can see, strawberry overload is upon us. My wife suggested putting the strawberry plants in a gutter, to which I replied, "No way, I don't want to spend money on gutters just to put holes in them." Come to find out, I had a huge random gutter laying behind our shed. What were the odds? Every 8 to 12 inches, I punched holes inside the bottom of the gutter to allow for drainage.

Return of the frost strikes twice in one week!! If anyone reading this is from Georgia, you might remember that it got below freezing two nights in a row. I have to admit, I was caught with my pants around my ankles. The first night, I got home around 9pm at night from work and rushed to cover the garden beds with a laundry basket full of old towels and plastic sheets. For some reason, I had the bright idea that the potato plants would be fine because they had a thin layer of hay covering them....not so smart. The potato plants suffered (notice the blackened areas on the potato seedlings) from the first night of cold which was much colder than the night to come. Learning from my mistake, I covered up the potato plants with buckets and towels the following night. I'm hoping they make come back to life. If not, I have some more seed potatoes. Is it just me, or does the garden look like a circus for squirrels when everything is covered up? 

Peas are some of the fastest growing plants in the garden thus far. I have been amazed at how much taller they get each morning. For some reason, the picture below is so beautiful to me. To top things off, the peach blossoms are continuing to stun me day after day when I look out the window and bright pink flowers everywhere.