Friday, May 20, 2011

Garden update

Even though the weather has been a bit strange over the past week, we've still stayed busy and tried to keep up with all that is going on! Our garden is up and going and already asking for regular attention. You may remember the green bean tee-pee from last year, well, it's still around! Last week, I pulled it out of the garage and got it all set up.
 This idea came from a children's book that we came across at the library called Eddie's Garden and How to Make Things Grow by Sarah Garland. In the story, Eddie helps his mother plant their garden and she builds a tee-pee on which she grows their green beans. We thought this would be a great treat for the boys and gave it a go - I double checked this year and I did by trailing green beans... promised to climb!




This year's experiment... Auntie Annie's potato! My sister had a couple of potatoes that began to grow in her pantry, beyond the growing of any potatoes I've ever had in my pantry. So, she brought them out and I chopped them down and plunked them into the ground. I have no idea what I'm doing here, but it seems to be working, so we'll stick with it and see what we get!  
The beets and green onions look great - I think it's time to plant another set to keep things rotating. 

And a few carrots, just for fun. They are actually very pretty plants. 
New this year, sweet corn! These are ready to be moved to the garden and some more seeds planted. With an average of only 2 ears expected per stalk, we're going to wipe out this supply quickly! Hhmmm... maybe I need to sweet talk someone into planting some sweet corn in our field!  
The watermelon plants are coming along... thanks to the cool weather, I'm hoping we can pick them in time for the 4th of July!
I tried something new for our roadside stand this year. I planted these little cups with rosemary, basil, lavender, cilantro, poppies and a few others. So far... I've got a single cilantro plant and a few cups of basil. Bummer... I'm going to give it another try, see what we can come up with. 
The tomato plants look great, I picked up some gopher guards at the nursery the other day, time to get these babies in the ground. Oh, looks like I forgot to grab a shot of the eggplants... they're still small, I'm hoping some warmer weather will jump start them, and that the gophers are not nibbling on their roots! Maybe I need a couple more gopher guards! 
The seedlings for the roadside that are doing well are the pepper plants - Anaheim and Bell peppers - Yum!
Are you planting a garden this year? Any experiments among your goodies?

 
Alright now, Sun... we're doing our part, can you help us out a little here??

5 comments:

colleen said...

Thanks for the shout-out to the sun! Our garden could use a little too! Let's hope Mother nature gets the message.

Meneses Family said...

Good luck on the potatoes....I tried them for the first time last year. My neighbor, a master gardener, suggests adding ashes (from your fireplace/burn pile) to the soil around the potatoes, and also to keep mounding dirt up around them as they grow.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Stacey for the tips on the potatoes! I'll definately have to give them a try!
Good luck on your garden, Colleen!

Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes said...

Your garden looks great! I wish mine had that much produce in it! If you see the sun, would you PLEASE send it to New England ... 2 weeks of rain is ENOUGH!!!! Have a wonderful week!

Mary

Sarah said...

Hey girl! I just passed the Versatile Blogger Award on to you!
Congrats!

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