How the Garden Grows

A little bird told me that a garden update was needed. To update you on the garden, I needed to actually do something out there. To be fair, I had put peas and carrots in, along with a bit of spinach, lettuce, and radishes. And we did buy some plants for the garden. They just desperately needed to get in the ground. Yesterday, while the boys napped, I finally got to it. Somehow it was much easier to attack the planting when I knew I had a couple of free hours later in the day to squander while Keith took the boys to see his parents. And, since I didn't have to rush, it was a lot easier to get a few photos too.

First up were the tomatoes. I planted twelve this year: four Roma and eight Amish Paste, a new variety for us. Since we mostly do sauce, I was looking for a variety that would be thicker and hopefully this will be the one.

Look! Action photos! Proof that I do some of the work around here.

We are also trying placing crushed eggshells in the holes where the tomatoes are planted. The calcium in the eggshells is supposed to help the tomatoes regulate the water it absorbs. I put about a quarter-cup in each hole before putting the tomato plant in.

Peppers (four bell, two sweet banana) also went in, along with two broccoli plants.

Then there's what I refer to as the salad bed, with radishes, spinach and lettuce that I planted a couple of weeks ago. I actually did a second planting of each so we have salad greens (and reds, I suppose) coming on for awhile.

It might be time to thin the radishes a bit more.

Four cabbage plants around the bottle tree again. 

While we were both able to work together, we laid the soaker hose around the tomato, pepper, and broccoli plants, running it right through the cages to help it stay put.

The peas are up, and we are hoping for another good crop this year.

We put a fence in each year for them to climb, helping to keep their footprint manageable and making them easier to pick.

We have some dill volunteering yet again.

Colter even has a little garden, complete with a fence to keep the bunnies away. He and Keith planted peas and carrots in there a week or so ago.

The apple trees have blossoms, having survived a tough winter and some miserable rabbits who chewed down the bark while standing on top of our multiple feet of snow, which rendered our 18" fences around the trees utterly useless.

I planted some cucumbers as well, and will plant the green beans in a week or so (I'm trying to time it right so they don't all come in during our trip to Maine). I also need to get some onion sets to put in. Definitely behind the eight-ball there. We are skipping potatoes this year as we seem to have a vole population to battle, but otherwise the garden list is much like other years. It is still one of our goals to do some late planting of brussels sprouts and cabbage in the fall. Maybe this fall won't slip by us like the last did with Elliott's arrival. But let's just soak in these beautiful spring days for the moment, and not jump ahead to fall!

Happy planting, happy growing everyone!