Saturday, May 29, 2010

I'M READY!!!!!!!!!

So here we are, we have had summer in May. I almost have the whole garden planted. I'm exceptionally excited this summer because we have grown everything by seed this past winter. Only thing we did I think is start the seeds a little to early. So note to self next winter find something else to cure the cabin fever after Christmas. Wait until end of Feb. and early March to start the seeds. We were lucky to have such great weather so we could put things out early. The flower box looks nice. We put in Celosia, Geraniums, 4 o'clock, Cosmos, Blue buttons, Zinnia and a few dusty miller. We also sprinkled a humming bird seed mix in there. It will be interesting to see it all grown up.
The Lilacs we put in a couple years ago doubled in size this year. We thought we were going to have to rip these guys out and get bigger lilacs but wow they sprung into action this year. They smell so good.



This is one of the 4X8 boxes. Tammy made a trellis out of PVC pipes last year. It is very easy to take apart and put away for winter. Only thing I have to do is restring it every season. The Kentucky Beans grow on this trellis. Also in this bed is a bunch of Short N Sweet Carrots, Breakfast radishes. As you can see there is Iceberg & buttercrunch lettuce ready to be harvested, really good tasting lettuce. In the middle is a about 8 broccoli plants intermingled with some onions and then a couple summer squash plants along with some bib lettuce heads.
This is the other 4X8 bed that is beside the other bed. I made up a small trellis of bamboo that I had at the house. I use the bamboo all over the yard. On the trellis I have peas growing, they haven't quite reached the trellis yet but they are getting there, also in the bed is a square of romaine leaf lettuce & salad lettuce. The sparkling radishes are ready to be harvested. Tammy has already had some and said they are very tasty. There are about 70 candy onions in a few of the squares and then a few squares of Detroit beets. Three early sweet bell peppers and 3 banana pepper plants top of the rest of the box.


Here is the row of 5 gallon buckets that contain all the tomatoes. There are several of Super Sweet Cherry toms, early Girls, Big Beefs and several different type of Roma's ( I can taste the homemade spaghetti sauce).
Then there is the row of buckets that contain the cuccumbers and brussel sprouts below. I seem to have a problem with the cucumbers this year. I have already replanted them twice. It all comes from starting to early again, lesson learned. Hopefully this last sowing will make it or I will be buying cucumbers from the farmers market this year.

We have expanded to the porch now. I keep telling everyone my goal is to not have a lawn to mow. We have 4 strawberry bags hanging from the railings. The strawberries have already started to form. We have made up several containers with geraniums and various other annuals we have grown and put them around the porches. I also have a big window box that has leaf lettuce in it. Hoping to get that set on the railing soon.



On the other side of the house in the 2X8 boxes we have a lot going on here this summer. We are trying the watermelon again, we didn't have much luck with it last year. The pumpkin is growing great and so isn't the Blue hubbard. There is also butternut squash and a couple Patty Pan squash in there. In case that wasn't enough I have planted up several squares of Sugar Snap peas and beside them threw a few dutch onions, carrot and beets in. I didn't have a picture but I have started a red plastic tub that has Birdhouse gourds growing. Hoping it will trellis on Pablo's fence.

My little tree garden. The bleeding heart came back this year and doubled it's size, also the Lupins have actually bloomed this year. The phlox has grown, things just look very nice so far. What is new is our little Pablo dog on the tree. It is a bird feeder. We leave a little container on the ground with a scoop and there are few of the neighborhood kids who like to come by and fill there bird feeder. It is so cute to watch them get excited about seeing the things that go on in the yard.

All the Azelea have bloomed and are very pretty. The front of the house takes care of itself basically. I clean it up and give it some fresh mulch at the beginning and it is pretty much on it's own.


Then last but not least, there are all the herbs. I really enjoy the herbs. Not only does Tam like to cook with the fresh herb but I like to dry them and they make excellent presents.

Well that is it for this time around, not to shabby for just the end of May. I can't wait to see what June brings.


Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Ahhhh spring has sprung all over the place!

This is the time of year I get perplexed. Do I plant or don't plant? I got ahead of myself in the seed starting part of the job and started way to early. Some of my plants look pretty bad because they are pot bound and it is just to early to put them out. What to do what to do? Right now I have a mess of plants on the porch all hardened off and ready to go in but the nights I'm afraid are still to cold. I've got all the buckets and boxes washed/bleached and ready to go to work. I think on my next time off (next week sometime) I will start potting them up. One way or another I'm going to lose them either by being pot bound or cold and at least I can try to give them a chance. I was able to get the trellises up and some of the cold crops in. I did plant some Pole beans, Peas, Beets, Radishes (french breakfast & sparkling), Lettuce (leaf & head) carrots and onions seedlings. Oh yeah the broccoli too.

I made a little annual garden on the east side of the house. We will see how it goes. I used the trellis that Tam made last year and put some Sweet Peas on them and in front of that I planted some Coleus, Calendula, Begonias and Dusty Miller. So far it looks really good. I also planted another Blueberry bush, I think one of the older ones is dying for some reason. The spring flowers have come up really nice this year, it really added to the color in the yard. I think I might be getting the hang of where to put things or at least thinking more about it. I have a ton to do but very little time to play lately. But I love it and that is what it is all about.
Oh yeah! I'll leave you with a funny and some pictures that Tam took out in the garden. As you know, I planted everything by seed this year (except the Begonia & dusty miller, maybe next year). I had a couple of 6 packs with catnip under the light rack but on the bottom rack. I pulled it up to water it and found that something or some kitty had chewed all the leaves off the catnip and just left the stems. Needless to say I have a very happy cat somewhere around the house. They are now on the top rack trying to grow back some leaves.