In the Ground

Everything is planted. Zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, bell peppers, and cucumbers.  The three containers are growing mint, cucamelons, and stinging nettle. This is my first time growing cucamelons and stinging nettle, and they are down directly. Hope they grow!

I'm also growing some lavender in a mini rock garden with some coleus and an unknown little flower I found at Mahoney's.

There are parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme...and basil in the strawberry pot. I also added some coleus and that yellow mystery flower there too!

Now a little relaxing and hydrating!

Jury is still out

I'm not sure if starting from seed is for me. I lost all of my slicing tomatoes, and my peppers and eggplant are still quite small. They've been outside "hardening off" and I'll probably put them in the ground tomorrow. So. We shall see!

Plot uncovered

Today I raked winter's protective covering from my little plot of land. Everything looks happy and healthy! The"addition" looks especially promising as the layers of newspapers, compost, leaves, and hay decomposed into a rich, black soil.

There were also plenty of these helpful little guys. 

Though it is severely depleted, the compost is ready to restart. I won't have enough to enrich the soil this spring, but there's enough to provide a healthy base to begin again.

Uncovering the plot uncovered a nice surprise...garlic! It's amazing they survived this winter!

Welcome cucumbers!

First up...cukes!

Begin again

After swearing I would NEVER do this again by seed, today, I sowed my seeds. I did a few things differently. I purchased all my seeds from Peaceful Valley. They are all organic, non-GMO seed. I also used organic soil instead of the dehydrated soil pods I used last year. Instead of artificial light, I've set up a table by a south-facing window. And I planted later, hoping that the seedlings and planning time are better matched. So. We'll see! Today I sowed San Marzano tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and a slicing tomato called Burbank. I also sowed zucchini, cucumber, eggplant, and bell peppers. When it's warmer, and the ground is ready, I will directly sow cucamelon and stinging nettle. Later in the summer, I'll try kale again. Very excited! Stay tuned!

Midsummer Update

The garden has been doing very well! The pest solution seems to be working, because I've had no more thefts! I'm trying my hand at a few fall crops. This past weekend, I planted some baby spinach, beets, and kale (l-r below). Unfortunately, nothing is sprouting yet, but I think they need another week or so.  

baby spinach

beets

kale

In the meantime, I've been enjoying cooking, and baking, and otherwise preparing food with our mini-harvests. I've made a Chinese stir-fry, and shrimp and veggie linguine with our Chinese eggplant. We've enjoyed a three or four batches of delicious zucchini fritters, some zucchini muffins, and veggie lasagna with all of the zucchini we've been getting.

shrimp & veggie linguine

zucchini fritters

zucchini muffins

 I made a jar of refrigerator pickles with my TWO cucumbers. They are so easy to make and there are only six ingredients. Cucumbers (obviously), apple cider vinegar, water, sea salt, crushed red pepper, and dill seed. I love that every ingredient is a whole food...and that I made it myself. They are yummy...super spicy!

Today, I cut some of the herbs for drying. I'm really excited to be able to drink my "homegrown" mint tea this winter.

fresh picked basil, rosemary, Italian parsley, and mint

Herbs drying under paper bags, keeps the dust off

Some of my "crops" haven't been so successful. I've only collected about two dozen cherry tomatoes, and two plum tomatoes. There are more small green tomatoes for both varieties, but they seem to ripen a few at a time, so I'm doubtful that I'll gather enough for a fresh marinara sauce. I've gotten two peppers, but neither have turned the red or orange they were supposed to. And...probably the biggest dissapointment...strawberries. From the beginning, with the bird net, special fertilizer and watering system, they've been pretty high maintenance. Last weekend, when I was pulling out dead tomato plants and sowing seeds for fall harvest, I found a bunch of fruit flies hanging around the strawberry pot. Upon closer inspection, I found three or four of the ripe strawberries bitten, presumably by squirrels. I took off the netting and brought the pot over to the bird bath for the wildlife to share. I was only getting a few strawberries at a time...and they were so NEEDY...I gave up.

Looking ahead, the compost is doing well. I'm making plans to expand the garden, to give the zucchini the space it needs, without crowding everything else out. And, I'm looking into other fun crops, like these little guys...CUCAMELONS! 

Even with my first year garden's ups and downs, I'm loving this. And I'm very happy for that.

July Rollercoaster. A Month of Ups and Downs.

Very, very shortly after I discovered that baby zucchini, I discovered 3 or 4 more! I was so excited! This was FINALLY happening! I was ready to start searching Pinterest for recipes so that I could use up my HUGE harvest.

And then...the baby zucchini started to go missing. I was so sad...deflated, but SO MAD! The zucchini was broken off clean, almost like it was clipped, which, according to Google, means RABBITS. Instead of using Pinterest to find zucchini recipes, I was using it to find ideas to keep critters away. Because the garden was already established, it would be difficult to put a fence in. With rabbits, you have to bury the fence 8 - 12 inches deep. There was no way I could do that and not kill something! So, I tried this stuff:

It's a solution of 1 egg yolk, 1 Tbsp of baking powder and 1 liter of water. The stuff STINKS, but it works amazingly! Once I started using it. The baby zucchini thefts stopped! I've already harvested 6 - 8 zucchini, and there are 3 or 4 babies out there right now. So, I need to remember this for next year.

After that little setback, more things started to grow! Like cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, Chinese eggplant, strawberries and, yes, more zucchini!

 

And...some things weren't doing so well. My basil and pepper plant leaves were being eaten, and two tomato plants seemed to be dying before they ever flowered.

Over all, it has been quite a learning experience so far! Tomorrow, I've got some things planned for the garden, so I'll post again tomorrow night. In the meantime, here's a photo of my mini-harvest from July 23rd.