Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category

Side Beds on July 18th

So, we are into August now. I’ve taken quite a few pictures over the last few weeks, but haven’t been able to find the time to post an update. Until today.

It is difficult to find words that describe the differences in the garden from last year to this. It is a completely different experience on most levels. Most of the plants are staying green and healthy, and continue to grow at an amazing rate. I think that all of the reading that I have done at Gardenweb has given me a lot more confidence.

Reading about the issues that come up for other people, and the suggestions given to rectify those issues,  has taken away the anxious feeling about the things that might, and do, happen. I also realize now that I shouldn’t expect picture perfect plants. Some things will do better than others and it’s not a big deal.

Continue reading July Garden Update »

Side Beds on June 21

I took quite a few photographs over the last several days and wanted to share a few.

Our Square Foot Gardening (SFG) is progressing nicely.  The Broccoli and first round of Romaine Lettuce are done, the plants have been removed, and the squares prepped for new crops. I’m not sure what we will be putting in all of these spots, but we will add some more Carrots and some Cilantro for sure.

Continue reading Late June Garden Update »

Side Beds on June 7th.

Things are growing well. I haven’t had much time at all to spend in the garden, but luckily with the SFG method, not much time is required.

We’ve been harvesting Romaine Lettuce, Spinach, Peas and Broccoli which have made for some nice salads.

The Tomato and Pepper plants were transplanted about the third week of May and seem to be doing well in their new home. I overestimated how many tomato plants we would be able to grow, so we have quite a few that are going to end up as compost. We started 27 Roma plants, and only four made it into one of the side beds.

Continue reading Mid June Garden Update »

Side beds on May 8th.

We are getting close to planting time here in Ohio. Hopefully we are having our last cold spell this weekend with the forecast calling for 50s during the day and mid-to-high 30s as our lows for Saturday and Sunday. Mother’s day is usually our unofficial planting date for most crops and we are hitting it pretty close this year.

Our cold weather crops are coming along just fine. Pictured here are our side beds as of today. From left to right in the closest bed is Cabbage (4), Brussel’s Sprouts (8), and Broccoli (8). There are also a few Nasturtiums that I transplanted a few days ago, as well as 4 squares of Green Onions that have just sprouted this last week.

Continue reading Early May Garden Update »

Side beds on April 14th.

This years gardening seems to be getting a better start than last years. 2009 was our first year gardening so we had a major learning curve, and while we are still learning; this year seems to be going so much smoother. Last year most everything was started fairly late. We’ve gotten a good head start this year, and might even be early on a few things.

We (read I, Amy can’t be blamed ) transplanted the Brassicas out on about April 10th or so. We had been gone for a few days and left them under the row cover to continue hardening off and they were dry and wilted when we returned. I gave them a good watering and, since the weather had been so nice for several weeks, decided to transplant everything to avoid more watering issues. We got below freezing a night or two later, but everything survived just fine.

Two weeks later I am very surprised by the growth spurt of the brassicas. They are more than double the size of the few that remained in cups. I didn’t really see that they could be called root bound when I transplanted, but they sure have taken off since given more room.

Continue reading April Garden Update »

We’ve had a couple of beautiful days this last week so I’ve been out puttering around the yard. I moved one of our raised beds to another location to get more sun, moved our compost bins to tidy up the back yard and make room for another bed for tomatoes and basil (Bruschetta yum-yum), and cut down some decorative grass that I need to figure out how to get to go away permanently. I hope we can squeeze another 2×16′ bed along the side of the house for cucumbers and dill.

I actually got a light sunburn on my neck today. It was absolutely gorgeous out there. I believe the weather man was calling for 65° today and I wouldn’t doubt that we made it.

Continue reading Spring Garden Work »

Cucumber resting on the mulch

I snapped a few pictures of my raised beds this morning. The cucumbers are finally starting to look a little better. I have read that the slow growing is likely due to the amount of rain that we’ve received this spring. It’s been a very wet year so far. This being our first year gardening I’ve also been watering, and likely over-watered, my seedlings while they were still inside. It’s a learning experience

The cucumber plants are still smaller than I’d expected them to be by this time, but there are blossoms and cucumbers popping up in several places.

Continue reading Cucumbers are Coming Along »

This will just be a short post to give an update on our SFG for June.

Most of the plants are gaining in size, but with our late seed starting I think we are still a little behind where we should be. I think the broccoli and lettuce should have been harvest-able by this point had we gotten things started at the recommended time. Hopefully we will see heads form and grow before it gets too warm.
Continue reading June Garden Update »

Mushrooms in my SFG

I have mushrooms growing in my SFG.

I’m not very sure what’s going on here. I’ve pulled up a few mushrooms over the last couple of weeks, but we seem to have gotten an explosion. I am assuming that the beds are too wet and spores have blown in somehow. Though this bed did have some leaf mold as part of the compost mix where the other two beds didn’t. I’ve seen one or two in the other beds, bu nothing like what we have going on in this one.

If anyone has advice please feel free to leave a comment.