Friday, May 15, 2009

My garden has begun!

Garden Journal Entries:

Monday, May 11, 2009
Some of the Veggies popped up....
Out of all the seedlings we planted a week ago, only the black eyed peas and the okra popped up so far. The black eyed peas popped up with a vengeance though. I think they are going to be nice plants. Still waiting for the tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, green beans, pumpkins, watermelons, squash, and broccoli. We will start preparing the garden area this week. Tilling, mixing the soil, adding compost from my pile and manure from our chickens. Some of the veggies are vines and will be planted in hanging baskets....tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, black eyed peas.... I'm thinking of having Ryan help us make boxes that we can hang on the fence above the garden. Idea!!


I also have some pretty flower seeds to start as soon as all the veggies pop up.

Monday, May 11, 2009
The watermelons came up!!
Looks like lots of them will be sprouting in the next few days!! Exciting!! The watermelon seedlings are pretty big but had to work hard to come out of the seed and up through the soil. Note to self: Next time I will soak the seeds and file them down a bit before planting. Helps the leaves break out of the seed.


*Jacob has been very good at helping keep an eye on the seedlings and watering them when they need it.

Thursday, May 14, 2009
Planted second batch of seeds
This time I used peat pots and seed starter soil from Lowes. Fairly inexpensive actually. I planted onions, carrots, radishes, sunflowers, Zinnia, Plumosa, Aster, basil, and cilantro seeds. OH, and some cherry tomato seeds. I got lucky at Lowes because it was the last pack of cherry tomatoes. Gotta get there early if you want the good stuff and I was kind of late. They didn't have the super 50's that I love so I had to settle with regular cherrys. And no jalapeno seeds AT ALL!! Had to buy a 3" jalapeno potted plant. $3.50 but I'm sure it will be worth it's weight in gold at harvest time. Got the rest of my garden bed tilled and turned and bordered with timber today as well. Will post pics soon!!Last night's rains were very heavy and everything in our yard ended up right where my garden is going. Including a bunch of those qumquat things that are growing in my front yard. There were a hundred of them in my garden bed. The timber should solve that problem. Hopefully. Next up? Fill garden bed with 2-3 inches of compost and fertilizer and mix in with soil.Then start planting seedlings that have come up and are ready to plant. First up is black eyed peas, then okra and the watermelons are almost ready to plant. I think I saw a cucumber seedling breaking through the soil tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed.


Friday, May 15, 2009
Planted watermelon and okra today
The garden beds are all ready and I have begun planting the new seedlings. Starting with the okra and the watermelon. Buried the leftover seedlings in the side yard. With my luck those will grow better than the ones I planted in the garden bed. I thought it was going to rain this evening but I waited and waited and no rain. So I watered. I noticed a cucumber or two pop up and a lil baby squash was about to pop through the soil too.

**also planted some wildflower seeds that Kara gave me in pots today.


8 comments:

  1. Hi Shelly, I`m glad your gardening is showing results. Mine has too but I`m waiting for the recent cold winds to go before I can do anymore. I`ve potted up the tomatoes into baskets and tubs and now I`m just waiting for the warmer days to arrive. My flower seedlings are almost ready to go in and I`m looking forward to what I hope will be a good display this Summer. I hope you have lots of luck with yours too. :o)

    Love and Hugs

    Sandra xxxx

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  2. Hi Shelly our garden is a bit of a mess at the moment ~ it has been so windy wet and cold not the weather to go into the Garden ~
    sounds like you will have a good crop of Veggies wish you luck with them all ~ Ally x

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  3. I bet you can't wait for all those fresh veggies... enjoy!

    So glad to hear from you :)

    Have a great weekend

    Hugs
    Terri

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  4. Loved seeing all the pictures of your gardening sweet friend. Miss seeing entries from you. (Hugs)Indigo

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  5. Hi Shelly! Wow, it's been a long time! Best of luck with your garden! Keep the photos coming :-)

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  6. Yay there's my Shelly. Wow, the garden sounds great. I wish I had the time to do one.

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  7. I wish i had enough room in my back yard to have a good size vegetable garden!

    Have a good week.

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  8. Oh! I love your garden!! and your birdfeeders....
    Have a wonderful week!! :)

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