Commencement

Arugula, leaf and head lettuce, string beans, tomatoes, onions all are thriving and rotating harvest has commenced.  Not the conclusion of a career, but the start of the enjoyment of the effort.  Looking upon that over which we have toiled, given our best care and attention, and about which we have researched and sought to learn about, and seeing it thrive and take flight makes everything worthwhile.

We always have doubts about whether we are smart enough, strong enough, learned enough, correct enough, and committed enough.  But, in the end it is about creating the moment of commencement.  We can fill our hearts knowing that we have set everything in motion, and we may now sit back and enjoy the results.  There will be disappointments -- the arugula is plucked a bit late and is too spicy -- the peppers have been enjoyed by insects before you get to them -- but when we step back and really appreciate the look and taste of the tossed salad we have created, we must rejoice!

Images of Oh- the greenery

This is a form of "square foot gardening" with beets on front right, basil on left, leaf lettuce, mesclun lettuce, peppers and strawberries in the back. 

Hot peppers in the front with sweet peppers to the right and behind.

The wonderful wandering watermelon.

This illustrates progressive planting.  The lettuce in the front was planted in June; the white perlite holds the seeds of the newly planted lettuce that should be ready when the other lettuce has been eaten up. Lastly are the strawberries in the rear.

Up front are two tomato plants.  Behind is a fabulous oregano plant with some grasses and trees interspersed.  The wind catcher adds beautiful color and keeps the birds away!

One of the struggling tomato plants.

These onions have just burst through the soil!

Oh, the greenery

The garden is bursting with green.  The several types of lettuce have grown tall and hearty.  I go out each evening to pick the fresh greens for a salad.  I also clip leaves for use in packing lunches to take to work.  There is nothing better than the strong flavor of fresh arugula.  The beets are growing well.  I was going to thin them but when I look at the base of the plant, it looks like many stalks create one plant.  As I have never grown beets before, I have decided to leave it be and see what happens.  How exciting!

The eggplant has all but expired.  It appears some pest took a liking to the greens.  I sprayed with organic, home-made spray (some liquid soap, water and vinegar), but it may have been too late.  The watermelon is spreading out beautifully and there is one small bud starting.  I have previously had no luck with watermelons but I am hopeful that placing it front and center in full sun will make the difference.

The beans did not make it.  First it was the pests, then I think it was the cold and lack of steady sun.  I have one or two cucumbers that are flourishing in the same trough.  The tomato growth is still stunted.  We now finally have heat and sun, so I am hoping that the tomatoes take off.  Last year we had a bumper crop, this year its a bummer crop!

The carrots -- second planting -- did not make it either.  I have no more seeds and so it seems there will be no carrots.  The zucchini in the side lot this year is doing poorly.  It was droopy and did not really start to grow well.  I cut the artichoke back to the soil which freed up the sprinkler head, the cure for the zucchini I hope.  Although it sounds so pessimistic, the garden is doing great.  I have sweet peppers growing, hot peppers blooming, stevia climbing high, strawberry plants reaching out, onions cresting the top soil and green, green everywhere.

Everything looks wonderful, feels great and tastes even better.

Bouquet from the garden

I grew artichokes and we had a wonderful, sweet harvest.  However, we did not pick some of the flowers fast enough.  I decided to cut the heads and use in an arrangement.  I took other herbs and flowers from the garden and made this organic original.  

Spring 2011 Plantings

Diatomaceous Earth Food Grade

After joining the organic farming Facebook group, I learned from several of the gardeners that Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth is a natural insect controller.  It supposedly works on ants and other bugs and is completely safe for humans and animals.  So I ordered some DE from Earthworkshealth.com and dusted the garden this morning.  The DE feels like soft baking flour and spreads very easily.  I am hoping it rids the gardens of ants and whatever else seems to be munching on my cucumber buds.  I also planted two zucchini seeds, like last year, but put it in a different area -- the back 40 which gets less sun and water.  I don't know if I will have the same bumper crop as last year with the new location, but it leaves more space in the main garden for other veggies.

I ate two more cherry tomatoes, yummy, but it is very strange that the plant is pushing out these fruits when the plant seems to be languishing.  We chowed down on three more artichokes, that makes 6 so far this year and there are still several more growing.  I am so thrilled!  Although the forecast was for cold weather, it is actually very nice today.  Tomorrow I plan to re-plant the lettuce and carrots and maybe replant some cucumbers too.  My pepper plants (Fresno hot peppers and Yellow sweet peppers) are coming back.  I guess they are not annuals?

The big surprise today:  while inspecting the garden this morning in my pajamas, the gate opens and a man walks in, what!  It's the meter-reader.  He says "Hi Maam," reads the meter and then walked out closing the gate behind him.  This is one risk of suburban gardening I had not anticipated.

Dreary Weather

The carrot sprouts that were trying so hard to survive, simply disappeared.  I will wait until we get some steady heat to try planting again.  The arugula in the main garden did not sprout, nor did the spinach.  I guess I jumped the gun on planting in light of this crazy rainy and cold weather.  I do have healthy looking sprouts for the leaf and head lettuce.  I have a few bean and cucumber sprouts, but there should be dozens so it still looks questionable.  The beets -- not a sprout to be seen.  As I have never planted beets, I don't know if this is normal.  I tried something new, used the vermiculite to cover the seeds and then put dirt over that -- I think that was a mistake.  I think the sprouts like the lightness of the vermiculite and find it easier to push through than the dirt?  I had one cherry tomato that we ripe, tasted yummy.  But all the tomato plants are stunted and need some sunny hot days.  The lemon balm that I yanked out because it was taking over the entire garden is still sprouting up in dozens of spots.  Don't ever plant lemon balm unless it is in a container!  Why is it that things that you want to happen, don't, and things that you wish would not happen, do?

More Planting

We had a nice day yesterday, so I took advantage and planted some seeds.  I am trying beets this year, never planted them before, so it is an experiment.  I also planted spinach, leaf lettuce, head lettuce, cucumbers (two kinds) and yard-long Kaoshuing beans.  The beans are from Taiwan and apparently grow very long and have very small black beans and taste like asparagus.  Another new endeavor.

I also planted many seeds in the cuc and bean trenches.  I usually only plant two seeds and space evenly, but I never get enough fruit.  So I used the entire packets of seeds this time and spread them closer together.  I am hoping they all sprout and I can train them up shared vertical lines for greater harvest.

I am leaving many areas of the garden open for later plantings.  Last year I had too much all at once and I know better than that.  So this year I am back to really rigidly spacing the plantings out.

First Sprouts

It is still too cold, in the 60's, so not too much activity yet.  I did get some Arugula sprouts today, but still no carrots.  The tomato plants are not looking too good; leaves are yellowing.  I hope the sun comes out soon!

Spring 2011

It's April 10, 2011 and it has been a long, cold, rainy winter.  We had rain and hail only yesterday!  But today is sunny and beautiful, even though still a bit cold for April.  I usually start the garden in March, but had to delay it this year.  So today I harvested the last of the leeks, pulled out the overgrown arugula, and set about to turn the soil and prepare for planting.  


I discovered that Lemon Balm grows like Mint -- it self-propagated and threatened to destroy my garden.  So, out with the Lemon Balm, my tea will just have to go with our new lemons instead.  My sweet potatoes still are not even close to ready to harvest.  They are not thriving and I am not sure why.  I am keeping a couple of the plants and will see what happens.


Now that all of the old plantings have been removed, the weeds stripped out, and the dirt turned over, I am ready to plant.  I hope the weather continues to warm so that I can start the planting next weekend.  I have planted a couple of tomato plants already, leaving a lot more room this year since they went hog wild last year.  My artichoke has expanded to about 3 feet wide and there are some heads growing.  I finally found a hearty plant that can thrive next to the garbage cans.  Yeah!


The planting plan for this year is much the same:  lettuce varieties, peppers, corn, peas, beans, bok choi, cucumbers, carrots, maybe a cauliflower or broccoli since my readings show that they might grow in spring also, zucchini, melon (although last year's was terrible), tomatoes, basil, cilantro and strawberries. I can't wait to get started.