Progress

Planning, preparing, sowing, organizing, protecting, watering and feeding to promote growth and health, and then waiting and hoping for advancement and progress.  This process is repeated every year with varying results.  There are always joyful days, with great returns, but there are also long periods of disappointment. We repeat this process year after year, hopefully applying what we have learned the year before, modifying our expectations to curb disappointment, and still remaining hopeful, working hard to accomplish our desired goals, and enjoying the harvest when it comes.  This year is slower than hoped, but there are true glimmers of what will come with continued effort -- and a lot of luck.  I enjoy the progress to enjoy as many moments as I can.

Carrots planted in front of artichoke

Cherry Tomato

Supposed to be another Cherry Tomato but tomatoes are too large already, so who knows.

Zucchini plant spreading its wings

Corn plants with silks showing, looking good!

Flat Leaf Parsley, so tempting to use but so little growing. 

Two more tomatoes that were supposed to be Cherry tomatoes but you can see the large fruit.

 

Sweet peppers, jalapeno pepper and eggplants

Marigolds guarding the leeks in front of the leaf lettuce that has already been harvested.  Beyond that is the succession planting of lettuce and carrots

 

This one shows very little progress.  Beet shoots in one row but nothing in the second row.  Apparently, I should have planted in winter, so if these survive, I may see fruit at Christmas time.

These are pole beans.  I've eaten two beans that have grown to full size but these plants are not growing very quickly.

On the upper photo is a very nicely growing cilantro and next to it shown in the lower picture is the fledgling basil next to a nicely growing romaine.

The one cucumber plant that survived has a tiny fruit growing.

This is the Thai pepper plant that keeps growing back every year, unexpectedly. 

In Memory of My Father

Dad, you were my best fan.  You diligently read my blogs, told me how smart and clever I was, and repeatedly told me to "publish a book".  You took great joy in reading my armchair philosophy as reflected in my organic gardening blog. You laughed, you critiqued, you tasted, but most of all you encouraged me.  Though you passed away on February 22, 2014, you remain in my heart and soul.

As I drank in the sun-drenched, softly windy day, I felt it must be time to begin the planting season.  There is little forecast for rain or more winter, so even though I know better than to start planting this early, I did it anyway.  I had planted beets and leeks on February 17th and they had sprouted very nicely.

Although you can't see them, the beet sprouts are in front of the wind ornament.

The leek sprouts are in the wells next to the wind ornament.
 

Today, I planted one zucchini plant, which I forgot to plant last year.  I am hoping to get enough for some killer zucchini bread again this year.



This is the zucchini planting.

I also planted some Italian flat leaf parsley on March 17th and it is sprouting too.  Then today I planted some Thyme.

Parsley sprouts up front by sprinkler; Thyme is behind it adjacent to the second stone.



 

My dear husband hacked away at the strawberry patch that grew like crazy but did not have many strawberries, so I have a newly cleared area for other plantings.  A fresh start, crop rotation, nicely turned soil, all good.  I planted Cilantro, Basil and Romaine lettuce in the back row against the wall.

 

I also went to Sperling Garden supply and purchased some seedlings.  Still no peppers, but got some bush beans and marigolds - the natural pest repellant.

 

 
Here we have the leeks next to the circle wind ornament; behind that I planted leaf lettuce; in the left front are the beets; behind that is the arugula, then the group of bush beans and another arugula behind that.  I forgot to take a picture of the cucumbers that are planted in the trench in the rear by the grapefruit tree.  The tree has grown large and bushy so that it shades the area a bit too much.  The cucumbers like sun, but not heat, so if I am lucky, they will still be able to grow and thrive.

 This is the leaf lettuce up close and personal

So, we are off to a fairly conservative start.  I plan to add tomatoes, corn, eggplant, sweet peppers, carrots and more lettuce.  I will wait until April/May to do the rest of the planting so that it is more in accord with the "usual" weather patterns.

 

So while I remember with sadness that I cannot share this garden, my new discoveries, and these random thoughts, philosophies and simple garden journaling, with my beloved father, I treasure the gift and joy of life even more strongly.  Thank you Daddy for teaching me to be strong and to follow my passion in all aspects of life.