It is time to get our vegetables planted because spring is showing up everywhere!
We added two peach trees to our yard last spring and we did not know if they would pull through due to drought. After a stroll in the yard this is what I see and I am very pleased!
Pondering about where I am going to put the vegetables this year.
Starting with cucumbers and I will need to separate these three that have sprouted and grown together. If I planted them together like they are now they will all do poorly because each plant will need it's own space to grow strong. This is what I do.......
I submerged them in water and I gently swish it back and forth. Then very carefully tease them apart by swishing and pulling very carefully so I don't break the stem.
When you swish back and forth the dirt will work it's way away from the roots and that is what I want it to do.
I have my pot ready for the cucumber and I will plant just one per pot.
I look to see where the last root is on the stalk and I do not want to put much dirt above that because it could rot the stem.
The cucumber has been planted and now I am adding organic fertilizer sticks to the pot.
The zucchini plants were planted the same way as the cucumbers and they all have been growing very well.
I will pinch these leaves off from the stem and set the tomato plant deeper into the garden pot because a tomato will make extra roots off the stem. If you notice the stem if fuzzy and looks different than the stem of the cucumber.
This is how it looks now before I set it in the garden soil.
Make a deep well in the soil
So now I have it planted and then I thank God for this tomato plant and ask Him to please help this plant to give us many tomatoes.
Small okra plants growing in these containers with netting over the top to keep curious critters out.
Now I have planted eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, squash, okra, cucumbers, basil, parsley, lettuce, cilantro, carrots and onions, whew!
The plants are in protected areas while they are small and then I will move them out into the yard after they grow a bit.
A closer look at one of the plant frames. We have these to keep the the squirrels from digging in the garden pots while the plants are young.
There is a lot of work to do, I will need to pull weeds from the paths and pressure wash the patio and walkway, there are many small limbs as well as pruning to do, whew!
Only a few weeks later
I pressure washed the patio
and tilled up a strip along the driveway and I cheated and used a real tiller. It only took me three days to recover but hopefully it helped my osteoporosis since no bones broke.
I removed some of the zucchini and cucumbers from the garden pots and set them in the ground. We have very little space in our yard that is sunny and free from tree roots. You hear about people with gardens in their front yards, well so!
This is where I put the tomato plants. They are growing well and I will wrap string around this frame to help support them.
This is another new frame that I still have to wrap with string so cucumbers can grow up and over. These are very young cucumbers, the others have put out more leaves. I am trying to stagger them so they all won't be ready at the same time.
Digging up a rootbound compost bin is not going to be on my favorite list of things to do. When I finished digging it out so I could lift the whole thing away from where it was sitting I then moved it to sit on the patio so no more roots can grow under. Leaves went in the bottom first then scraps then more leaves. I am hoping that it will seep under the keyhole garden and not on the patio, I will update on this as I know what it does.
The perennials have awaken and are so full this year. There are daisies, oregano, coneflowers, chives and so much that I will have to re-design one day.
Lettuce is doing well
Lemon Thyme still in the greenhouse, it will need that special place to hang.
Wave petunias are so pretty and If they do well here during summer we should not be able to see these planters. It should be full of blooms hanging in layers. I will update this in a few months or so.
The sage is starting to bloom. I gave it a major prune about 4 weeks ago because it was so scraggly. It did not take long to leaf back out. It will have less blooms since I pruned but it was necessary.
Parsley
This is the hot pepper wagon.
Baby satsumas, can't wait to eat them in the fall.
Well, it's time for some iced coffee....
