More photos from the garden...

First off - grrr...Blogger's photo adding functionality can be really frustrating sometimes! Both a coworker and Brett have told me that, either from first-hand experience or from articles read, Wordpress is supposed to be very easy and reliable, PLUS I could just install it on my hosting space under my own domain name! How handy would that be!??! Anyhow - I'm not sure I'm up to the work of creating/moving the blog again right away...but it's being considered!

Ok, here are pics from yesterday's trip out to the garden. It's been surprisingly chilly since late last week, and was even overcast yesterday and part of today, but no rain - so I needed to get out and water and oversee the plants, plus I had a few more things to tuck into the dirt (not that that's the last of them!) A coworker has a couple spaghetti squash plants she'd like to hand off to me (yeah, I don't see room for them EITHER, but what does that matter??), plus I have some more tomato plants that need to get planted SOMEWHERE (probably in pots here at home?)

This first picture is a distance shot of both plots from where I was parked, after I'd gotten in some watering (plus I think I had the sprinkler hose working on the back half at this point). It's hard to tell that there's a bit more green since the last time I was out there, thanks to all the mulch, but trust me, things are happening!

Here's a close up of the lettuce patch (planted from seedlings started at home), with miscellaneous herbs in front and the basil behind. The basil's not real impressive yet - I sure hope they take off!

Here's a section of the peppers. They're not looking too great yet. Lost a few, but thankfully dad brought his spares with him. Most important - I hope I have some luck with the jalapenos this year! If they don't look too good after another week or so, I'll pick up a plant or two at the store to stick in somewhere as back ups. Can't have salsa or nachos without jalapenos!

Here's some of the green beans - the Blue Lake section to be exact. They're doing GREAT, altho some kind of fizzled out or got chewed off at the top, and many are getting holes in the leaves. I didn't see any critters while I was out there - will look again next time. The Maxibels had real spotty germination, so I planted the last of the seeds I had in the bare spots and gave 'em a good watering.

I was almost embarrassed to include this picture because after stripping off the peat pots, I just left them there, figuring they'll get worked into the soil over time. Anyhow, first I planted watermelon seeds here, but since I've NEVER had luck with watermelons (and yet keep trying?!), I figured this was also a good place to tuck in the lemon cucumbers, which I TOTALLY blame on Farmgirl, since I never would've tried growing them, and according to her, they could be real monsters!

Note to self - buy more twine. Soon!

Here's the first teepee that got put in. The scarlet runner beans that Miranda and Ainsley planted are sprouting around the wood beams, and the mystery squash/pumpkins seem to be doing ok along the straight edges. Like the lemon cuke/watermelon teepee, this structure could get plenty overgrown if everything does well!

Close up of the "regular" cukes....with the seeds I planted last week JUST starting to break through the soil, and then outside of those I added the seedlings from the plants I started here at home. I'm finding the Sweet Success cucumbers have sprouted nicely, whereas the Sweeter Yet's aren't doing so hot. SO glad I opted to try more than one variety this year! Now we'll see which survive the cucumber beetles.


Now these next two pics are seeds that I threw in the ground last Tuesday:

Those were beets.


Those were radishes.

Um - how can I tell the difference if I didn't know where I planted each!!! I've never grown beets before, so we'll see how they turn out.

And finally, a shot of the whole "back half" of the garden. The squash, pumpkins and bok choy all seem to be doing ok, altho I'm a little worried the bok choy will bolt if we suddenly get a heat wave. Saw some cucumber beetle carcasses under a few of the squash plants (a-ha! Sevin wins again!). And the tomatoes all seem to be doing well and putting out some new growth. There was even one tomato plant I accidentally busted the growing tip off while adding straw, and it SEEMS to be making a recovery after looking wimpy for awhile.

Took down notes as to what tomatoes I actually got in the ground and how many I have of each, and even who's setting blooms already. I don't expect ANY productivity off've the blooms that are starting now, but it's good to see the plants seem happy. Here's what we've got:

Left side (back to front):

• Supersteak (4) - 1 with blooms (really four?! need to recheck!)
• Black Krim (2) - both blooming, LOVED this last year!
• Black Cherry (1) - excited to try! still VERY small plant
• Black From Tula (3) - hope this is as good as Black Krim!
• Hard Rock (1) - blooming, wonder if I should've planted more!?

Back end:

• 4th of July (3) - 2 blooming
• Snow White Cherry (1)
• Isis Candy Cherry (1)
• Sweet Baby Girl (1)

Right side (back to front):

• Red Zebra (3) - 2 blooming
• Caspian Pink (1) - wonder if I should've planted more?
• Juliet (1) - one is PLENTY!
• Persimmon (2) - why'd I plant two of these? they were freebie seeds!
• Sungold Cherry (2) - supersweet prize winner, one of which I broke
• Green Grape Cherry (2) - intriguing!
• Green Zebra (2) - loved these last year!
• Aunt Ruby's German Green (2) - also loved these last year - only had one plant

Plus there's the two Early Girl's Mary gave me - they're tucked in under the teepees and have open blooms already. Oh, and I STILL have plants at home that are still in their little pots, AND plants at home in large pots that they'll stay in. Oy! Should be a fun year!