A Month Later: Photos

Well, it's been more than a month since I put in my new beds and started planting away. Here's what it's looking like now. The beds that look like massive weed beds are wildflowers. I'm not sure how much to thin them out and have opted not to do much until the plants get a little more distinctive. The bed next to my vegetables has been bothering me because it looks so messy and uncared for! I probably won't use that space for wildflowers next year. I'll plant a strip along the big fence.

We have been eating our first big lettuce harvest. Next year I'll have garlic in over the winter and peas in much sooner, as well as a bigger variety of greens. Fun. I really enjoyed the lush lettuce planters I had on my porch through April and May. They brought so much fresh color and life to perk up our extra cold spring! I highly recommend it. I bought a variety of lettuce starts at my local nursery. I have planted another crop of lettuce/greens (5 varieties) from seed that are coming up now.

Pests and Mysterious Disappearances

As you can see, we have green green green plants sprouting up in our backyard. I can't get a picture that accurately portrays how green and plucky the beds are. I feel so good every time I look at it. Patrick asked me when we're going to have some color back there. GOOD question. Hopefully when it warms up and the plants aren't shivering and shrinking! Filling the front row and sprinkled throughout are Marigolds and Nasturtiums and along the back fence are black eyed susans that I planted pretty late. Next year I'm going to start some clematis there. I'm so thankful I planted the pansies. Next week I'm going to fill some pots on the back patio with colorful flowers to liven it up too. I have the perfect pots for some bright geraniums.

This week has been all about pests. I have black mold eating away at my roses, strawberries and tomatos (just starting). I sprayed them all down with a very diluted mix of apple cider vinegar and water. Got that tip on-line. The aphids love my back rose bush so I set out 1500 lady bugs all around my yard. The lady bugs love my pansies, especially the blue ones.

The most perplexing pest problem involves the mysterious vanishing of some of my baby plants.
Something is nibbling on certain plants: the marigolds, bell peppers, tomatillos and catmint especially. I sprinkled eggshells around all the little babies in an effort to discourage slugs and snails. Over the last 3 nights I have lost one of these plants per night. They just disappear, leaving only a circle of eggshells. The catmint was first so we figured it was probably the cats. But now a pepper plant is gone. Completely gone, no slime trail, no remnants. My expert gardener consultant (mom!) recommended setting out some of those garden fans, so I'm going to try that. She said that when the wind blows it sometimes will startle birds and the vibrations will discourage moles. There is no sign that we have moles, but we do have many small birds twittering around. I may also try some beer sink holes for the slugs, although I haven't seen many of them around yet.

Planting Party

Rebecca, Mom and I planted a sunny garden in Rebecca's yard today. Very fun. Patrick barbecued, Dad helped me shovel manure, and Jo provided moral support :-). We planted the most yummy looking variety of corn. YAY! Also, cucumbers and squash, pole and bush beans, peas, potatos, broccoli, carrots, radishes, and lettuce... in a couple months, this patch of land is going to have an entirely different look. Lucy, our chocolate lab, came and hung out in the shade but seemed to enjoy being nearby, although didn't enjoy getting sprayed with the hose so much.

Not So Perky Pansies

97 degrees! It was so hot yesterday. I was shocked when I went outside around 3pm to find the hydrangea wilted over and the pansies all shriveled up. The hydrangea drank so much water. They are all fine now, and I am keeping a closer eye on them! I am very pleased to report that the peppers are bright green and the tomatoes couldn't be happier. Next week we'll be back down to the 50's before coming back up to normal summer temperatures. If there is normal these days..

Hoping Hot Will Perk Peppers

Above are my beautiful Mother's Day petunias, beautiful royal purple, my roses promising blooms, and the strawberries, sending off a runner there on the bottom right. Not sure what to do with the runner. Will it form another plant that I can cut off and plant?

The hot weather plants, peppers and tomatos, have been growing slowly so far. I'm hoping this heat we're having will kick off some better growth. We're starting to see some little weeds popping up around the beds. I've been pulling them, but now, because I'm not sure what the nasturtium seedlings will look like, I'm going to wait until I see them. The Columbine seeds have finally sprouted. Ahh...it took a long time.

The kids and I are going to plant Wild Sunflowers for the birds along the rest of the fence on the west side of our house. We recieved a kit for tracking and identifying birds. It included a survey to send in, as well as seeds, and information on taking care of birds. We're also going to add a bird bath in the back yard donated by mom. :-)

Weather & Wildflowers

Cool and rainy weather today. It is so nice to have my plants all watered naturally. The weather blog I like: http://ovs.com/weather_cafe.htm is predicting temperatures up to 95 degrees by this Friday and Saturday. It's hard to believe from this vantage point, but if it's true, it will be quite shocking for the plants. I'm still deciding whether I need to mulch over my new plants before then. I've been waiting for my nasturtiums and marigolds to pop up so I can mulch around them. My "Mel's Mix" holds water very well so that should help with the upcoming dry spell.

I planted two small wildflowers beds that are bright green with the upcoming new plants. I'm not sure how much to thin them. I'm considering just thinning out the thickest patches and then seeing how the rest do. I want them pretty dense. They are a pacific northwest mix, good with lots of rain and cool weather. I am very pleased with the mix. It's from Victory Seeds, an oregon on-line heirloom seed company. The seeds all have done very well.

It makes such a huge difference having a nicely prepared soil to plant in!! It is a pleasure to go out and put something in the ground. It's been so much fun that I'm hoping I haven't overcrowded everything. My beds are full of little seedlings that are going to be much bigger at some point. I don't have a good idea of how much bigger because I'm experimenting so much with the different areas of my yard, different amounts of sunlight, etc.

Best Mother's Day Ever

I had such a lovely Mother's Day weekend. Got to spend time with my sisters and Mom on Saturday, plant shopping (and hanging planters!) with Mom, very thoughtful handmade cards from my kids and husband, money for my porch swing fund, AND Patrick helped me dig the holes for our stepping stone path. Through solid, compact clay with gravel mixed in. It was tough work, but we got it done. YAY!! There is no way I could have finished it on my own in a number of days, not to mention one day. It's pretty amazing how much dirt we carted out. I'll take a picture of the back 40, where we put it. We packed in gravel and sand under each stone, and leveled them off.

Our home is surrounded by so many little plants now. I love it. Can't wait to see how they grow up. I have transplanted (and planted) most of my warm weather plants. My pea plants are coming up and looking perky. We have met more of our neighbors while working out in the yard, asking what we're growing and comparing notes on yards. The kids have also met more of the other kids who live nearby and have been enjoying playing outside with them. I love that doing this healthy thing, spending more time in our yard and growing our own food, is also connecting us with our community. It feels good.

Cat Proof

I'm happy to report that one square foot of the garden is now completely cat-proof, thanks to Sofia's most recent "cake" making project. Later, she pulled up a chair, sat looking at her little space, set the watering can to leisurely water at her feet, sighed a big happy sigh and said "Now I look like Grandma."

65 Square Feet and One Screen Door

We took advantage of the beautiful balmy warm weather today to get to work. The guys geared up and re-screened our sliding door that has a pet and kid size hole in the bottom quarter. (Assistant tool guy pictured above).

I planted/transplanted 65 square feet worth of veggies and flowers. Was pleased to note that the side bed (bottom photo) received well over 4 strong hours of sunlight.

The beds in the back 40 that I planted just over a week ago are all popping up already. It must be warmer now as the second batch I planted back there seems to have come on so much faster. Happy Spring to everyone!!

Vision

Today I finally caught the vision for how to fit all my sun-loving plants into my set up. I wasn't sure for a while. I had to get some other peices settled first, but now it's falling into place. It helps to know I'm going to have a back-up in another bed just in case I can't fit everything in. Patrick and I are going to experiment with a potato cage design we found on the internet that will allow us to grow 100 lbs of potatos in 4 vertical square feet (one plant). http://www.gardencityseeds.net/growers1.php
At this phase, I have no idea how much I'm going to be able to grow, and how the plants will produce in the locations I have them in. I have a plan for what to do if there is too much (that's what I'm hoping for!). I have also been planning a fall crop to put in when the other crops have been harvested mid-July. Tomorrow morning I'm going to use my "sleep-in" day to plant all the rest of my transplants. That will give me a good idea how much space I have left for planting seeds straight in.
I'm surprised by how into this I've gotten. The next thing we want to do, besides finishing our garden path!, is to buy a compost bin and start composting. Every time I put fruit and veggie remnants in the garbage I wish we were started already. I have lots of use for good compost!!

It's Magic!!

(above: from the back 40)

Yay!! It's May. Overnight my little seedlings are pushing up through the dirt. Lettuce, snap peas, California poppies, wildflower beds in a sea of green!! Hip Hip Hooray... And now it's warm enough to transplant the starts. Soon I'll be able to plant warm weather veggies and flowers: nasturtiums, marigolds, tomatoes, peppers, bush beans, potatoes.

My sister is kindly sharing a space in her sun-filled garden with my mom and I. Mom is going to plant a couple rows of corn and I am going to plant my squash on the edge of it so it can share the space. Fun. I haven't gardened with my mom (or sister!) for at least 15 years. This will be fun. We're going to have a barbecue/ planting party. I'm also going to plant my potatos, and if there's room, my extra cherry tomatos and beefsteak tomatoes.

Today Sofia helped me plant a row of lavender along the unused, undecorated but sunny fence that borders "the back 40". She has her own watering can and does very well with it, for being two years old. :-) What a fun day!!

Making Progress

That feels so much better! We're going to put a mix of dirt and pebbles around these (there will be more) and plant stepables/spongy ground plants in between. We're also going to brick in the square upon which the garden bench will go (with bricks that match these in color). AHHHH! The kids were enjoying themselves out back today, jumping from stone to stone and playing with balloons.

Yesterday I planted pansies all around to brighten things up, as well as some rosemary plants. I found the porch swing I want for our front porch, beautiful, hand-made and very comfortable looking. Now I'm going to see what I can sell so that I can buy it, since it's outside the budget. :-)

The first of my little wildflowers are peeking out of the dirt. They survived the two days of hailstorms in a row.

Happy May Day!!