May 2, 2013 - This Week in the Garden

 I planted 36 sweet peppers along the fence today.  The corn is all planted in three beds on the right, and a few volunteer potato plants were moved to the front edge of the corn garden.

Nine more sweet pepper plants, a tomato and some basil were planted at the back of the north garden.  The sugar snap peas are growing vigorously, but the big packet of shelling peas I bought from Burpee (on line) for $3.99 gave me just 1 (that's one) pea vine.  That's one expensive pea plant, and Granny is not happy about it.  You can't really see them yet, but the bush beans in the foreground popped up in today's warm (finally!) weather.  Three hills of butternut squash were planted up front yesterday, and a bed has been prepped for a hill each of zucchini and yellow crookneck squash.  It's going to be really crowded in the squash bed, so I'm hoping I can train most of the butternuts up the fence.

The Red Norland potatoes that were black and frozen a couple of weeks ago are now green and growing well.  No loss from the freeze!

 The Yukon Gold potatoes are now emerging as well.

 Four of 12 main crop determinate tomatoes were planted next to the shed.  Three more are planted  next to the west fence, and the other five are all against the north fence. I had all of my tomatoes planted too close together last year, so I really cut back and gave them more space.  No buckets this year!  There was too much expense with home improvements (windows, doors, siding, paint, rain gutters, sewer connection, concrete work, etc.) I didn't feel like spending a bunch more $$ on potting mix.  I did have to buy a several bags to redo the front yard planters, so the tomatoes are all in ground, except for the four Patio tomatoes and 4 cherry tomatoes that are in 2 gallon pots.  Another cherry tomato is planted next to the kennel garden.
.
Now that the seedlings are finally planted, I'll have to make some shelf adjustments to allow these potted plants some room to grow.  I still have a few smaller pots to fill, probably with a few flowers for color.  

And, speaking of color......

These beauties, zonal geraniums, will be planted in the front yard planters tomorrow.  Costco had them priced at 10 for $18.99.  I need to get some blue lobelia to mix in with them.  I spent most of the morning installing drip lines in the three planters, so hopefully the watering will stay under control this year.  I had bubblers there before, and they were drowning the plants.  


29 comments:

  1. Your garden is looking good! We're a little behind on the peppers here, I am just going to put them in the poly tunnel tomorrow. Good score on the geraniums too, I saw some at the nursery yesterday for $3.99 per 4" pot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dan, everything is behind this year! The weather has been horrid, cold and windy. It was so nice out today, I spent nearly the entire day puttering in the garden!

      Delete
  2. So many yummy treats are going to be in your garden this year!

    KK

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PPCrocodile, I'm more than ready for the yummy treats!

      Delete
  3. Your garden looks wonderful! You have so much already planted. I would be upset with just the one pea plant from that package of seeds! Nancy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nancy, I'll be missing fresh peas this year! I did have another small packet to plant, but there were only about 25 seeds in it, so no peas for the freezer.

      Delete
  4. Wow, that is a lot of peppers...your garden is huge. Out of curiosity, how much time do you spend in your garden on average per day keeping it maintained?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kris, I really didn't plan on that many, but every seed germinated! I didn't have enough last year, so I guess I've made up for that. I don't spend a lot of time in the garden, except for big planting days like these peppers and tomatoes, and last week's corn beds. I go out once or twice a day, and I always have a rake, a hoe or a 4-tined cultivator handy as I pass through the garden shed. I grab one tool and take a few minutes to look things over and do a bit of hoeing or cultivating or raking. I doubt I spend more than 30 minutes each trip, usually less than that. I just never let it get out of hand by doing a little each day, and it's always an enjoyable, relaxing experience for me.

      Delete
    2. You have it down to a science. From your pics and the size of everything it appears like I could never keep up. You set the bar high for the rest of us.

      Delete
  5. I'm so jealous! I still haven't gotten around to planting, and I'm really going to regret it if I don't get down to business soon. I'll be back soon for more inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jean, I still have a little empty space left to plant, LOL! I'm way behind on cabbages and broccoli, having lost a few plants. I need more carrots! It seems like I'm late with just about everything this year, but I'll blink and it will be time to start the fall planting :-)

      Delete
  6. I'm glad the wind died down and you are getting some warm weather....finally! You really know how to maximize your space!
    We have had several 75-80 beautiful days, but 2-3 inches of rain coming again this weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ray, I'm looking forward to some 80-degree calm days, but of course we won't get a drop of rain. Thank Heavens for our irrigation water!

      Delete
  7. Hopefully butternuts are easier to train than men-LOL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue, they couldn't be any more difficult. If I could keep Mr. Granny under control for 50+ years, I certainly should be able to handle a butternut vine or two! My new chain link fence will at least be sturdy enough. The plastic netting fencing I had before was too wimpy for vines.

      Delete
  8. I adore your garden - it's beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww, thank you, Shannan! I think it gets pretty once everything is growing and filling up the beds, and when the flowers are blooming. Mid-June to Mid-July...that's when it's the prettiest.

      Delete
  9. Your garden is looking beautiful! I love spring, it's so wonderful to finally be planting out warm weather crops.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Phuong. It's wonderful to finally get some warm weather so I can get out there and plant something! It was also nice to get up to 52 degrees this morning instead of 28. I'm sure the garden appreciated it
      :-)

      Delete
  10. Everything looks great! Sorry to hear about the pea's that is just crazy!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mrs. P., those peas were planted the same day as the snap peas, same area of the garden, so I will NOT blame myself for their lack of germination. It is crazy.

      Delete
  11. Your garden is so nice and neat! I can't wait to see it in a month or so.

    Have a great weekend.

    :)Vicki

    ReplyDelete
  12. I really enjoy your blog. I just prepared some carrot seed mats as per your tutorial, for planting out in the morning. We are finally getting some warm weather and I have been getting spinach, lettuce, peas, beets etc. in as the last frost date is a week and a half away. I am curious as to the orientation of the tomato plants along your shed. How much daily sunlight do they get?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rosalea, They are on the east side of the shed, so they get sun until early afternoon. I've been growing tomatoes there since the shed was built, and they seem to do OK. I'm sure more sun would be better, but I'm limited in sunny areas in this garden. The other main tomato growing area is on the east side of a 6' wood fence, so it doesn't get as much sun as it should, either. Actually, as hot as our weather gets in mid-summer, I think the plants do well with a bit of afternoon shade. They don't seem to suffer from blossom drop due to high temps. On the other hand, I don't think the tomatoes develop as good a flavor as when I was able to grow them along the sunny east fence (new neighbor's weeds keep me from planting there now, I have to access the fenceline daily with hoe).

      Delete
  13. Granny, those geraniums are beautiful and your garden looks great, as always! I can't believe you have all your warm weather crops in already! I won't be planting out my warm weather starts for another two weeks. Our weather has been quite chilly for this time of the year. I'm going to plant out the cauliflower and celery this weekend. It looks like I may have to re-sow my carrots. I think the pill bugs ate them as they germinated!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robin, I'm resowing carrots too. It looks like over half of mine were eaten, along with a couple of parsley plants and a bunch of marigolds. I didn't put boards over my last sowing of carrots. When I removed the boards from the earlier ones, the pill bugs were everywhere. That's where the carrots are missing.

      Delete
  14. Boy, You sure got a lot of material in the ground. I know we have a long way to go but it looks like a bumper crop already!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David, I'll be doing quite a bit of replanting today, thanks to the nasty weather and nasty bugs. If nothing else, I should certainly have a bumper crop of potatoes! And peppers, if they don't blow away :-(

      Delete