HUGE Garden Update

Hi All,

This spring we've had such an adventure with the weather.  We nearly had snow in March and had our fair share of chilly wintry weather in February and January.  We seem to be past all of that now as the trees and flowers are beginning to bloom.  Pollen is crazy in North Carolina.  We've had pollen alerts almost every day this week and I am so thankful that my allergies are calmer this year than last.

Well, I've got a big garden update for you.  I've been busy and it looks like all the seeds I've planted finally got busy, too.  So, let's see what's happened in two weeks.

Seedling Update

Below are some broccoli, cauliflower, and onion seeds I planted earlier this year.  As you can see, they are dead.  :(  For the most part they did great even after I transferred them from the green house they were in to this pan to harden them off.  The problem with them was that after that, however, I did not water or shelter them enough. 

 Next, these are two of the herb gardens that my friends and I made at a get together for my birthday a few weeks back. Each of them have different things including chives, dill, oregano, basil, lavender, marigolds, cilantro, and more.  Dill and chives were one of the first things to pop up (the tall chives are mine from last year) and it has taken about two weeks for the oregano to show any signs.  Once everything gets two true leaves (or most everything) I will add some fertilizer to their water at a rate of once every two weeks.

 On the front porch we've got four containers, the same on each side, shasta daisies (which at this point may not come back), lavender, dusty miller and mums, and rosemary.

 These are my tomato seedlings.  We have two varieties - full size yellow on the left and red cherry on the right.  I planted several other things in this container including sage, marigold, sunflowers and others but those seeds were fairly old.  I was surprised by the tomatoes on the right.  That pack of seeds were about five years old but they were Burpee guaranteed to grow and they sure did.  I hope to share some of these with my mom.

 This is also a tray of seeds that I planted about two weeks ago.  I used newer seed on the left and older seeds (from 2009 to 2013) on the right.  On the left we have cherry tomato, brandywine yellow, Dr. Lyche yellow (both from Sow True Seeds), nastriums, and two marigolds.  On the right I have a mixture of lavender (which came up as sweet little seedlings then promptly died), marigold, sage, and a few other things. I believe it was not as prolific because the seed is sold and I did not store it very well.  (Though at the time, I didn't really yet know there was a "right" way to store seeds.)

There was one tray which I did not get a picture of but in that I am growing seeds for squash, okra, spaghetti squash, cantaloupe, and peppers.  Some of that seed is fairly old, so we will see what will happen. ;)

Now, onto the garden.

Update of the Big Garden

I've done a lot of work in this garden to help prevents weeds and also to have nutrients (from leaves and compost) added back into the soil.

First picture are a couple of the rutabagas that I am going to leave out to see if I can collect my own seed.  I think that might be fun.  Once they go to seed (or before then if I get impatient) I will probably plant my tomatoes or something here.

 About ten feet from that is my patch of Sunflowers.  I figured this might be a good place to put it because it shouldn't shade out the other plants too much.  I hope to try to do a "three sisters" sort of thing with the sunflowers, cowpeas, and some squash.  The sunflower seeds I used were a mixture of old and new so I sowed them a little close and I am hoping for the best.

 Here on the opposite side of the garden is what is left of my little leeks and in the way back is a bit of my corn patch.  I plan on pulling up and cooking those little leeks, adding new garden soil and amendments, tilling that up, and adding more corn, once again, to do a three sisters sort of thing.  Further to the back you can see my patch of carrots, which is getting a good amount of seedlings up and next to that are onions, and then strawberries, which have about 15 or so berries on the four plants.  Yay!  I got a picture of this but it isn't loading up very nicely, so hopefully you'll get to see it in a later post.

 I showed you all this patch last entry when it was nice and tilled up.  I've got about one rows worth of space between that and the compost pile but from right to left I've got pak choy (two rows) with a little kale, and then two rows of freckles romaine, a kale, and then a pretty little plant with blue-purple blooms.  I think it is a phlox.  I wanted to give the bees something since I'm always pulling up all the weeds with the little purple blossoms.  I left another spot to plant another flower for the bees.

 Between this picture and the last are three rows of collards, broccoli, and collards again.  They were honestly planted too late in the season, I'd imagine but I figured I'd give them a shot and see what happens.
In this picture, however, you can see my norland red potato vines that are shooting up.  First year growing potatoes!  Very exciting to me. Behind them are peas and garlic.  You can see very well here how I mulch with newspaper and leaves between the rows.  When I run out of leaves I might buy wood chips of some sort and use those instead.  That long beige planter has wild flower seedlings in it.  Once again, for the bees.

 This is the far back left corner.  I did a lot of weeding and row covering back here.  From right to left I've got radishes and carrots popping up, then some rutabagas, arugala, and two rows of peas, which are twice as tall as they were two weeks ago.

Overall Garden Plans

Since it's late spring, preparing for summer is going to keep me very busy.  I plan on fertilizing the garden every two weeks and trying to keep up with the weeds.  I have used chicken poo as well as liquid and they both seem to work well.  

I've got to finish out planning my crop rotation for the front part of the garden.  I had no idea that I would fill up the back so fast.  I started working in the back because that is what needed "cleaning out" from all the limps and things that I had put out there.  In the front is mostly where I put a lot of my summer crops, but also some of my winter crops so it is going to be very important to add good things back into that soil so it is not overly taxed.

I'd also like to start a new compost pile but I don't want to give up the garden space very much, especially while I'd been in transition with two piles.  The primary reason for this is my current pile seems so big.  I've filled it up before with weeds and leaves and such but it's hard to turn and it seems like too much.

I'd also like to get a rain barrel but I'm pretty scared about it for some reason.  So, meh on that.

One easy project I can do is put down fresh weed block on my garden path.  I really need to do that and I've already got a huge roll of it.

I think one thing that is helping my garden do better than last year (although I am most successful is the spring and fall) is how well the soil was tilled prior to me planting as well as keeping up with the mulching process.  Also, the fence is taller which protects the area but also turns it into a hot box a little during the summer.  Bugs are going to be a challenge for me but I'm really trying to think more about companion planting as well as the use of "sacrificial" plants and herbs and flowers.  I want to attract the right sorts of insects to my garden so I need something to "lure" them in.  I might just have to do a post on that.

Anyway, that's how my garden grows.  Hope all is well with you and your garden is doing great.

Take care,

Rebecca