Week 4, 2012

Lots of rain means lots of growth!

Here is the link to the third week's pictures.

First bed: Our bush beans are obviously NOT bush beans. Yesterday, Granny and I (K) had to buy some taller stakes because the beans were already at the top of the 4' ones. Some beans have already started climbing on the new 6' stakes! Also in this bed is our lettuce, which is ready to be picked, and sugar snap peas, which are blooming like crazy! We even have some peas almost ready to pick and eat!

Second bed: These squash, zucchini, and cucumbers are HUGE! And we finally have blooms :D

Yay! A squash bloom!

Third bed: Tons of blooms on the tomatoes and peppers. 

Fourth bed: A top view of our strawberry fortress. Not sure how visible they are, but we do have plenty of blooms and strawberries on the plants.

Fifth bed: More blooms and growth on the tomatoes and blooms on the peppers.

If the rain keeps up, we're going to have a jungle in our backyard soon!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Week 3 -- Mid-week update

I won't normally post mid-week updates unless something big happens, like a bad storm, a big harvest, or an addition to our garden. And an addition to the garden is exactly what this one is about!

Here is the link to the third week's pictures.

Two new pepper plants!

The third bed, with one of the new peppers.

The fifth bed, with the second new pepper plant.

They already have blooms on them and look pretty healthy. Now, we just need to keep the squirrels away!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Mother's Day, 2012

We did this last year for mother's day and it was a pretty sight to look at, so we did it again this year!

Here is the link to last year's plant feature (first picture only).

Topsy turvy planter! From top to bottom, the plants are as follows: 

Top pot: Cobweb Hens and Chicks

Second pot: Snow Princess

Third pot: Red Velvet Verbena

Fourth pot: Creeping Jenny and Coleus

Fifth pot: Torenia

Sixth pot (bottom): Rose Lantana

Stay tuned for more updates!

Week 3, 2012

The plants have grown SO much over the past week!

Here is the link to the second week's pictures.

First bed: We've had to put Sevin on the plants because we found some kind of insect on the lettuce. Better to be safe than sorry!

Second bed: so much bigger than week 2. No bugs in this bed yet! Blooms are just starting to form in the middle of the squash plants. Hopefully they will come up sometime in the next few days!

Third bed: not many changes to these plants yet. Both tomato plants have plenty of blooms on them now.

Fourth bed: I forgot to say in Week 2's blog that the plants that are in the cage with the strawberries are sage plants. I (K) read that squirrels don't like sage so maybe that will help along with the sticks and the cage. So far, there have been no other intruders! Lots of blooms and baby strawberries growing though

Fifth bed: these 3 tomato plants have plenty of blooms on them also. I haven't had to water them much because the new soil is keeping pretty moist from the occasional rain showers.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Week 2 -- Late Update!

I know I'm like 2 weeks late for this update but here it is anyway....

Here is the link to the first week's pictures.

The first bed: lettuce, beans, and peas.

The second bed: cucumbers, squash, and zucchini.

The third bed: tomatoes, peppers, and onions. As you can see in the lower right corner of the box, we have had a pepper casualty. The theory goes that a squirrel sat on it with his fat butt. He will become squirrel stew if he doesn't stop digging in our boxes.

The first tomato blooms of the season! From bed three, lower left corner

Our strawberry bed. The evil, evil squirrels actually dug UNDER the chicken wire and ate ALL of our berries and blooms. Needless to say, we were all very mad at them. So I (K) came up with the idea of putting sticks around the cage, holding the wire down and hopefully keeping the squirrels out. You'll have to check out Week 3's blog to see if it worked!

The fifth bed: peppers, tomatoes, and onions. Another casualty in the lower right corner of the bed, most likely due to another squirrel.

No harvest this week...because the squirrels ate everything and the blooms are just starting to come out.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Week 1, 2012

The garden has been planted for this year! We have a bunch of different veggies: lettuce, sugar snap peas, green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, straight-neck squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, and even some strawberries and blueberries!

Here's a look at our plants...

One blueberry plant! We had to buy new plants because the ones we bought 3 years ago were still sticks. Seriously.

Our second blueberry plant, to help pollinate the other one

First bed, containing lettuce, sugar snap peas and green beans

Second bed, containing yellow squash, straight-neck squash, cucumbers, and zucchini.

Third bed, with freshly watered tomatoes and bell peppers

Fourth bed, strawberries! Yes, that is chicken wire around it. We're trying our best at squirrel-proofing these plants :P

Fifth bed, with more freshly watered tomatoes and bell peppers.

And for the big finale....

Our first harvest!! Yes, three measly strawberries. But the birds didn't get them! And the squirrels didn't get them! And they didn't rot! YAY!! They are so red and (were) delicious!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Week 5

 The kids and I put this together for Granny for Mother's Day.  From top to bottom, the plants are:  mother of  thyme, petunias, polka dot plant, pentas, coleus, begonias, and Mexican heather.  

 The potatoes and sweet potatoes, all of which seem to be growing well.  

 All 4 of the tomatoes have blooms on them, and two have small tomatoes.  The lettuce looks good, and the green beans are climbing up the tower strings.  

 These two tomato plants and the 3 pepper plants on the right side of the box have blooms.  

 Close up of the two toned French Marigold in the pepper box.  

 Squash, cukes, zucchini box.  The ornamental squash plants are coming up and are about 2 inches tall.  

 Hydrangea 

Cherokee Purple tomato, with blooms.