Gardeners: how's it looking?

[Harlow2]

Outdoor lettuce starts survived the cold rain and gales over the weekend and early this week, but no sign of the lettuce and radishes I planted just prior to the bad weather. Fortunately I have 2 trays of lettuce starts indoors that I can move out before long.

[AmLitHist]

I finally got out and finished pulling the chickweed and creeping charley from the flower beds around the house yesterday afternoon.  Also cleaned up the herb bed and the mint in the brick planter box (the peppermint wintered just fine, but the chocolate mint next to it died out!). 

ALHS mixed some more of our leftover soil from last year with compost and peat and topped off the three garden boxes. I bought some kale, spinach, and lettuce seed to sow before it rains on Sunday.  It's nice that it's faired up enough to do some things outside!

With foot surgery coming up and being in a cast/boot for a few months, I'm trying to keep it simple this year:  I have quite a few perennials around the house and in separate beds, so after thinning and splitting some of those to fill in, I probably won't do much more than a few boxes of petunias and cockscombs, plus maybe mixed coleus in my fake whiskey barrels on the shady front porch. For the garden, after the leafy things (that I hope get time to make before the heat turns on!), I'm planning on a zucchini, yellow squash, 3-4 tomato plants, a few red & orange pepper plants, and maybe a hill of small cantaloupe and another of icebox watermelon.  Also some basil and a few other herbs to fill in, and garlic for the fall.

That still sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it?  We'll see.

[Puget]

Just got back from a week away. The cat/house sitter successfully kept all my plant starts alive. The peas that were just sprouting when I left are already 3-4" tall and really need to be planted out. I also need to pot up some of the tomatoes from their starter trays to 4" pots. And I need to start the next round of seedlings: basil, cucumbers, zucchini, and more flowers.

[Juvenal]

Today, noted at my library (there for matters of no bookish import) that there was a shelf of shoe-box size containers with small brown envelopes inside, each box labeled with the name of a veg or a flower, each small envelope with some seeds rattling inside, each with cultivation direction.  It explicitly said, "Take some."  Well!

I no longer garden (much; at all?) but I do have some terra-cotta pots that stayed empty last summer, formerly set out by the front steps.  So, I said to self, "You have a bin of very well-aged compost, so why not fill a couple-three pots, seed 'em, and set 'em out for possible salad greens?"

The front exposure is only moderately sunny, but I thought that lettuce might be suitable.  So, I took two packets of "Mesclun mix" and will see what comes of them, guessing that foliage is easier to mature and harvest and to manage than fruit when the light is only "moderate."  Also a packet of basil, but I think it needs more sun than it'll get.

But who can argue with free?  Save the time for set-up and the hovering over the seedlings...  And then I realized I eat nearly no salad at all.  Carbs, yes, but potatoes are hard to raise in a stoop-side pot.

[mamselle]

Happy growing!

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I put some tomatoes and peppers in the ground- in my FRONT YARD! Gasp! What will the neighbors say? :D

[clean]

The danger is not what the neighbors think, but tomato pirates!  Someone may see the 'vegetables of your labor' and help themselves! 

[Harlow2]

/font][/size]

Gardeners World (BBC, on Prime) uses relatively small containers for potatoes. They get a surprising yield; might be worth taking a look.  Then the lettuce could be decorative if you decide to remain a non-salad eater

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

The danger is not what the neighbors think, but tomato pirates!  Someone may see the 'vegetables of your labor' and help themselves!

Good point. They haven't gotten my blueberries yet (they're also in front). I plan to camouflage them behind some flowering plants.

[AmLitHist]

Sowed the kale, spinach, and "tennis ball" lettuce (a new variety for me--hope it makes!) this morning, before rain and storms make their way in.  All are late because of the wet, cold spring, so I hope they make before the heat gets them.

[clean]

lots of wind.  My corn might not have been planted correctly.  I used some starter thing and transplanted them, but I may not have planted the base deep enough and many fell over in the wind.  It does not look like those survived, though I tried to put more potting soil around them.   I have some more seeds and may just replant some seeds.

It looks like my carrots have started up, but they are not growing very fast.  but neither is the okra.  they are up, but I expected okra would bolt up quickly! 

On the positive front 1 tomato plant (bought from lowes) is very healthy and the cage may not be big enough!  If the bees visit, i should have some 'maters as there are plenty of blooms.  I have one other that it in great shape and one that is not progressing quickly.

The eggplant transplants dont seem to be going as well as I thought, but the squash looks like it is about ready to set blossoms. 

I planted some beans (blue lake) just a few days ago and those are up.

No sight from the shallots yet. 

Im having fun with my two 4x8 beds! 

[lightning]

I put some tomatoes and peppers in the ground- in my FRONT YARD! Gasp! What will the neighbors say? :D

I can't seem to rehabilitate some dead patches in my front yard, and I'm tempted to plant some tomato plants.

[Puget]

I put some tomatoes and peppers in the ground- in my FRONT YARD! Gasp! What will the neighbors say? :D

I can't seem to rehabilitate some dead patches in my front yard, and I'm tempted to plant some tomato plants.

Go for it!
My motto is "less grass, more food", which I think slightly alarmed my older lawn ranger neighbor, but he's come around given the steady supply of veggies I give him and his wife in the summer!

Pea starts went outside last weekend and are doing well-- I need to add string to their trellis though I think, as some are not finding a nearby place to grab on and are instead wrapping around each other.

We are still about a month out from being able to plant out tender annuals here. My plant starting table in my enclosed porch is at full capacity. Tomato, zinnia and nasturtium seedlings are now in 4" pots and growing well. I succeeded in getting some peppers to sprout with a heat mat but they are still small-- we'll see how those do. Started 4 varieties of basil, cucumbers and zuchs last weekend, nothing up yet.

[downer]

I planted parsley last year outisde, and it survived the winter, which was a surprise.

There is some kind of invasive weed that sprung up very quickly, in the last week or so. Spent 20 mins pulling it up, but that may be a lifelong battle now, or at least as long as I have this place. It has long roots that tend to remain in the ground when pulling on it.

[clean]

My beans sprouted.  Yesterday some were still poking out of the ground.  Today they have 4 leaves and are 2 inches high!

However, I think that some bird is sampling Bean Sprouts!  There is a corn shoot plucked out and a bean sprout 'ripped from the bed!'