Garden Update 2011

Well I have almost everything planted now.

Tomatoes, Eggplant, hot peppers, sweet peppers, Red and Green Lettuce, Kale, Swiss Chard, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Dill .... I planted another herb too... but can't remember what it was.... lol.... Guess we will see in a few weeks... I do remember they were little yellow round seeds.... hmmmm....

I still have...

More Cucumbers, Basil, Parsley, Marigolds, and I think that is about all....Left to plant... and that should be done by this weekend if not by the end of today....

Started out with adding Organic peat to the garden beds to add some drainage and moisture retention....

Thats about an inch of peat that is going to get mixed into the soil.

I am so happy I have a headstart this year... I am so ahead of the game it isn't funny..lol... Literally... It isn't.. I planted the eggplant really early..oops... This is only my 2nd year planting eggplant and last year the flea beetles ate all the leaves and destroyed them before I even knew what happened.... errr.... So no eggplant..... But this year fingers crossed I get it right. I did purchase frost cloth and I put black felt at the base to help warm the soil up and keep it there. I am also planted Dill at the base. This is supposed to keep the flea beetles away... Guess we will see....

I did change up were I planted things this year.... I added a bed for Zucchini away from everything else. Plus away from the area that I had them planted last year trying to get rid of the squash bugs... But I figure I'm not that far away so I am sure they will visit sooner of later.

Planter is about 8'x2'... and I put 4 hills of zucchini which is a little close but I hope it works out. Only time will tell.

Right in my front yard... I know the dogs are going to love yet another bed taking over their space :) oops

I put my tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers all in the biggest bed. I am also adding basil around the tomatoes, the dill around the eggplant and marigolds throughout the biggest bed. The herbs and the marigolds are supposed to keep some of the bugs away... ? hopefully it works...

The tomatoes will have a screen set between them for them to grow up. 

This bed is about 10'x8'

 I planted all the greens in one bed, the cucumbers and soon to be a couple peppers plants in another... and now I have one open garden bed and haven't decided what I want to try yet. I think everything is really well organized at this point and I am loving it!

The dark bed is the greens bed. This bed had Organic peat and Organic soil added to it. This bed is  3'x4' I think...

Over the next few years I want to build some ornamental tower like structures to hold up some of the tomatoes &/or cucumbers because I love the way they look. This year though I think we are just going to either dig holes and put some landscaping timbers in the ground and attach some wire or netting to them or build small structures above the ground like last years.

Found this picture a couple nights ago online.. Not sure where it came form but I really like this and look forward to doing something like this maybe in my front yard next year :)

Next up though is adding untreated mulch around the garden beds. Everyone around loves to mow the grass and let the clipping go right into the garden beds... That is so annoying... why don't they get that they can turn the lawn mower around and let the grass clipping fly the other direction...?  So fingers crossed that the mulch will help keep the grass clippings and weed seeds out of the garden...

Heading to the Greenhouse yet agian!

Not because I want to...

Not because I haven't spent enough money this year on the garden...

But because a bird has thought it to be a good idea to rip the tops (all the foliage) off almost every tomato plant and one eggplant. Out of the 18 heirloom tomato plants we brought home I have 4 or 5 left.

Nothing but a little 4 or 5 inch numb sticks out of the ground where they were once located. Now I hope the greenhouse has these same tomatoes or the original list I wanted...

But the bird it not on my good side.... evil little thing...errrrr. Guess I am going to have to bring out the tacky silver pie pans, strings, and stakes to chase the birds away.

I did finally put my cucumber and zucchini seeds in the ground but still have some other seeds like kale, lettuce, onions, swiss chard, etc. to plant because I am not sure where to put them.