Grow, Baby, Grow!!

Well, I worked very hard for about 6 days to plant the garden, in the insane heat wave we were having, and it looks like dirt.  Literally.  Dirt, dirt and a little green.  And weeds.  Why is it that when I sit in the middle of it, it looks so alive, yet when I take its picture, it looks so crappy?  Where's my lush jungle??  Gah!

So annoying.  Anyway, I thought I'd give you a tour of my dirt and little green plants.  Since they were all put in this past weekend, they're not doing much yet.  But I expect big things.  You hear me plants?? 

Good deal. 

Keep your hands and arms inside the bus, ladies and gentlemen.  Here we go!

The overshot.  The almost whole kaboodle.  Half is in shade right now, but it's about to be in the blaring sun for the entire rest of the day.  See how the garden looks like dirt?  So sad.

The first plot:  winter squash and melons.  And weeds.  Yep, I am companion planting this year--big time.  It's a large garden, but it didn't seem large enough last year.  This year to combat this, I companion planted and put things pretty close together.  I'm hoping for better results because of it.  Last year was not the best.

The next bed:  lettuce, peas, and radishes, way at the bottom of the picture.  This one has been in a while, which is why it's grown so well.  It started very slowly this year, though.  We had no rain for the longest time and the seeds just sat.  But now it's starting to get there.  Thank goodness!

 Cucumbers.  And weeds. 

Strawberries.  And not many weeds at all.  Yeay!

Peppers. Mostly not mine, either, since the stupid greenhouse calamity took out most of my seedlings.  But those that are there look good. 

Next bed: onions and carrots.  I'm trying a raised bed approach this year, as last year the onions were teeny tiny and super skinny, due to the heavy soil.  They seem to be doing much better, but they are floppy.  Onions hate me.

The entire back end of the garden is planted in pumpkins and corn.  Two out of the three sisters.  The pumpkins are back here because it's a big space, and the corn is back here because if we want any corn, we have to plant a lot of corn.  Planting just a few plants never works out well for me, so this year I went big.  We will see!!

Having learned from last year's potato debacle, I scrapped the tires.  This year I'm doing it this way: I plunked the potatoes down on nice, tilled ground, and covered them with dirt.  I'll keep covering them with dirt while they grow.  They'll be contained by these blocks, so the dirt can go higher and higher until the box is full.  The taller boxes you see in the back are the fancy blue potatoes I saved from last year.  They were planted a long time ago, and are rocketing.  The rest of the potatoes planted are just potatoes from a local farm I kept in the basement to save for seed.  I didn't invest much money, just in case this fails again.  I hope it doesn't.

  

Garlic and tomatoes.  The garlic's been here since last fall, and the tomatoes took an entire day of their own to plant.  There are over 90, with 22 different varieties.  Yes, we like tomatoes.

The bean plot, though right now it's dirt.  I know they're in there, though.  Come out, little beans!

Eggplant
and

Zucchini

The asparagus in the front plot.

All along the long side of the garden is the herb plot.  It's home to mints, oregano, thymes, sage, hyssop, bergamot, violets, all those nice things.  Oh and a giant horseradish:

Right outside the garden are the blackberries....

And raspberries.

I put in three large additional plots this year.  This one is for cut flowers.

This one is for gourds and sunflowers.

They are inside the orchard.  See my little happy orchard trees?  They are so leafy!!

This plot is field corn, but it's only field corn for this year.  Next year I am hoping to build a greenhouse here, out of salvaged windows.  I have ALOT of windows, as I've been saving them for 2 years or so.  They are starting to take over the garage, so I'm anxious to use them.  In the meantime, the plot for it is being used for the corn.

And that's it.  Not much to see yet, but I think it's got potential.  I'm hoping for a good year this year, and I'm going to take on the weeds early, so they don't get ahead of me.  Last year was such a mess.  I will be mulching with grass clippings, dead leaves, and old duck house bedding.  That said, I had best get to work.  Have a great day, everyone!