Decisions, Decisions...

For a few days, I've been testing the soil temperature in my beds to see if I can start sowing seeds. I've discovered that my two raised beds along the patio are about 20 degrees cooler than the SFG along the house. I was originally going to start my fall crops in my SFG but I've decided to end there, hoping that by the time I'm ready to plant there, it'll be cool enough so the soil won't reach 100 degrees! Today I added soil amendment and grass clippings to the right raised bed where my watermelon and sweet potatoes were residing (I ripped the watermelon out a week or two ago). I've been going back and forth on whether to keep or chuck my sweet potatoes since they haven't been growing, and finally ripped them out today. Here's what had grown: The long skinny one in the middle is about the length of a new pencil. But, I just couldn't trash them! So, I put them back. HAHAHA! Who knows what they'll do now that they've been disturbed, but I just didn't have the heart to let them go! Also, when I put them back, I put them on the left side (vs the front, where they were) so I can start my carrots and lettuce on the right. In addition to my sweet potatoes, I've also decided to keep my cantaloupe for a while longer because they've started growing again, and are finally producing both male and females. I was able to hand pollinate 3 this week (one, however, was chomped on by a slug, and won't make it). I tried googling how long it will take the fruit to complete growth from pollination to maturity, but couldn't find anything. Anyone out there know this? On a side note, I'm starting cardio kickboxing classes next week. It's not an aerobics class, mind you, but full blown kickboxing! I'm totally crazy for doing this, as I've never done any kind of martial arts, let alone been that active in about 15 years, but I've always wanted to do something like this, and finally got the nerve to sign myself up! Here's the LO testing out my gloves... Cheers!

Finally Seeing Green!

This was my first "substantial" harvest, on or around June 30th. A lot of garden bloggers out there are weighing their harvests, and I think I'll do that this fall... For now, my harvest is small enough that I can count what I get! LOL 9 Green Fresno Chili's - I've really enjoyed these, and have been our most useful vegetable so far. I've added them to pizza and ramen for a little zip. We've also grilled them, and added to our steaks and burgers. Having these chili's have been great because DH and I like things spicier than the boys, and they're small enough to dice up and add to our individual meals. 25 Green Beans - I have two varieties growing; Kentucky King and Greencrop. I picked 9 today, and the rest are in the picture above... I steamed those, and split between the boys and I for dinner (DH worked late, so he missed out). Boy Wonder really enjoyed them. We both agreed that they're a lot sweeter than store bought beans. 7 Clemson Spineless Okra - I'm clipping 1-2 of these every other day or so... I've been cutting and freezing these without blanching. I'm hoping to have enough before too long to make some fried okra. Here are a few pictures of what the garden was doing on July 4th... The blooms on the okra truly are magnificent, but I have mixed feelings about them because they only last for one day. This is good because it means I get to enjoy the okra that much faster, but I also wish I could enjoy the blooms a little more. I don't get to make it to the back yard every day, and when I do, the blooms are typically on their way out. It's really hard to tell yet, but the cantaloupe are growing. Hopefully they'll pick up some speed, and produce a melon or two before the end of the season. I planted my watermelon on June 19th, and they are taking off! These are called, "Family Fun" watermelon, which I was told is an heirloom variety (yay me! I'm growing somethin' old school). Behind the watermelon are my sweet potatoes. I think they've been taking their sweet time establishing their roots--but that's ok! That's where the potatoes will be! I did notice a new leaf forming on one of them, so there's proof of growth above ground too. I'm pretty sure these are going to turn into long skinny potatoes, which happens when there's too much nitrogen in the soil. And, I think there's too much nitrogen in the soil because it's a brand new bed... We shall see!

Jumping on the Gardener's Death Day Bandwagon

After reading Annie's Granny's blog, which led me to the Gardening Without Skills' blog discussing Garden Blogger's Death Day, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and post this month's garden carnage for my garden. My garden may be small, and my carnage smaller, but it's a big deal for this first time gardener... Two crops that I've previously mentioned are my failed carrots and broccoli. Scroll down a bit to see how beautiful my last broccoli was looking (I had three but pulled two that weren't growing well). After a heat wave hit, however, I pulled it. It turned out good that I did this because there were a LOT of eggs on the undersides of the leaves, which I'm fairly certain would've grown into cabbageworms. Yolo Wonder bell peppers - These poor plants... I've put them through so much... First I gave them too much nitrogen (blood meal), then I over watered them. Finally, they were fine and dandy until I separated them from one container to two. Then with the 98-104 heat we've had since last week, the fruits were getting burned, and the roots probably steamin' in those pots! I moved them off of the concrete and cut the largest of the peppers off, but I'm pretty sure they're done for. Snap dragons and verbena - I haven't had my snapdragons and verbena for very long, and was able to get two rounds of blooms from them. But with their location above the concrete, sitting along a stucco wall, and, again with the heat, they finally succumbed. I wonder if snapdragons are edible... These fried up all crispy-like... See that peat pot nestled in the soil? I think these, and a combination of spider mites are leading to the demise of my green beans--and largest crop. I've pulled one plant whose roots didn't travel too far outside the peat pot, and the others seem to quickly be following it's lead (boo hoo). To end on a quirky note, my last garden carnage occured this evening with the death of my sweet potato surrogate. She did a great job at producing slips for me. I was even able to freecycle enough for two people to grow some in their gardens YAY! Sadly, I needed to lay her to rest--in the garbage. She was starting to get stinky, and was well into the rotting phase of life. Thank you sweet, sweet potato. Here's winkin' back atcha. ;-)

Wittle Garden Babies and Pepper Toddlers

I wasn't planning on planting the sweet potato slips for another week, but I just couldn't take it anymore (they rooted really fast!). See that container in the back corner? Those are "Family Fun" watermelon seedlings. I picked those up at OSH this weekend, originally intending to replace my cantaloupe in my other RB, but that just ain't gonna happen. The cantaloupe are still struggling, but I'll give them a chance. I'll move the fourth SP slip to the left side of the bed, and plant the watermelon seedlings on the right, and have them trail/grow out the right side of the bed. Since I'll be training the SP vines up the deck, my only concern with having the watermelon in there will be the actual sweet potatoes taking up too much room in the bed. I've decided I'll be asking for a new camera for Christmas... Trying to take pictures up close with my current camera is hard, and since I'm taking a lot, I need a better camera... LOL... Here is my wittle bean baby with another pretty flower behind it... This is my lonely Green Bell pepper. I think I added a little TOO much bone meal to the plant... The leave's edges are a little burnt, and it's not producing new flowers right now. The unusually cool weather isn't helping any either... The Fresno Chili's are getting big (wiping drool from chin). He has been taking his dose of bone meal quite well...

Sweeeet Potatoes

This morning I thought I'd check on the progress of my sweet potato (SP) experiments. On May 1st, I placed one in water, and one May 8th I placed a second SP directly in the soil. On May 15th, I noticed my submerged SP sprouting leaves on the end that was submerged, so I flipped it. The pictures below were taken today. Flipping my SP meant I had to move my googly eyes, and one didn't make it. LOL. The slips are growing nicely but I'm having an issue with the submerged portion beginning to rot. Hopefully I'll be able to detach them from the SP soon, root for a few days, then plant. The SP I direct sowed is also doing well. There are 4 slips growing on the side shown, but the biggest is on the opposite side. There are also a few roots at the bottom. When I replaced the SP in the soil, I didn't put it as deep as before. I'm hoping this will get the slips into the sun, and growing foliage a little faster. In conclusion, it looks like the bases of the slips coming out of the directly sown SP are thicker than the submerged SP, there are fewer slips, and there isn't any foliage yet. There doesn't appear to be any rotting on this one. A quick fact about sweet potatoes: "These tuberous roots are among the most nutritious foods in the vegetable kingdom. They are packed with calcium, potassium, and vitamins A and C."

A Few Projects and More Plants

With my SFG up and running, it only took me a day or two before I became bored, and needed more projects to work on hehehe... I thought I'd share a few things I've done. The first thing I did was construct a shade cover for my broccoli. I had an extra dowel left over from creating a shade cover for my salad table, so I cut it into 3rds and stuck in the soil behind the broccoli's. Next I took leftover hardware mesh, leftover bed sheet fabric (I'm so glad I saved this!), and zip ties. Used the zip ties to attach the fabric to the mesh, and made a "lean to" shade cover. Not the prettiest thing, but I was able to make it at no additional cost, and it does great for shading my broccoli babies. The only problem I've run into is on breezy days (um, most afternoons) it occasionally gets blown over, but always onto the concrete and not the plants. I had been doing some reading on composting when my brain was too full of content on growing plants, and decided to attempt composting. There is a perfect spot in the back right corner of the yard, and is partally hidden by the orange tree/bush. The biggest problem with this spot was the existing dirt pile I had to remove. I was hoping it was an old compost heap and I could use to get my pile going, but it turned out to be one big dense clay mass. On Mother's Day, one of my "presents" was being able to spend a couple hours digging in the dirt while Daddy played inside with the boys. The picture below is after I already started chopping away at it. For some reason I always forget to take pictures before I start doing things... Taking a break... Finally! Three hours of digging, and a few blisters later, here is the result. This weekend (ie tomorrow) Hubby will saw the other free pallets I got off of craigslist for the walls of the bin, and attach them for me. This was The Husband's project last Saturday. The deck was looking pretty ragged, so he took the sheers off of the side of the canopy,removed a few non-working strands of white lights, trimmed the pear and plum trees in the back, and swept the deck and pillars. It's finally a nice spot to go and relax! I was at OSH getting blood meal for my pepper plants, and although I knew I shouldn't have, I went to look at the veggies they had... I ended up bringing home 3 canetloupe babies. LOL I don't know *what* I'm going to do with these guys, but I couldn't resist! If they make it long enough, I will either find one heck of a creative way to trellis, or I'll move the container to a dirt spot on the west side of the yard. I haven't done any reading on canteloupe, so I don't know if I have them too close. Hopefully this 15" pot will suffice... We shall see! Lastly, my sweet potatoes... Ok. Again, my green thumb impulses and boredom got the better of me. I couldn't help it! I love sweet potatoes, it's the perfect time to get them a' growin', and I have a big clay pot that was here when we moved in. So. I decided to conduct a sweet potato experiment. I bought 2 Beauregard sweet potatoes from the grocery store and stuck one in the pot using Mel's mix with sand/pea pebbles added to help with drainage. I stuck the second potato with two corn cob holders and put in a container of water. HAHAHA! After looking at my soaking potato, it felt like it wanted to be looking back at me, so I gave it some eyes. Oh, and Boy Wonder #1 gave it some ears. teehee Few! Another long updating post... Almost up-to-date! My next post I'll be showing a few current pictures of my SF and container garden. Ciao!