What’s Growing On?

I haven’t posted for a while about the garden – not much has been going on. I’ve got LOTS of stuff sprouted now, and I’ve been watering once a day/every other day – assuming it’s not going to rain, that is.

I stayed home today waiting for our counters to be installed – so I spent some time out there, thinning the Skyscraper sunflowers, and spraying the garden with Kiya’s Crunchy Food & Pesticide Mix… I need another sprayer doohickey ALREADY! The one I have now sends more water back onto me than it does into the container, and the mix ratio doesn’t seem to be right. I think leaving it out in the freeze cracked something. Oops.

Anyhow – pictures!

First – my little friend who was hidden SOMEWHERE in the strawberry patch. I went over to look at my strawberries (which have COMPELTELY recovered, by the way!) and he came hopping out. He was a bigun, too!

 

Look at how big he is compared to my GORGEOUS strawberries? I love the little red edging around the leaves. I hope that’s not a BAD thing.  

 

In the same box, we have two kinds of lettuce, the sunflowers across the front, onions, marigolds, and spinach. The last three are still pretty spindly.

This box seems to be doing the best – I’m not sure if it’s the screening that I put up for the strawberries shading the soil, the mix of clay/sand that’s in there from the dirt in the old bed, or what.  I’m kinda kicking myself for using JUST compost and peatmoss in my boxes – I’m wondering if it’s got enough nutrients in it.

I need to start digging out more lettuce seed, as it’s high time that I sow some more – I might try it in one of the beds that’s kinda *waggles hand* Eh.

Okay – in the next bed, we have the two kinds of green beans. I suspect the first picture is of the heat resistant ones, as they are doing much better than the others. I’m going to thin the threesome down to two, once I can clearly see which two are strongest. Right now, they are all growing beautifully.

 

 

The cukes are looking pretty good too.

There’s other stuff in this box, but none of them have moved as impressively as these. I haven’t seen a peep from the cauliflower, and the brussels and brocolli are looking kinda weak too – I think it might have gotten too hot for them already. If I don’t see anything serious from them in two weeks, I’m going to write them off as a VERY early spring/fall crop.

 

The next box has the ‘runners’ in it – pumpkin:

 

Squash:

And watermelon!

 

I’m finally getting a WEE peep out of my tomatoes – well, at least I HOPE these are tomatoes, and not a random windborn weed. But I don’t think a weed would be quite so organzied.

I think that the peppers are starting to break too, but I’m not sure….no picture yet. This box looks – it looks like it has the potential to get really full, really quick. I tried to plant the runners in the middle, so that I can run them BETWEEN the other taller plants, and if need be, (and they get that big!) I can run them OUTSIDE the box too. Mwauauahaha. And the peppers and tomatoes are going to be trellised (I need to start thinking about that soon) so, that’ll free up a little more ground space.

 

Lastly, the flower bed.

The morning glories appear to be rather snackable to SOMEONE. Hurmph.

And the sunflowers are, as usual, doing wonderfully. These are the ones I thinned  – also the ones that make me worry the most about nutrients. The peppers looked a LITTLE yellow I thought, but the sunflowers have several yelllowish lower leaves. I know they are VERY thirsty plants, so I’m hoping it’s just low moisture right now, and be sure to triple water them every time I water.

 

I’m going to get back on a STRICT every day watering schedule, and I’m trying to talk myself into waking up a little earlier, so that I can go outside and water BEFORE I go to work, so that they are good and moist during prime sun time. *sigh* I know it’s for the best, but ICK.

I figure, between regular watering and the lovely food I gave em today, things should improve.

Notes for next year – get screening for ALL the boxes when going right into the ground in late spring. Early spring (ie, Feb) not so much. Late Spring (ie late March/early April) definitely. Also – go with all heat resistant – hopefully by the end of this year, I’ll have figured out enough to feel comfy in buying some full price heirloom seeds. Also, next year, I’m going for some fruit trees.

 

 

In other delightfully domestic news – no, the countertops did NOT get installed.

Well, one did. *lol*

The longer ones (around the sink) were MISMEASURED. *asplode* *sigh* So, it was too short, and they have to come back Wednesday. Thankfully, I’m salaried, and take any chance possible to escape from work, so I don’t mind TOO much – but still! Dammit! I want my countertops!

Once nice perk – they put in the lift BEFORE they realized that the counters were too short, so we will still be able to install the dishwasher!! They also installed our gorgeous new faucet, so whoohoo! *sigh* I was so hoping that Sunday would be the last time I had to wash dishes. *LOL*

Murph.