I planted this year's garden slowly over
the course of the first couple of weeks in May. From the looks of this
blog, you might assume I've done nothing in the garden yet but dream!
But that's not really true, I've just been incredibly busy and have
neglected to set aside time to write this post.
This year, I
split my garden into 4 quadrants, approx. 5x7 ft. each. My husband
tilled and amended the soil with compost and it looks beautiful! Well,
beautiful until it rained and I noticed how many rocks he had tilled up
this year. So out we went, and picked bucket after bucket of rocks
until we could stand no more. As you will see from the pictures, we
didn't manage to get them all (is that even possible in an in-ground
garden???). We got the big ones and all of the rocks that were directly
in the path of a seedling or row of seeds. And then, we forced
ourselves to be content with the results.
Once all of the hard
work was done, I went crazy with tomatoes! Final count...19! What on
earth was I thinking? The tomatoes are the one exception in this year's
garden that are unfortunately not all heirloom varieties. I did not
have room on my grow cart to start tomatoes from seed (last year's over
crowded cart led to widespread wilt disease and a total loss), so I had
to purchase seedlings from the store. The selection of heirlooms was
disappointing. I did manage to snag some Pineapple Tomatoes, which I am
excited to try. I also purchased Bloody Butcher, Mortgage Lifter,
Rutgers, Roma, and some cherry tomatoes.
My heirloom pepper
plants from seed turned out beautifully and I transplanted 12 into the
garden. The others found homes with my parents and brother. Stay tuned
for the conclusion of the pepper plant saga...(yes, I've been negligent
on that post too!).
The tomatoes are in a quadrant all to
themselves, and peppers share a quadrant with two rows of carrots
(Chantenay Red Core and Parisienne) and a row of Bull's Blood beets.
The third quadrant is the bean patch, with 5 rows of Contender beans.
At the end of the bed, I've sneaked in a row of Bright Lights Swiss
Chard. The fourth quadrant contains even more Swiss Chard, a row of
Merveille de Quatre Saisons lettuce, Easter Egg radishes, and 6 zucchini
hills.
I've also managed to sneak in a few more varieties by
planting in pots -- Desiree potatoes, Good Mother Stallard beans, and a
bush variety of cucumber. I planted some Nasturtiums and Marigolds
among the garden and additional seeds in pots.
My herb bed is
coming to life with marjoram, thyme, oregano, and parsley. I hope to
add another variety or two after a trip to the Farmer's Market (finally
opening on Saturday!). I also have chives and mint in pots, and some
basil seeded in the bed with tomatoes.
Now I'm just waiting for those pokey beans, cucumber, and zucchini to germinate and I'll be all set!
