The Garden

If you recall, I spent a good part of last summer/fall working on a garden.  When I started the project, the garden area looked like this:

The above was what I considered "a detailed plan of the garden."  Much like a Da Vinci painting or a Mozart symphony, it was all in my head (yes, a bit of hyperbole there).  Note the soil--devoid of anything organic.  Thus, it was quite an ambitious endeavor.  I'm happy to report the garden is now producing edible vegetables.  We've only harvested lettuce and onions, but experts are predicting a bumper snow-pea crop, plenty of carrots and garlic, and maybe even some broccoli.  Below are some pictures.  First we have the entryway.  Quite a change compared to last summer.  The net has done a great job keeping the birds away.

There are some nice tufts of grass that grew at the entry.  The long-term plan is to plant grass in all the walkways.  However, this has to wait a bit, as there are some minor drainage problems that will require a little digging to fix.  Here are some closeups of the crops.

The above are pictures of the same box.  I ran some string between some poles to give the peas something to grab, as they are somewhat vine-like.  In the picture directly above, note how the second row from the left is a bit behind.  I don't know what happened--nothing grew here the first planting, but the second set of seeds has taken hold.  The far right is also a set of peas.  The second and third-from-the-right rows are corn, which is really starting to shoot up now that the weather has warmed.  The next box is probably the weakest of the four boxes.

There are four tomato plants (back side), two pepper plants, two pumpkins, some cucumbers, and some corn.  The tomatoes aren't doing so great.  I put them in the ground after 15 May, but we had some really cold weather the week of 18 May.  Everything survived, but I don't know how much fruit we will get.  Same for the pepper plants.  The bottom right of the box has been a disappointment.  I don't know if the soil is bad, or if it gets too much water, but I've had little luck getting anything to grow.  A few days ago, I tilled up the soil and threw down a ton of corn seeds in no real order just to see if something will take.  Here's hoping.  Note the large corn stalk in the middle left.  Bode grew that at school in a plastic cup, and we then transplanted it to the garden.  I was amazed how well corn did in a little 8-ounce cup.  I plan to start my corn next year inside so it will be beyond the just-budding stage come June.  Next we have the box of the (mostly) perennials.

The top two plants are blueberries, the middle two plants are raspberries, and the bottom right plants are strawberries.  Much like the tomato plants, I planted these at the correct time (according to the Almanac), but then they all got smashed by hail.  Fortunately, they have recovered, and there are new leafs and blooms on everything.  Plus, the bottom left is a bunch of sun-flower plants, and I think there is a stray cucumber or two.  I'd love for the raspberries and blueberries to really take hold and eventually take up the entire box, but we are a few years from that happening.  The final box is going quite well.

The lettuce has really taken off--I've had lettuce every day with my lunch, and it's quite tasty with some blueberries or raspberries (both store-bought I'm afraid).  To the right of the lettuce is some broccoli, which is going well.  There is also some early-garlic, carrots, and some onions that are ready for the eating.  I'm not sure why the carrots took so long to grow.  I planted them the same time as the lettuce, but they didn't start until three or four weeks later.  Maybe I planted them too deep.

Not much else going on here.  I'm off work for a couple days.  I had a procedure on my foot, that will hopefully eliminate my planar fasciitis.  I do have quite a limp right now, but that should go away.  I can't do any type of impact activity for one month, so come July, I'm sure I'll be bouncing off the walls., but if that is what it takes to be pain free, I'm all for it.  Pleasant day to all.