Lady in My Garden

When I was purchasing vegetables for my raised beds, I spotted this flower:

With its small, draping flowers, I had a sudden thought--there was this lady who stood with her empty pot right on my front porch for years.  And she just stood there, waiting patiently for me.  Well, this would be the year she would be put to use.

I took the little two-foot-high statue and anchored it in my front yard round garden.  I never had money to edge this garden with brick, like my other garden.  So I just dug out around it to make it look like it had an edge.  And my little lady was placed right there in the front.  Actually, I was so excited to have a flower for her that I took care of her first.

Well, she was all set, and then we dug out around the garden.  I like to do things backwards sometimes.

Back to life,
Christine

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My Late May Garden, Step Two

Earlier in the day, we worked in the garden preparing the beds for planting the vegetables I purchased.  Then came the really fun part:  actually planting my vegetables.  Woo-hoo!

Below, Thomas and Danny have already planted my peppers--the sweet Giant Marconi and the jalapeños.  Here, they're working on the tomato plants.  One thing that I did new this year--as I planted each plant, I first dug the hole, then mixed three tablespoons of organic plant food into the soil in the hole.  Then, I separated the plant's roots a bit (to prevent it from getting root-bound), and planted it in the hole.  (July update:  my plants are doing fantastic, so I'm guessing the plant food helped!)

Peggy from The Growing Place recommended that I put cheesecloth over my butternut squash plants.  She said this would prevent moths from laying eggs at the base, thus killing the entire plant.  I figured it couldn't hurt, so I draped cheesecloth over the three plants and anchored the cloth with some bricks from our garage.  The cheesecloth should be removed when the plant blossoms, so that bees can pollinate them.

An update on the squash/cheesecloth situation to come soon.  :)

Here is the basil I planted the previous week:

The sweet peppers were planted and staked.  I used metal stakes, the same type I used for anchoring the chicken wire around my garden.  They're what I had, and they were free.

I also used garden tape to anchor the plants to the pole.  This is green tape, with Velcro on one side and soft, fuzzy material on the other.  The plant stems are kept safe, and the plant stays anchored on the pole.  I haven't had to purchase this tape yet, as a friend gave me some to use last year, and another friend gave me more this year.  *big smile of thanks*

A quick check of my strawberry plants and I saw lots of blossoms!  Maybe I'll get strawberries this year!  My neighbor Lorraine gave me the plants two autumns ago, so this is their second growing season.  Can't wait!  (Update on that soon, too!)

Looks like I'll have strawberries this year!!

I bought three types of tomatoes this year, and totally forgot about getting cherry tomatoes.  Oh, well.

 Tomato variety -- Early Girl.

 Tomato variety -- Better Boy.

 Tomato variety -- Rutgers.

 

All of the plants have lots of blossoms--a good sign!

That was it for the first day of planting.  We started the next day nice and sunny, ready all over again to plant the onions.  Below, you can see the empty bed waiting.  Well, there is a clump of garlic there in the back left which grew up from last year.  I just let that grow.

I spaced the onions about four inches apart, with the root part down and the stem part up.  Makes sense, huh?

After I worked some plant food between the rows of onions, Danny used my watering wand to water them.

The Overview

This is what the garden looked like at the end (before we planted the onions in the far back):

Back to life,
Christine

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My Late May Garden, Step One

In mid-May, my garden looked like this and this.  I thought that herbs and garlic might be the only things I grew this year.  I had completely forgotten to purchase veggie plants from my friend Becki; my mind had been so very occupied with life events.

But one late May morning, Jacob accompanied me to The Growing Place, where I wandered among the vegetables remaining in their greenhouses, wondering what to purchase.  I finally decided on several items, with the help of Peggy, a knowledgeable TGP staff person who was very encouraging and helpful.  Jacob helped me get all the plants onto a rolling cart, into the car, and home.

Here's what I chose:

Falling-over vegetable plants await planting.

Purple onion sets.  I chose them because that's all there was.  They should've been planted in April, but I'm hoping for a late season anyway.

A smaller sweet pepper, thinner and longer, called Giant Marconi.

A few peppers were already growing on the plants.

I spied the butternut squash while I was contemplating purchasing zucchini--which I've never grown but how hard could it be?--and purchased one little pot, which had three plants in it.  If I get two or three squash out of it, it'll be a good deal.

With Fernando's generous garden budget, I splurged and got some really nice work gloves.  For some reason, my floral ones and pink ones disappeared.  I have a spot for them, and I have all guys.  I still wonder about it.

And never forget my Craftsman, the only brand I'll buy.  A trowel and a mini hoe tool are all I need to be happy working in my garden.

Before the planting began, we had to work in the organic compost, which my guys did for me.  Did I mention that this was their Mother's Day gift to me?  (Work in the garden!  Yippee!!)

I had to get in there and get my own hands dirty, of course, and here's what my gloves looked like at the end of the compost session:

The Overview

Then it was time to get up on the deck of the pool to get an overview shot.  Boy, look at all those weeds!  I know, I know, I'm all about the details.  But the great part--compost has been worked into the soil, around the herbs I previously planted, and it looks like things are ready to be planted!

Back to life,
Christine

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Football!

Fernando was thrilled beyond words.  Actually, he was very verbose about his enthusiasm.  Because...

Thomas signed up to play football.

Yes, this was a big announcement in our home.  His friend Joe invited him to a few practices, and to the final spring practice where the team had some friendly competition.  This team is part of a large homeschool sports organization, and it is in their third or fourth year of existence.  They're still on the small side, but they've grown each year, with Thomas adding to their number this season.

While the guys were participating in their sprint competition, Fernando grabbed a jump rope to see if he could still do it.

Yep--he could still do it.  He sweated some, too.  Yuck.

We went down to the practice field to watch the guys run their two-mile distance.

Thomas worked hard, but I think he was just beginning to realize how much physical work he'd have to do over the summer to be an asset to the team.

Team meeting after the run.

So, now I'm a football mom!  I'm rather excited, except for carting Thomas (and the carpool guys) to and from practice over an hour away.  :/

And, I can't wait until the games!  It'll be a lot of fun capturing the action with Ellie, and enjoying being a sports mom for a season.

Go Crusaders!

Back to life,
Christine

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My Mid-May Garden, Part Two

Just a few days after Jacob weed-whacked my veggie garden walkways, I was back out working again.  I had purchased some organic herbs at Meijer--just happened to walk by them in the produce section--and figured they'd be a great start to my garden.  I also figured that if I never planted anything--and it looked like that may happen this year--I'd at least have some fresh herbs to go with our meals.  And if they happened to do well, I'd be able to freeze or dry them for winter use. 

Parsley and rosemary.

Below, it appeared my strawberry plants survived the winter.  We had removed the straw protecting them from winter's cold, and they seemed to be happy growing in their corner.

Finally, after planting five little herb plants, here's what my garden looked like:

Strawberries, rhubarb, garlic, parsley, and rosemary.  There's a Part Three to this story, though.  Stay tuned.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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