Planting Day!

May 20.

The day had dawned!  It was time to plant.

We had prepared the beds the day before, and now we were ready to work on the actual planting.  Below is my garden plan for this summer:

I labeled the beds A through E, in the order in which we built them.  We started with A and B, then added C one year, then a few years ago added the last two.  Bed E is lengthwise since there's a maple tree (not terribly big) growing exactly where the middle and end sections would have been had we laid it out like the others.  Too bad, because I like things neat and orderly.  But at least I have the planting space!

Another essential purchase is veggie food.  I try to get organic, and the nursery where I bought the veggies has this brand, so that's what I get.  Even with rotating my plants (hence the reason for my yearly planner above), nutrients may go missing and needed in the soil.  So, fertilizing is a must for me.

My first step was to transplant the purple onions that had come up from last year.  I definitely wanted to try to keep them!

Below, with the onions in the foreground, the bed beyond (where the green plant food bag is) is where they'll go, in the center section.

I dug each one up, and planted each in its own hole.  I spaced them evenly apart as I could, and fertilized around them.  Below, they are there in their new bed.

Next, we laid out each tomato plant (and all the other plants) where they were to be planted.  That way, my guys would know where to dig a hole and plant.  I wasn't the only one planting!!

We dug a hole for each plant, and mixed in each hole the appropriate amount of plant food.  Check the label on the plant food you're using so you use the correct amount.  I believe we used 1/3 cup food in each hole; we just mixed it in at the bottom of the hole, then took the plant out of its container, broke up the roots a bit (to prevent it from becoming root-bound), placed the plant in the hole, and covered it back up with dirt.

Danny planted the parsley, below.

Sweet red peppers!

After everything was planted, we water everything.

Thomas watered the garlic.

Squash plants.

Three parsley plants, with two jalapeno plants beyond.

Giant Marconi, a sweet green pepper, longer and thinner than the standard variety,

but producing more fruit.

The garlic bed.

I used green floral tape to secure the plants to stakes.  I use some tomato cages, and some stakes.

See the floral tape below?  You can purchase it in a roll, then cut the length you need to secure your plant to its stake.  It has Velcro on one side, and you just loop it around and press the Velcro.  It works beautifully, and I save as much of it from year to year as I can.  This is the third year (at least) for this tape, and it's still working great!

Here's the overview, at the end of the day!  There is still a little more to be done, but we were tired and ready for a rest.

Back to life,
Christine

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