Jun 11, 2009

The Garden

Green PepperMy garden is suffering this year. From procrastination. Laziness. Good intentions. Too much rain.

Every year I buy seeds but until this year I never did anything with them. I put off planting them until it seems hopeless and finally give in and head to the local nursery to buy plants instead.

Not this year! I did procrastinate but then my stubborn streak came out and I decreed that we would plant our seeds no matter what. So far the experiment seems to be working out although I fear that we're a bit behind the curve.

TomatoNearly 2 weeks ago we finally planted the seedlings outside. They look so pitiful and spindly and sad. The ones that seem the most encouraging are the green peppers that are curently living in planter boxes on the deck. We did well with green peppers in the past and had plenty to add to sauces and salads and everything. The picture above is nearly 2 weeks old and they look a bit more healthy now.

We tried 2 varieties of tomatoes this year in an effort to build on last summer's success. One is Roma and the other is ... umm... something else. It doesn't really matter because the survival of any of them seems questionable. I have a funny feeling that we'll be heading to the nursery to augment these seedlings with healthier plants. I'm totally ok with that.

CornCorn is one of the new additions to our garden this summer. We planted 4 stalks and so far they're all still standing. I remember planting corn in my garden as a kid but I have no idea if it was successful. It would be very cool to pick corn from my yard this summer.

PumpkinUndeterred by the lack of success last year, we planted zucchini again. I'm sure last year was just a fluke. After the baseball bats we harvested the first year I cannot understand why we had so few zukes last summer. Last of bee activity perhaps? I'm thinking positive thoughts anyway and dreaming of a robust harvest.

This last picture is of another newcomer to our garden - pumpkins! I think it would be fabulous if we were successful with these. DQ loves to make pumpkin bread and homegrown jack-o-lanterns would be amazing.

We've got strawberries and basil and mint this year. I actually found most of what I hoped to plant but not peanuts. I'm really bummed about that but I haven't quite given up yet. Maybe I can find peanut plants over the internet.

Now that I finally got my seedlings started AND planted I need one more thing for some degree of garden success. SUN!!! My garden is well watered but my plants are begging for warm sunny days.

2 comments:

JessaLu said...

I went all crazy with established plants this year - and so far the only thing that died was the watermelons. ;o)

I hear you about the sun, I'd like to know where it's gone! It's too late in the year for me to be still using the light therapy and not the real thing!

Carole Knits said...

Fingers crossed for an abundant harvest this year!