Give a Tomato a Chance

The initial tomato transplants seem to be shrinking.

So, I transplanted 3 new seedlings to a relatively empty piece of garden real estate.  All alone....
Well, maybe I'll transplant some carrots around them tomorrow.

:-D

Squash & Cukes may need thinning too.

The cucumber mounds are sprouting all over the place.  I'll have to read the seed packet to see what it says about thinning them.  I think I planted 5 seeds on each mound, but it looks like more that that came up.

The squash are looking like they could become a bit crowded too.

The Butternut look a bit more vigorous than the Delicata, as far as the number of sprouts and the size.  I like both kinds, but Delicata has such great flavor! 

If I hope to save all my babies again, I'll have to get my next raised bed built in a hurry!

:-D

Thinning the Carrots

My son LOVES carrots!   So do the other neighbor kids, even though  they turn their noses up at a lot of other things I've got planted.  They ALL like carrots.

But its time to thin the carrots. 

That was one of my mistakes last year.  It's just so hard to pull up those beloved little guys and throw them away.  They're just babies!

But last year, I left them all.  I wanted to give each and every one of them a chance for a good life.  Well, they were all tiny.  Thinner than a pencil.  Some thinner than a pencil lead. 

So, I learned my lesson.  I thinned a couple patches of my carrots.  But I still just could NOT bring myself to just throw out my little babies.    So, instead, I found a somewhat empty patch of my raised bed garden, and as I pulled them out, I transplanted them into a new row.  Then I watered them really well.  They may not actually make it, but I feel like I've given my babies the best chance I possibly could.

I saved a couple of patches for tomorrow, to see how these make out, before I take the time to save the rest of them.

Say a little prayer for my seedlings.

:-D

How does my Garden Grow?

Besides whats pictured above, the Straight Eight Cucumbers are sprouting!

The Nasturtiums  have nearly doubled in size.  Amazing.  Now I'm sure that the plant at the base of my Lime tree is NOT a Nasturtium, but a weed, I mean, native plant.

Amazingly enough, the transplanted radishes seem to be doing fine.  No special treatment here, these guys are pretty hardy.  I just plucked out a few from the over crowded bunch, and stuck them in the ground over there.  Radishes are my friends!

The Fennel popped thru in a bunch of places today.  At least I'm pretty sure its the Fennel.  Last year's subscription to White Rabbit Farm got me hooked on growing my own lettuce, and Fennel added so much flavor!

The Broccoli & Kale transplants are getting their first true leaves.  As well as the Red Cabbage transplants from the same batch.

The Chives look like a little patch of grass.  They'll be so pretty when they grow up.

The Honey Bees are still visiting for water.  It rained a little yesterday, so I only saw one at this morning's watering.

The Delicata may have popped thru first, but the Butternut has outgrown them overnight.

The Romaine is starting to get curly.  Isn't it cute?

And my Companion Planting Experiment is going along.  I'm afraid its too crowded, and the Tomato seems to be loosing the competition.  Maybe I should have called it Competitive Planting.  :-)

Companion Planting

Radishes and Carrots

Companion Planting.  The Tomato Seedling is being overpowered by the Black Beans, Peas, Carrots & Radishes.

How will this garden grow?

In such a small space, it may have become more of a competition than a cooperative growing environment.

Fennel Sprout

This is definitely Fennel.  You can see the seed.

How to Grow Fennel

The Cabbage Sprouts

Here are my tiny Cabbage Sprouts.  I wonder how big they should be before I transplant them.

This tray is looking a little "leggy".  I think I'll put them closer to the sun.

My poor tomatoes!

I think I've overpowered my poor little tomato seedlings.  I guess I went overboard with the companion planting.  It's square FOOT gardening, not square INCH.  :-)  Maybe I've just crowded too much stuff in too small of a space.

Luckily, I've got more seedlings, and I also sprung for a $10 pot of tomatoes (with blossoms) from Lowe's.  I've just got to find a place to plant them. 

Maybe all of the germination happening in such close proximity is drawing all of the chi from the soil.

See how the Black Beans, Radishes & Carrots are all nearly bigger than the Tomato (the only one put here as a seedling, not a seed).

My Garden is Blooming! Well, Germinating...

Pretty much everything that I planted has come up! What a great feeling. I hope I haven't planted too much in too small of a space.... I guess time will tell.

I think that is maybe the carrots next to the Tomatoes & Radishes. And maybe Spinach coming up looks a lot like like grass? The Radishes came up a little thick, and when I pulled a few, they looked like they still had decent roots, so I tried transplanting them near the Nasturtiums. So far so good.

The peas are looking great, but I'm a little worried about my tomatoes. I wonder if they're being overpowered by all the new stuff I planted. I hope they're going to be alright. We love tomatoes!

I also stuck some cucumber seeds in yesterday. The guides for this area say they should have been started in Septemeber, and again in January. We'll see how they do.

The Nasturtiums poked thru today, as well as the Butternut squash. The Delicata came up yesterday, and are quite a lot bigger today, already.

The Radicchio was a little lonely row yesterday. The Swiss Chard hadn't made an appearance yet, but today here they are.

Bees are coming to visit too. I think they're drinking the water. I've been watering 2-3 times a day, to give my seeds a good start. I love my watering hose. About 2 minutes and the garden is pretty much flooded. It makes it so easy to be successful.

Can you see my baby red cabbage? This was brilliant (if I do say so myself). I started them just a couple days ago in a "thin mint" package. I poked holes in it, added soil & the red cabbage seeds. Then (and this is the brilliant part), I set them in a tray of water that was almost as deep as the soil. The seeds were continuously wet. It worked like a charm!

Seaside Gardening with Seaweed

Today, I finished building the supports for my raised bed.

I lined the bottom with landscaping fabric, and cardboard (covering the existing gravel).

Then, I added about 10 grocery bags of seaweed that I collected from the beach. I didn't rinse it at all.

Next, I had a box of empty Thai Coconut shells, already starting to decompose. I added these thinking that they may help keep it moist longer, and give the roots little pockets of water to reach for. We'll see how that works.

Next, I added a pickup truck full of mulch. They just redid the playground at Paradise Beach, and they replaced the mulch. The old mulch is composting nicely over in the parking lot, and the guys said I could take as much as I want. That is what I am using for the bulk of my soil. I guess I have to figure out the pH, and see if I need to adjust it. I wonder if I can just use the litmus papers from my son's science kit... Hmmm.

So far so good. Its still a couple inches from the top of my supports. And it should sink even more once that seaweed decomposes.... What should I layer on top of this?