2nd Day of Planting

I put my first plants and seeds in on March 18th. Today (March 21st) I made my 2nd planting.

In my 2nd bed we planted
Peas 'Oregon Sugar Pod' (an edible pod) 1 four ft. row
Peas 'Dark Seeded Early Perfection' (shelling) 1 four ft. row
I intend to install their growing support next week. Still deciding what we are using.

In my 1st bed planted:
Romaine Lettuce seeds 'Parris Island Cos' in 2 four ft row
...then I decided to risk it and take a chance...
I planted 2 rows of Beans 'Royal Burgundy' that shouldn't be planted this soon, but I'm going to attempt using a floating row cover and see if I can get some early beans! Could be a bust, but the pack of seeds was only $1 and I used half!

Garden Helper

You know what? I have a special gardening secret. I'm not willing to share, but I will let you see a photo!



I'm guaranteed success with help like this!

Spring Planting

This past week we had some decent weather and I was able to start my spring plantings.

In the first bed I put in:
Lettuce seeds 'Salad Bowl' 1 four ft. row
Head lettuce plants 'Iceberg' 9 plants
Onions 'Georgia Sweet Yellow Granex' 12 plants
Bibb lettuce 'Buttercrunch' 9 plants
Leaf Lettuce 'Red Sails' 7 plants
Spinach seeds 'Bloomsdale' 2 four ft. rows

In the 2nd bed I started my staggered plantings of broccoli (we LOVE it!)
Broccoli 'Early Dividend' 9 plants
*I've had great success with this particular variety. I get large, full heads with few bugs!

I had fully intended to get some peas planted, but my back gave out! Then the rain came down...

Good progress, but should be further along!

Poor Hydrangeas

Hard to believe this pitiful bush will soon like the hydrangea pictured on my blog profile! These bushes are now about 7 years old. It amazes me how large they get each year. I've loved their blue color, especially outside my daughters' bedroom window.

Strawberries Coming Along

The strawberries seem to be coming along fine. I've only had limited luck with Strawberries and really had problems with their invasive behavior.

One question for some of you, is it ok to the leave the leaf debris in the beds, almost like mulch?

Great Weather

We've been having unbelievable weather here in Mid TN lately. We've had a chance to get the two main garden beds charging. Now my son & I have decided to venture into the world of berry growing. After starting some research, we've decided we will try and grow blackberries, raspberries and blueberries this year.

I'm still deciding between varieties and the exact location in our backyard, but I'm excited to try something new!

A New Gardening Season!

Garden Bed Prep.

I know...I'm a little late getting started this year, but this is my first vacation week from teaching so far in 2009.

Josh (my son) and I have worked a couple times this week preparing the beds.  For my garden plan that consists of:

removing an residual plant material (yeah, yeah...shoulda all been done in the fall!)

double digging the length of the two beds

applying cottonseed meal (10# per 100 sq. ft)

applying mushroom compost (about 3"inches deep)

hoeing in soil amendments

turning over with a shovel

edging the beds with a flat end shovel

Well... we finished one bed completely and the other is about 1/3 done.  We got side-tracked cutting back the hydrangea bushes and playing football....

I raked out the one bed and re-measured.  Somehow I lost a foot since last year. I know they say people shrink as they age, but I didn't know there gardens did too! :-)

We're expecting rain for the next several days, so we may not get to finish charging the other bed.  At least we'll be able to get some broccoli, lettuce and peas (I know they're a little late!) planted in about 10-12 days.

Can't wait to see real plants in the ground! The prep part is boring to me! Especially since we don't have a rototiller!