Monday, May 1, 2006

Plant Garden. Check!

240 square feet of garden, half of it berries.

We got the garden planted today. I decided to do it all at once this year. I am watering handicapped. I enjoy digging the dirt and planting, but then I get distracted with life and forget to water. This works fine later in the season when watering is less needed or, sometimes around here, not needed at all. I figure by planting it all at once, I will only need to be watering viligant for a short, but very intense time. This means I will either get garden satisfaction sooner, or my garden will die all at once in one spectacular wilt.



Elsie was very cooperative. She ,thankfully, felt like sticking close. I gave her some water in her very own watering can to play with. She loved it, and playing with the empty flats and picking all the flowers. (That'll just make them bloom more, right?)



The kids each are in charge of part of the garden. It was nice spending one on one time with each one as we planted their own little plot. At one point, DH was teaching Marvin how to remove a lawnmower blade after hitting a metal post. At the same time, Emily and I were discussing faith, how seeds grow, why the sky is blue, and the three divisions of the federal government, all while planting beets. It is for such moments that I live.

If you're curious, and even if your not, here's the list:

vegetables
sparkler radishes (Marvin)
Sweet Treat Hybrid Carrots (Marvin)
Detroit Dark Red Beet (Emily)
Ruby Queen Beet (Emily)
Derby Bush Bean (Maddy)
Jung's Tricolor Blend Bean (Maddy)
California Wonder Bell Pepper
Jalepeno M Pepper
Jung's Kaleidoscope Mix Lettuce
Evergreen Bunching Onion
Burpee Pickler Cucumber
Sweet Burpless Hybrid Cucumber
Roma Tomato
Million Cherry Tomato
Better Boy Tomato
Jelly Bean Hybrid Tomato
Early Perfection Pea (planted earlier)to be followed by Golden Acre Cabbage (Emily)
Bloomsdale Longstanding Spinach (planted earlier)

Annuals for front of house

Lemon drop marigold
Petite Yellow marigold
Scarlet Starlet marigold
Dwarf Cherry Rose Nasturtium
Bonfire Salvia
Vermillion Terrace Vinca
Victoria Blue Salvia

Annuals for perrenial beds
Blue Moon Lobelia
Hot Pink Snapdragon

Annual vines for porch railing
Heavenly Blue Morning Glory
Scarlet O'Hara Morning Glory
Giant White Moonflower

Herbs
Purple sage
Hot and Spicy Oregano
Logee's Blue Rosemary
Italian Large Leaf Sweet Basil
Mammoth Dill

Maddy also helps with the raspberries and Marvin is in charge of the strawberries. The vegetable focus this year is on pickling. Other than the cucumbers, though, we are staying away from the cucurbits (squash and melon family). We were devastated by verticulum wilt carrying cucumber and squash beetles last year, so we are pulling back and regrouping.

I also repotted 3 houseplants and finished planting the containers. Final spring garden tasks: Finish pruning the forsythia bush and thin the raspberries. Anyone need some raspberry starts? For now, I'm taking my sunburned neck to bed to dream of blt's and berry pie.

Yes, this bush. Large enough for a small house into which the girl's have happily moved into this spring.

13 comments:

  1. I am amazed at all of the work you are doing for your garden; I am even more amazed that you remember all of the names of the things you have planted. I loved seeing that house in the background of your first picture. You need to post a picture of YOUR house so we can see the fabulous east coast architecture.

    I LOVE that your vines on your porch will be red, white and blue!!! You are so clever.

    That is a fantastic bush. I remember having a lilac bush like that when I was a little girl. I lost many a doll to that bush. It was so fun to play in there and fall asleep to the scent of lilacs. I didn't remember that until I saw your picture! Thank you for this post and the memory jog. Your children are going to have some wonderful memories.

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  2. Way, way cool garden! And berries are the elixer of life. One should always grow as many berries as she can. I need your raspberries to go in my Blushing Peach jam I'm going to make from my peach tree this year! I made some two years ago, and we've been dying for more since last year was a bad year for peaches. Hmmmmmmmm, too bad we don't live a skosh closer! LOL

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  3. Your yard and garden are beautiful--such rich soil! Our salsa garden will be our project this week.

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  4. okay- shame me with your extraordinary planting - i told my husband he had to clear out the garden so we can plant this weekend- (the season starts so late here!)- do you do sqaure foot gardening? thats what we do-- i too am a bad waterer and we plan to be gone a lot fo the summer so not sure how good we'll be this year-- lvoe the yard

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  5. Wow! You are growing quite the garden. I am so impressed! I have a very brown thumb. Do you have any recommendations for veggies that grow well in partial shade? I have a spot that gets some sun, but not all day long.

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  6. What a perfect day!!! I love planting and playing in the garden in the springtime...not too fond of it the rest of the summer...that is where DH takes over. Your yard is so pretty and green already. I loved THE bush. The girls must LOVE playing in there! I loved the picture of Marv mowing the lawn...what a fun angle. Let us know how the harvest turns out!

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  7. Wow!!! It looks beautiful. Your lawn is SO green. And the picture of Elsie is so cute.

    Good job!

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  8. Thanks everyone!

    Mom of all trades- I'd be happy to give you some raspberries, can I have some of your peaches?

    Smart Mama- Yeah, we do the square foot gardening thing, too. Our soil is incredibly rocky, so I only wanted to pick axe (literally) a limited amount of space. I also love having dirt so fluffy I can plunge a fist in it and the raised garden lets me do that.

    Rachelle- plants that actually like cooler weather appreciate the shade when it gets hot. Lettuce, spinach, beets, scallions, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, radishes and peas can all tolerate some shade. They are all somewhat cold tolerant, too, so you don't have to wait till the frost free date to plant. Leaf lettuce, spinach, radishes and beets are the easiest to start with. Good luck!

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  9. Hey! I had NO idea that metal pole was there! It was only sticking like 4-5 inches outa the ground! And besides, dad has hit it before! And pounded it down with a hammer after we fixed the mower.

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  10. Oh. My. Word. I am never doing a gardening blog again. Here I was going on and on about how cool I was for planting a bunch of pots and you have a friggin' farm in your back yard! I'm so jealous!!!

    We had a bush like that when I was younger too. I LOVED playing in it, it reminded me of the Secret of Nymph.

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  11. Elise is so cute. It is fun to see how your family is doing when you are so far away.

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  12. all I can say is HOLY COW!I am very impressed. (1st time here thanks to LDS chicks)

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  13. WOW!!! I think your garden is twice the size of my backyard....

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