the corn is reaching for the sky!

     The little raised bed is doing well this week. I planted 30 days ago, and most of the seeds have sprouted. The corn and peas are thriving; the corn is reaching for the sky and the peas are sending out tiny tendrils for climbing.  I'll build a trellis soon for the peas.

The corn looks good. I'm surprised at how fast it can grow.

The tomatoes look fine too, though only a few have sprouted.

The peppers and eggplant haven't sprouted yet. Now it's been over 4 weeks, so I'll replant these.

the corn is sprouting!

I re-planted the raised bed on May 1rst. Over the past week, the metal mesh has kept the digging beast away, and the little corns plants have shot up skyward (well, at least about an inch skyward).

Planting for warm weather

We ate the last of the lettuce last weekend - after giving away heaps of heads to neighbors.

  The spring onions and carrots were nice too. 

The weather is warming up, though, so it's time for summer crops. This morning I planted:

Beets - Bull's Blood
Corn - Stowell's Evergreen
Peppers - Korean Dark Green
Garden Pea - Wando
Tomatoes - Illini Star
Tomatoes - Pantano Romanesco
Eggplant - Diamond

  I planted all these from seed today. Last year, I made the mistake of crowding all the plants too closely. This year I hope to do better by carefully following the directions on the seed packs.  The total surface of the little raised bed is 4 feet x 10 feet.

good day in the garden

Today was a good day in the little back yard. There were good omens of food to come.

The first good omen was the clusters of tiny grapes on the grape vines.

 

Another good omen is the blossoms on the orange tree. The scent is so subtle... 

Also, the lettuce, carrots, and onions just keep on producing.

It's still such a treat to have salad straight from the garden. 

   Things are going well, so I am doing a bit of expansion. Last year we feasted on squash that grew spontaneously from the compost pit. Today I dug a little compost into a new patch of soil and planted squash and melon. I hope these will do as well as the volunteer squash from last year. 

Lettuce still producing

I planted lettuce and carrots on November 27th. We've been harvesting for the past few weeks and have been enjoying both the "rouge d'hiver" and the "amish deer tongue." Both have been tasty and good producers.

I planted the carrots on November 27th also. I should have thinned them more. We've harvested some fine-looking specimens, but some have been too crowded and a bit stunted. Still, they have a pleasant taste and the greens are pretty.

New Grape Leaves

I pruned back the old grape vines a few weeks ago. Now the new leaves are coming in and new growth has already started on the vines. I impressed at the hardiness of the fast-growing plants.

 

Carrots

After epic battles with the diggity beast (yes, we resorted to metal mesh enclosure), we are finally enjoying the first of the carrots.