Monday, April 16, 2012

The Garden is Planted

We finished planting our garden yesterday.  Someone told me that their grandmother said to always wait till after April 15th to plant a garden.  Yesterday was April 15th.  So I guess we did okay.  The chicken coop in the background with the garden in the foreground makes for a relaxing country setting.


In the photo above, our herb garden is in the foreground.  All the herbs are in boxes or pots. The rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage, curly leaf-parsley, flat-leaf parsley, lemon balm and mint  over-wintered and is doing great.  Then I planted new basil, dill, leeks, stevia and chives.  I found out from last year's herb garden, that I use the herbs a LOT.  It's nice to be cooking and be able to walk a few steps from the back door and pick fresh herbs for whatever I need.  I use the mint and the lemon balm in iced water or iced tea.  I've even made a cup of tea with the lemon balm.  This year I want to dry the stevia leaves and use it for sweetening.

In the photo below you can see how large the parsley, sage, oregano, lemon balm and thyme had gotten.  I'll be dividing it soon to share with friends in my FCE club. That's what the smaller pots between the boxes are for.


In the vegetable garden, we have planted 32 tomato plants, about 8 peppers - several different varieties, asparagus, carrots, garlic, lettuce (couple of varieties), spinach, yellow onions, red onions, zuccini, crook-neck squash, acorn squash, butternut squash, okra, broccoli, beans, cucumbers, and peas.

In the photo below, there are almost two full rows of tomatoes.  On the second row at the end is where the pepper plants are.  There are four cross-poles with beans, four with peas, and one with cucumbers.

This next photo shows lettuces and spinach - and a bush tomato plant.  There are carrots planted next to the lettuce in the far box, but those aren't coming up very well.  I may till that half of the box and re-plant.

The box below is doing really well.  I have another bush tomato plant in the corner, four rows of carrots beside it.  Then a small section of garlic, and across the end is asparagus.


I am determined to do a better job of keeping weeds down this year.  I got a special weed hoe yesterday at Home Depot, and I'll use that I weed between the plants.  I should make weeding a twice-weekly job.  Consistency will be the key.

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