Garden Update

The unusually high amount of rain that we received this year resulted in me having to start my planting four weeks. The ground was just too wet and the clouds were too thick to allow the sun through, to allow any seeds to germinate and grow. I could have planted inside and used grow lights for a few weeks, but by the time I realized that, too much time had went by. As soon as the rain stopped, I got three rows of corn in the ground and in the last three weeks, that corn has been going well. I also got some squash, tomatoes and watermelon to start sprouting nicely and all from seed, no less. I really wanted to fill in the space in my garden, so I visited my favorite nursery on Chicago and got some strawberries (a first for me), some tomatoes and some squash. In all, I got 24 plants, for much less money than I would've spent at Lowe's. I spent an hour in the garden tonight and took a few pictures to show my progress so far.

First, my corn; as I said, I initially planted three rows of corn and since then, have added another three rows. This will ensure that I am able to harvest corn for about a month straight. I planted the first group one week before the sun was scheduled to come out and while they were slow to germinate and come out of the ground, they did so eventually. I'm hoping the gophers stay away from the corn, but I won't hold my breath. I expect that I will go to war with them again. It will be worth it though, because the two pieces of corn that I was able to grow last year were delicious.

I have 12 tomato plants planted in the ground so far and they are all doing well. They've yet to produce flowers and probably won't for another month or so, which is fine by me, because it's been a little too chilly for the bees to come out and pollinate, any way. These tomatoes were all purchased at the nursery, but I've also got about 10 tomato plants that I planted from seeds that appear to be doing well. They're only one inch high, but I'm hoping that they will be flourishing before the harsh August sun comes out. There's not much that will survive that August southern California sun, so if it isn't ready to pick by mid-August, I will simply pull it up and add it to my compost pile.

These are some of the squash that did not fit in the garden. Actually, they would've fit just fine at the size they are now, but they will soon grow three feet wide and 10 feet long, so I only planted six plants in the main garden and planted the other six in two small overflow gardens, which I cleared out last year. I have both yellow and green squash in the garden and neither variety is growing as fast as I'd like. They're not failing, they're just not growing fast enough to give me any confidence that I'll be able to harvest them before mid-August.

Here you can see one of the six strawberry plants that I planted two weeks ago. They were also purchased at my favorite nursery. It is my first time planting strawberries and, as you can see, they are growing well. Some of them are even starting to turn red! I can't wait to eat them soon.

This is my wildflower garden. I decided to plant it this year but was late due to the excessive rain. I cleared out a patch that's about 4' x 6', then sprinkled a mix of California wildflower seeds and about 1/4 of the California Poppy seeds that Ms. Blue Eyes gave me. I also added some of the many sunflower seeds that I harvested from last year's sunflowers. It's probably too late to get many flowers (except for the sunflowers) but it sure does look great and what flowers do grow will bring honeybees to pollinate my plants. I'm saving the rest of the poppy seed package for when I buy my house soon.

Ahh, here's my beloved compost pile. I decided to build an enclosed one to keep out the racoons that ravaged my other one. I don't really mind that they tore up that one but I wish they didn't make such a mess. I end up having to pile it all back together so that it will continue to compost properly. This enclosure prevents that and makes it easier to keep my pile neat and tidy. I need to turn this pile, but really I'm not in a rush as I still haven't used even half of the dirt from my first compost pile. That stuff is golden, I tell you!

Last but not least, is my little nursery, which I keep on top of some old milk crates that I've arranged alongside the east edge of my garden. Incidentally, these crates came from an old dairy that I once photographed Ms. Blue Eyes in. I made a post about it a couple years ago, though I can't remember the name of it. Any way, there are probably 50 plants spread around here, most of which are squash, watermelon and arugula. You can see that I have some organic fertilizer, which I dissolve in water before I hand water my nursery plants. This stuff is good and really speeds up the growth of my plants.

It is the final week of May, so I've got another 10 weeks to get these plants harvested. I'm confident that I'll have a decent harvest this year. I say "decent" because every day this week has been overcast and every day next week is forecast to be overcast, too. All of the plants that I have in the ground require lots of sunshine to grow quickly. Regardless of what happens, it will be a learning experience that I'll be able to apply elsewhere. Perhaps in Indiana in the coming years.