April 25, 2011 Update

Well there is a lot going on in the garden. So here is a quick recap. Pictures are included where available.

Finished the last 6' x 6' bed over the weekend and it is already full. I decided tonight that I really screwed up in my planning and over planted. I guess that is a good thing if I keep at it. I will need to build one final bed. This one will run the length of two of the 6' x 6' beds and will be the final holding place for my vegetables.

How things are growing:

Let's start with the little 4' x 4'. The broccoli is doing quite nice. Another head has started on it and it will not be long until Abby gets to have some more broccoli.

Packman Broccoli - still going strong

Abby's future garden snack

The Avens seems to have done its thing. It is simply building up foliage and not putting out any more flowers. Being as it is a perennial, I guess we will see what it does next year.

The Better Boy Tomatoes are still growing. I put stakes out next to them tonight. It will not be long until I will have to start staking them. I think I will build a twine trellis for them to grow up once they get going. I had to prune back some buds tonight to promote some more growth out of them before they start flowering.

Bed # 1 of the 6' x 6'. The Marigolds are still putting out some pretty blooms. They appear to be doing well.

The Zucchini is still growing. One of the ones in the back is showing some yellow on the edge of its leaves, but I think that had to do more with the fact we reached almost 90 today and it is still a young plant.

The Zinnia flowers are still growing some. Not much additional growth but they are going.

The Better Boy Tomato plant is also doing well in this bed. I also had to pluck some emerging buds from this one as well to keep it growing and not flowering.

Of the three Dixie Hybrid Squash I put in this bed, only two remain. I damaged one of them transplanting it to a Styrofoam cup and it never fully recovered. The first day it was in the ground it wilted and I soon plucked it out. I will probably replace it with a pepper plant in the near future.

Isaac went crazy Saturday for some Cauliflower. He wanted them really bad when we went to Walmart on Saturday. So I popped for the $1.75 and we bought some White Cloud Hybrid Cauliflower. We planted one in the first 6' x 6' bed and it is doing fine. We planted it Saturday night when it was cool.

Bed #2 of the 6' x 6'. In this bed I have the pride of our garden so far. 11 little Okra plants. I planted them from the Styrofoam cups and they are continuing to do well. They have added about a 1/2 inch of growth since the were moved last week.

Grow little Okra Grow!

I have also planted the four cherry tomatoes in this bed. They are doing well since they were just moved last Saturday night. Hopefully I can have some progress on their growth next week. Right now, still doing well.

In this bed there is also two more of the Cauliflower that Isaac wanted. They seem to have survived transplanting and are doing well. One even survived the tragic encounter with Andy's weeding ability. He also "weeded" two of the Okra plants as well, but they have survived so far.

Hopefully we will have some pictures of the 2nd 6' x 6' bed soon.

Bed #3 of the 6' x 6'. This one was just built on Friday and already it is full. How amazing is that! In this bed we have the 8 Poinsett Cucumber plants. They are doing well and have even showed some signs of growth since Friday via extra leaves that have popped out. I also will be building a twin trellis for these guys as well to grow up. I will be securing this to sides of the bed with the boards I got at work.

Isaac posing like the crazy gardener he is

In the back of this bed is the little project the kids are most excited about: Corn. Each of the kids got to plant 2 seeds of corn in Styrofoam cups. Each cup had their name on it and the plants are transplanted in the order of birth. All of them are doing well and showed additional leaves today.

Picture of one of Isaac's corn

Last but not least, planted along with the corn are Kentucky Pole Beans. I planted these the way we used to plant them when I was younger. This will allow them to climb up the corn once they have sprouted. I soaked them overnight in water to help them germinate. I should start to see little bean sprouts by this weekend if not before.

We also planted off to the side of this bed some more green beans that I will have to support with a twine trellis as well.

Out side the beds. Isaac's Strawberry is still going. I will re-purpose one end of the long additional bed I am going to build with his Strawberry plant in the fall. Right now it cracks me up because we have some wild Strawberries growing next to the house and Isaac likes to go and pick those and then sneak off and eat them.

Isaac staring at his All Star Strawberry

Isaac's Pumpkins growing

Right now all egg cartons are empty and disposed of. What germinated and took off I have moved to Styrofoam cups and are awaiting their day to grow big enough to be moved to their own bed. In these, I have Isaac's Pumpkins, which are going to force me to build the new bed quickly due to their size, three Roma Tomato Plants, one Better Boy Tomato plant (you may remember the tragedy of the other day) and the heirloom tomato plants. Three of the Midnight in Moscow plants have sprouted. Still waiting on the Chianti Rose and the Amish Paste Tomato.

Well I would say that is a good enough update for now. ... Almost forgot, the roses are still doing well. I have a Sunbright Yellow Rose and a Chrysler Imperial Red Rose. Both are showing signs of new growth and have really darkened their leaves. Hopefully they will continue since this is my first foray into rose gardening.

Sunbright Yellow Rose

Chrysler Imperial Rose