All 4 Beds are Productive

Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend I was finally able to get tomato plants, green peppers, dill, basil and green bean seeds in the ground. The varieties are:

Green Pepper: Bonnie Green Bell (Sweet Hybrid Pepper)
Dill: Bonnie Fernleaf Dill
Beefsteak Tomato: Bonnie Big Beef (Hybrid Tomato)
Cherry Tomato: Bonnie Husky Cherry Red (Hybrid Tomato)
Roma: Bonnie Roma
Basil: Bonnie Sweet Basil
Green Beans: Botanical Interests Bean Pole Blue Lake

The weather has been particularly hot, humid and dry (as in no rain) so the peppers, corn and tomatoes should all be happy. I have harvested 1 of the Esmeralda lettuce plants and enjoyed a nice salad out of it. I love the texture of the leaves and the sweet taste of this butter variety. The Red Sails lettuce is holding up better to the heat, but it is starting to show signs of bolting. I'm not as thrilled with the texture of this variety compared to past red lettuces I have planted. The leaves are too "wrinkled," I guess almost "weedy," for my liking. I would have liked larger, less wrinkled leaves. The leaves are also a very deep red with little green. I like the green/red varieties. It's not a horrible lettuce...I just like something a little different.

The cabbage and cauliflower are producing. I have one nice cauliflower head growing. It will probably be ready for harvest next week. The remaining cauliflower appear to have heads forming but now that the weather has turned hot, we'll see if they actually produce or just bolt. The cabbage plants all have heads forming. One is substantial in size, the others smaller. Hopefully all will produce instead of bolting.

The corn is about 5 inches tall now! I have some spots where the seeds either did not germinate or the cardinals got to the seeds (I had forgotten to put straw over my newly planted seeds and caught Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal in my bed tearing up the ground in search of meals). I replanted seeds in those spots over the weekend so we'll see how they do given the 2 week delay in development.

Here is what is in each bed right now:

Bed #1: Corn
Bed #2: Green beans, green peppers, dill, and a white coneflower
Bed #3: Cauliflower and cabbage
Bed #4: Tomato plants and basil

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new tomato cages and bean tower. At this point in the growing season, all we do is wait, water, weed, waste pests, and wait some more. :)

The Corn is in the Ground!

There just hasn't been a lot to report this year other than it's already been a very weird Spring. Last week was very cool. Saturday was downright cold. This week we have had thunderstorms with warmer days and relatively cool nights. Last night a doozy came through with thunder scary enough to get Gabby, my greyhound, all worked into a tizzy.

A week or so ago I planted 5 cabbage and 5 cauliflower plants. It's very late in the season so we will see how they do. I lost one to the high winds we had last week - the wind just snapped the stalk off at the base. The rest are perking up from their transplant and I expect to see some strong growth soon. The lettuce I planted in a container is doing very well and I've already harvested some leaves for salads and BLT sandwiches. :)

So, today, in Bed #1, I planted corn. I'm going to experiment with a high density planting in an attempt to maximize pollination and ear production. The variety is Burpee SugarPearl Hybrid. It's an extra early & sweet variety that is supposed to produce 8" ears and the plants will reach 6-7 feet tall. I say "supposed" to because I planted this variety last year with little success. Some plants did not produce ears. Others produced, but I had poor pollination and thus no kernels. As a result, I had zero corn harvest last year. But, last year I sowed for only 12 plants and had only 2 rows. This year I sowed 6" apart in an entire 4'x4' bed. This density may mean that I have to provide supplemental fertilizer but if it works and I get corn, I'll be thrilled!

Hoping for rain

Got out in the garden today and got really dirty for the first time this season. :) I spent quite a bit of time digging out the rest of the finished compost and spreading it in the 2 remaining beds. I also got the rain barrels set up and the rain gauge outside. Now, when will the rain fall here?

Lettuce is looking pretty good!

Great to Get Out in the Garden Today

Yes, it has been far too long since I've been in my garden! Today I got some compost spread in 2 of the 4 beds. I actually have some pretty nice compost in my bin. It's much too moist and compacted from not being turned regularly, but it's dark and it will do. I mixed it into the top inch or so of the beds and will let it set for a few days before planting in it.

I also took my large containers (the ones that you can supposedly grow tomatoes in but I now know from experience that's bunk) and used them to plant some lettuce for both me and my friend Sarah. I think the lettuce will do fine since the plants have a shallow root system. The biggest challenge will be keeping the bunnies out of the container. I bought 2 varieties: Gourmet Red Lettuce and Esmeralda. I love red lettuce. I always have such great luck with it and it is so pretty. Esmeralda is a butter variety that I have not tried before. Because I'm getting such a late start, all of the plants look leggy and sad from too much time in their sprouting pots. I'm pretty confident they will thrive with a little attention, some good soil, water, and lots of space to spread their roots.

I posted a photo of the container planting on Facebook. I will be sure to post photos here, too!

Last, but not least, the rain total for the 2009 season is 34.21 inches! My readings are from March 24 through September 26 - approximately 6 months. Average rainfall/month was 5.70 inches. Crazy!