Trying to build up our vegetable garden this year has been quite the challenge. The weather has been all over the place and I've had an extremely busy schedule trying to keep up with other obligations. The garden still grows though!
We are working on building each raised bed as we go along and plant. Once we work our way to about the middle of the garden it may be June and I can start planting for our fall garden then. That is one adjustment I've had to make since moving to Texas. Two short growing seasons with a lull in between. Not much grows fast once it gets into the 90's and above.
See the broccoli head? Yippee! We are well on our way with it. I've been pleased with the broccoli growth so far this year. We have to plant it between Feb 15th and Mar 1st. That's for transplants only. We can direct seed broccoli starting in August for our fall garden. That should save some time and money, especially since vegetable plants at the nurseries have been known to be poor for that time of year.
Our mixed lettuce is coming right along. I can't wait for a fresh salad from the garden.
Looks like a whole lot of nothing! I actually JUST planted 52 tomato plants this week. I don't rush putting them in the ground here. It seems like it never fails with late freezes. Our last freeze date is Mar 17th but, last year it froze here nearly a month later. I just didn't want to deal with covering everything this year. Maybe I will have row covers added to my supply list then! It just wasn't in our budget this year.
Added also were 25 sweet bell pepper, 9 banana pepper and 18 cayenne pepper plants. I sure hope we like peppers! With the price of bell peppers being so high, we decided this would be worth growing and preserving all we can.
Tomorrow I hope to continue on planting yellow squash, cucumbers and pole beans. It's suppose to storm Sunday on Easter, so I will be happy to have most of this planted.
Oh and I don't want to forget to include our cabbage. Wow, if all goes well we'll have 18 heads of green cabbage and 9 of the red. Sauerkraut may be in our plans this summer!
That is a great garden you have. Way larger than I would want to tackle.
ReplyDeleteNow that is a garden! Good heavens I'm so amazed and jealous! Exactly how big is your garden and what kind of weights do you get out your garden and labor times put in? I'm really curious about it because my garden will be so much bigger when I move to the country. Such a big gorgeous garden is my dream!
ReplyDeleteWell you have been one busy gal! This looks just great, so organized. I wonder what varieties of tomatoes did you plant? I've started way too many again this year and will have to give lots away. LOL But I always feel the need to start just one more variety... I picked my first lettuces for salad today - looks like the same mix you have. It was wonderfully tender. Hope you get to enjoy yours soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone!
ReplyDeleteMy garden has 5 - 100 ft rows that are 5 feet wide. This is to maximize the space used. Less rows. I will have plenty of room to start my fall garden while the spring one is still up and running. This is something I've been challenged with in the past. And yes, it's plenty of work, lol.
I ended up having to buy tomato plants. :( I had my heirloom transplants out to harden off and the wind blew them off and destroyed most of them. So, I will start those seeds again by directly sowing them into the garden come June. They should do better then anyhow. For now I have Celebrity and Better Boys planted. There wasn't a huge selection of plants to choose from. Thankfully, Celebrity is one of our top producers here.
I am so looking forward to harvest time!
Your garden looks amazing! I'm growing some of the same things, but have to admit yours looks much better than mine.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest battle is with the weeds. No matter how often I pull or hoe them out, I just can't get rid of them. How do you keep your garden so weed free?
Cindy @ Kightland
Your veggie garden is looking fantastic!
ReplyDelete@ Cindy Thanks so much. I'm really not sure how the weeds are staying down right now. They sure know how to grow fast most everywhere here. I do know that planting things closer together will help shade out some of the weeds though. But who knows, in a week I may be pulling weeds like crazy!
ReplyDelete@ Susie. You are so sweet. Thanks for the compliment. :)
Ach! Why does it have to be so darn cold in Colorado. My broccoli is frozen and the onions are just starting to green. If you'd like to share any secrets with my blogazine, it would be greatly appreciated: http://urbanfarming.magazines.me
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