Watching seedlings grow NEVER gets old

We started our next batches of seedlings for the summer veggies that will replace our spring leafy greens. The summer veggies include: cucumbers, squash, beans, peppers, and tomatoes. In only 4 days, we have beautiful seedlings growing.

 Beans and cucumbers

Zucchini seedlings have crazy/fast-growing roots

Planting peat pods with herbs



Damian planting seeds in the Aerogarden



Beautiful, big, and green

Our leafy greens are filling out and getting so big. I taste tested a few and can't wait to have my first salad from the garden.

Cabbage

Spinach

Romaine



Broccoli



Inventory

Currently, we have the following vegetables growing in our garden:

• Green Beans
• Corn
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Romaine Lettuce
• Iceberg Lettuce
• Spinach
• Radishes
• Carrots
• White and Purple Onion
• Beets
• Bok Choy

Also, I have the following flowers growing in pots by our garden:

• Marigolds
• Sunflowers
• Poppies
• Morning Glories
• Daisies
• Lavender
• Forget Me Nots
• Zinnias
• Cosmos

Weeding, fertilizing, and trellising... AND more rain

I took off work today and decided it was a perfect day to spend quality time in the garden. Damian and I focused on weeding and fertilizing our plants.

Thousands of tiny weeds have emerged and our goal is to keep them under control as much as possible. We picked weeds out by hand and mixed some back into soil. We don't know the best weeding practices yet, but are trying to learn the most we can from our garden this year.

While Damian added some bloodmeal around our plants to supplement the low nitrogen in our soil,  I shortened my sugar snap pea trellises and added some new trellises for our green beans. Then, the rains came again. Only this time the rains were short and followed by beautiful sunshine. We drove home and spotted a beautiful rainbow. I think that means our garden has good luck! :)

Teeny weeds that are not allowed to live in our garden



New Trellis for the sugar snap peas



Kayla showing off our garden before it started raining 

Rainbow

Repels insects.. AND water too. Boo hoo!

We ordered row cover from the Gardeners Supply Company to protect our organic garden from insects. It was advertised as "summer weight fabric" that would allow in sunlight and wind, but would keep out the bugs. It was 6' by 50' and we decided to customize it to be 12' by 25'.

 I cut and sewed the huge billowing amount of fabric. At the garden, we placed it over our chicken wire framework and secured it with wooden blocks.

THEN, we tested it by pouring water on it. That is when we realized the fabric was completely water repellent. Puddles emerged and did not go away. We both agreed that if we left the fabric on the plants they would probably be smothered and stems would be snapped under the weight of the copius amounts of St. Louis rains we are getting lately. Sadly, we took off the cover and went back to square one with our plan of attack for insects.


Sewed 25' of row cover





Placed the row cover over our chicken wire frame



Water is beading up & forming puddles



Damian taking off the row cover



Our green bean plants are sprouting baby beans in our living room

Well, our green bean  transplants are growing like mad in our living room. Green beans should really be planted mid-May, so we were trying to let them grow into healthy transplants indoors before then. However, they mature a lot faster than we thought. Our baby green bean plants are now GROWING BABY BEANS. WHOA! Early or not, I think it might be time to transplant!

Baby green beans

Our window sill garden.  Half a soy milk container and some dixie cups!

And the rain keeps coming, coming, & coming!

We are stuck in a wet weather pattern, but most of our plants seem to be thriving still. Our poor romaine lettuces got a little beaten up by the heavy winds and hail, but they all seemed to have maintained a strong core. We plan to give them some extra nitrogen nutrients soon by spraying them with organic fish emulsion!

Onions and romaine

One of our hardiest romain plants!

Red Cabbage

Our waterlogged garden