Vegetable Garden 2014

I have been gardening. And preserving. Basically everything except getting it down in words and pictures. I need more time during the evening when the kids are in bed, the sun is down, and the house is quiet. But, that is when I sleep!

Today, with the help of Cole, the garden was 'mostly' weeded. It was 'mostly' weeded almost 2 weeks ago too. Despite the weeds, my vegetables are growing amazing!

Changes already scheduled for next year:
No leeks.
Plant earlier, make a basic sheet cover for late frost.
Inside planting - transplant sooner.
Spinach and lettuce in containers/pots, not hanging baskets; less seeds per container.
Harvest mint once in June to prevent flowering.

Full view

3 rows of carrots. I had one today, best carrot ever! Need to thin these out.

Tomatoes, and 5 foot tall tomatillos

Jalapeno peppers and bell peppers

Cucumbers

Tomatillo lanterns

Bell peppers

Zucchini

Turnips

Potato flowers

Sweet Potatoes

Pole beans

Pumpkin vine

Bush beans

Tomatoes

Little closer view of whole garden

 

2012 Garden - The Stars of Project 24

My Garden stars the following attractions this year:

CARROTS

(I planted carrots last year but absolutely none grew, this was a pleasant suprise!)

TOMATOES

(I was given a box of tomatoes last fall and saved the seeds. I planted 4 greenhouse plants just in case but now have an overabundance of tomatoes! Looking forward to making spaghetti sauce of some sort.)

Habanero Peppers

(I started these inside and transplanted in mid-July. They have flowers but I'm unsure if they will produce in time for the fall. We've still got time. First time trying peppers in the garden.)

TOMATILLOS

(First time with tomatillos, hoping to make a few jars of salsa.)

MARIGOLDS

(I have read over the years that Marigolds help with certain pests. I normally don't like the flower itself, but enjoy it in my garden.)

HERBS

(Spearmint, Thyme, Basil in the garden. I also have Parsley in a container on the deck.)

ACORN SQUASH

(I love acorn squash, but my husband and son do not. I'll be eating some and making the rest into baby food.)

ZUCCHINI

(We love zucchini so much that when I ran out of room I planted the 2 extra seeds away from the rest near my acorn squash. Didn't want to waste a seed!)

SWEET POTATOES

(Again, my boys do not eat these. I will eat a few, give a few away, but mostly make these into baby food for next spring.)

PUMPKINS

(I saved seeds from last year's 'cooking pumpkin' we bought while at a local pumpkin patch. This was, again, a let's-see-how-it-works-out type situation. Turned out well!)

GREEN BEANS

(Last year I planted 2 packets of seeds, and we got no green beans. So this year I tried again. Seems everything I put in the ground grew! We've harvested 2 gallons so far just off the bush beans. We'll pick the pole beans tomorrow and will have at least the same. Bush beans will have to be harvested again soon too! I'm freezing the beans to use over the winter. Will possibly make some baby food with these when thawed.)

ASPARAGUS

(I was hoping to plant up to 15 asparagus plants. I restrained and bought 2. They were supposed to be ready to produce this year but I only got 2 stalks. I let them grow and will cut them down in the fall in hopes of asparagus next year. Gotta keep trying!)

GARLIC and ONIONS

(I planted fall garlic and onions that have been growing nicely. Haven't been able to harvest as soon as I thought we would but they are going to be a better size than the garlic and onions I planted this spring. Nice to have a little bit of each.)



TURNIPS

(Opps! I planted turnips and had no idea what I was going to do with them... so I'm going to blanch and freeze them with my potatoes and some with carrots for baby food. I will only add a small amount fo the baby food carrots, turnips could make baby gassy!)

POTATOES

(Planted Kenebec and Yukon Gold. Grew well last year, growing well again now that they don't have weeds to compete with!)

Pinterest Tuesday Idea

I love when my friends post gardening tips and ideas on Pinterest! This amazing blog had a post about sweet potatoes that I just had to pin and keep forever at my fingertips. It is a basic tutorial on how to grow your own sweet potatoes. Straight and to the point, which is what we all need!

Guess who is the only person in my family of 3 who likes sweet potatoes?? Yup, just me. This winter while planning the garden it didn't seem like a veggie I needed to plant. However, now that we're going to have baby in October or November that means I will not have as much time to get fresh garden produce ready for baby when it starts eating solids. This led to my decision to plant sweet potatoes. The plan is to grow, puree, and freeze the sweet potatoes in preparation of baby needing good homegrown veggies.

The local greenhouse where I will get my starters does not even start selling them until June 1st. So my little plot has been sitting empty for a few weeks, patiently waiting for something to grow. I will plant the sweet potatoes toward the south side of the garden, where they will get the most sun. They require very warm weather so I'm going to do my best to keep them toward the middle each year to maximize the sun for my picky little plans.