Watching plants grow

Have been mostly on a watering schedule these past few days. Yesterday I spent some time replanting some of the lettuce that did not germinate because it had been too hot. Also planted two types of scallions to finish out the second box. As you can see in the first picture the broccoli transplants are really doing well. The tomato plants seem to be growing slowly.

The picture on the left shows the two tomato plants in the first box that I planted several weeks ago. If you look closely you can see a yellow blossom on the early girl tomato plant. The Roma tomato plant behind also has several blossoms forming.

The picture on the right is of the first box planted and you can see that some of the vegetables have really taken off. The peas in the back corners are almost big enough to think about teaching them to climb on the trellis. Next week I'll redo the bird netting so the tomato plants can also be trained up the trellis.

Found a nursery that has artichoke transplants, so am thinking about getting a couple to plant as our original artichoke plant got old a died. Also next week I'll be planting more squares of beets, carrots, and radishes so they will make a continuous crop over the winter.

Making progress

Went out before dinner Wednesday to get some more work done on the garden. The first picture shows the swiss chard before thinning and then after thinning. It's hard to cut off the healthy plants but it has to be done so the ones left can grow to their full potential.

We also attempted to put the trellis netting on one of the frames. It's kind of tricky working with the special netting. You have to cut it so that you have a string with two strings coming out the end so that you can tie to the bar. Tom is tying it to the top and Dorothy is tying one side. It's good to have two people working together so it can be pulled tight on each side. Our first try was so loose we had to untie both sides and pull it tighter. Anyway it worked and is ready for the tomatoes, pole beans (which I planted today), and snow peas to climb up the netting.

Tom also tried bending the PVC into a dome over the 3 by 6 foot box and it worked just fine. We'll net it when I get it planted. The 4 by 4 foot boxes are both domed and the trellis netting is up. We were really eaten up by mosquitos Wednesday night so the second trellis shown below was done Thursday morning.

Just wanted to show you what the birds did to the bok choy the other day before I thinned and reseeded the empty spots. You can see my tool (a pencil) making a new hole. The right hand photo shows all the little plants I had to snip off. Also filled in a few other sections where a bean didn't come up.

This shows Tom helping me square off the 3 by 6 foot box. We just stapled the tape to the edges. See my trusty pillow. The knees don't like the rocks.

Took these two photos just to show how the boxes are placed around our orange tree and along the wall. Also used our last two pieces of PVC to dome the strawberry box. The dome could be made lower by cutting the 10 foot pieces down a foot or two but it looks kind of cool this way. Won't net the strawberries until fruit starts to form and ripen.

Tom moved the hanging tomato planter out into the sun at the edge of our patio. Will have to watch the soil closely so it doesn't get too dry. The plants are still green after several days so there is hope that we will get cherry tomatoes.

It's really fun to go out each day and see the progress. It will even be better when we can start picking vegetable to eat. Some plants should be ready to produce by Thanksgiving. Now I need to think about planting a second crop of such vegetables as carrots, radishes, scallions and beets as they get used up. The chard and lettuce can just be trimmed for as much as you want to use. Of course, the peas, beans, and tomatoes will produce for a long time.

Beat the birds

Went out Monday morning and the bok choy was peeking through the mix and since it didn't have a pod like the beans I thought it would be OK. I was gone for a few hours and when I got back a bird had pulled up several little plants. The beans were also trying to push through, so I laid a few of the window screen over some of the squares to protect the plants. While I was gone Tom worked on the trellis. The utility people came and so he was able to drive the rebar into the ground on the west side of the boxes.

The radishes and carrots have come up enough to be thinned. In the second picture it shows how to thin. Gently separate the plants, choose the strongest and then snip off the other(s). Also need to do the swiss chard.

We checked our "Square Foot Book" to get ideas on how to keep the birds out. Tom is demonstrating how to make a dome. It took two 10 foot lengths of 1/2 inch PVC. Simply put one end inside the corner of the box and bend it over to the other corner and push into the mix. It was secured at the crossover with long twist ties.

You can see the frame for the trellis in this photo, but we have yet to add the netting. Need to do it soon as the tomato plants in the first box are pushing on the temporary net we laid over it to keep the birds out. We're still having hot weather, so every thing is growing radiply. Predicted to be over 100 degrees tomorrow, October 8th.

After I removed the window screens, We draped bird netting over the top and secured it along the sides of the box with rocks. Hope this works.

Battling the birds

This beautiful wrought iron basket was a gift from Kemp and Kristy for Mother's day and had not yet been put to good use, so I bought some patio tomato plants and inserted them from the bottom sides to see if they would grow that way. Googled a web site that said it should work. Will let you know how the experiment works. Hopefully you will see lots of dangling cherry tomatoes in a few months.

I planted a few more seeds, a few broccoli starts and a couple of the patio tomatoes in the second box yesterday. If you wonder what the milk bottles are doing on the edges of the box, well, we had to cover the first box planted with bird netting, We went outside last evening and the smallest bean plant with the bean still attached had been pulled out of the ground and eaten. One of the plants that had its first leaves had been pulled out and was laying on the ground. I gently replanted and watered it and it looks good this morning. Tom thinks a 'Thrasher bird' did it.

The milk bottles are holding the net up off of the plants until we can build the trellises. We have an easement along the west side of our yard, so Tom contacted all the utilities to mark where we should not drive any metal stakes into the ground.

Went shopping yesterday and purchased the supplies to build the trellis frames for the tomato and vine crops of grow on. Bought electrical conduit and rebar stakes. The frames will be 5 feet tall and 4 feet across. The photos show Tom assembling them in the garage. After several phone calls, found a nursery that carries trellis netting. (very hard to find) It is nylon netting that has 7 inch squares so you can weave the vines through and easily pick the fruit and vegetables.

Guess I need to put my photos in another program before I load them directly into the blog. Just tilt your head a little.

Completing more boxes and watching plants grow

We did a lot of little things on Monday. Tom started the day by filling in the gravel paths between the boxes. I planted a few marigolds, while Tom started making more "mel's mix".

I planted the strawberry plants in the morning. I tried to shade them but the day was quite windy and the shades kept blowing over. Today (Friday) the plants look a little limp.

The large boxes are 11 1/2" deep and would take a lot of mix so we laid some rocks in the bottom and put in about 9 inches of mix because that is deep enough for what we want to plant in them.

Added rocks and some sand that we had one hand. Any deep roots will grow into the sand or around the rocks.

Here they are filled and ready to be watered down.

Tom also had enough mix to fill the 3x6' box.

Here is a bean at 9am Monday and the same plant at 9am Tuesday.

This final photo shows the four beans coming up at various stages. The bottom right is just barely pushing thru the mix. Photo taken at 9 am on Tuesday.

New Boxes and First Leaf

Watching the Garden Grow! LET'S HEAR IT FOR RADISHES! If you look close you can see what's called a seed leaf poking through. Will have to wait a few days for the true leaves to appear. I planted on Wednesday and this is only the fourth day. I guess this is what keeps a gardener going.

On Thursday, Tom completed the boxes he started on Wednesday. He made a 2 ft by 6 ft box for strawberries, a 3 ft by 6 ft box for I don't know what yet, and two 2 ft by 6 ft double deep boxes so we can plant such vegetables as long carrots and potatoes .

I found some small car window shades at the Dollar Store and attached them to the top of dowels with a large thumb tack. When I planted the two tomato plants it was very hot and the shades worked great. Also planted snow peas in one corner and regular peas in the other. As soon as I plant the marigolds in front two corners, this box will be complete.

Tom leveled the ground around the orange tree so we could place the new boxes in a "U" shape around the tree.

This shows the placing of the new boxes. After a lot of leveling, measuring and adjusting, then putting down the weed barrier, we placed the new boxes. (pictures are out of order)

Tom has really taken a lot of time to level the boxes so they will look good in the yard.

Placing the last piece of weed barrier before "Mel's mix" is added.







This is a view of the deeper boxes and the 3 ft by 6 ft box. We left a small path to be able to get in to work inside by the tree because I can't reach more than two feet.

We had enough of the mix from last week to fill the strawberry box. I found some really fresh and healthy looking plants at Home Depot on Wednesday afternoon. Hope to plant them soon, but it got just too hot this afternoon.

I still haven't figures out how to get the pictures in the order I'd like, but I'm getting closer.

Here I am relaxing in the shade and contemplating all the sweet strawberries that we will be eating in the future. Then I had to go to work and thoroughly water the new box, which I will keep moist everyday until I plant, then water as needed.

Good days work!!!