Thank you, mulch.

We got a lot done at the garden today and our garden, I must say, is doing very well. So far, we haven't had many weeds (except in the aisles - which Adam tilled today) and we are thanking the mulch for that. Although we've only had to spot-weed, we are on the lookout for more mulch.

So, to update you on some things:

Onions



Zucchini



Lettuce


Potatoes


The cabbage, cucumber, peppers, strawberries, tomatoes and herbs are also doing great.

We did have a fatality this week - our okra.


I was shocked! Okra was the one plant we could really count on last season. Although we initially blamed deer (more on that later), Adam thinks slugs were the culprit. Ew.

Oh well, we'll try again. And this time we'll probably cover them, like we did with our lettuce on the second go-round.

While Adam tilled our rows today, I planted some mint (in a pot so that it doesn't take over)...


...and some wildflowers (these are going all along our fence).

Lettuce, Herbs, Successes and Failures

Today's List:

rosemary

thyme

basil

oregano

chives

cilantro

red leaf lettuce

mint

stevia

Stevia is a natural sweetener that we plan to use this summer when we make sun tea.

All of these plants received the same treatment as the zucchini, potatoes and onions: compost/peat mixture in the soil and then a quick watering with the liquid fertilizer/water mixture.

We also planted marigolds at the ends of most of our rows because they are pretty and they serve as a natural pest deterrent.


Our garden design has a seating area in the center with two circular beds surrounding it. We planted the herbs here so that it would be nice and aromatic in the summer when we are relaxing in our chairs. Flowers will be planted later in the back portions of these beds.

We also did an inventory of our garden since Little Rock had experienced another major storm after our last planting.

Some of our zucchinis did not fare too well. Many of them were pretty beaten down after the storm, especially since they were weak to begin with. But, we re-watered them and put them in homemade plastic bottle cloches to protect them from yet another impending storm. Cross your fingers that it works!

In happier news, our onions are starting to sprout.

And our potatoes? Well...just see for yourself:

Potatoes and Onions

Potatoes

I'm not much of a potato person - except for when it's in the french fry or sweet form. However, being married to an Irishman, I guess it was inevitable that potatoes would be a part of our garden.

Turns out, planting potatoes is easy! Here's how we did it:

1. We bought some potatoes with every intention of cooking them. But we forgot about them and, when we next looked in the paper sack, we saw they had many, many eyes. So, we decided to plant them.

2. We cut up the potatoes, ensuring that each section of potato had some eyes on it.




































3. We prepared the potato beds with a compost/peat mixture and then dug holes about 4-inches deep.


4. We planted the potatoes (eyes facing up!) in the holes and covered with dirt.



5. We watered around each potato with the organic liquid fertilizer mixture. Then we mulched with leaves and watered some more!


UPDATE: Adam tells me that the potatoes did not have eyes. They had eye-buds. Eyes are normal on a potato but when those eyes start sprouting buds the time to eat the potato has passed. When the eyes start sprouting buds, it is time to plant!

Onions

If planting potatoes was easy, planting onions was practically mindless.

First we prepared the bed by raking over it to break up any clumps. Then Adam made "rows of holes" by sticking his finger into the ground. I went along behind him and dropped an onion into each hole.

We covered the holes with dirt, fertilized with the organic liquid fertilizer mixture, watered the whole bed and called it a day.