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).

Mad Planting

On the way to the garden today, Adam and I got into a little fight. We don't fight very often but I love how we can both keep our sense of humor during a fight because, usually at some super dramatic moment, one or both of us will start laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. And it is hard to fight in earnest after you've had a good laugh.

That happened today when we were planting. Well, at least, it happened for me. Once we got to the garden we were both steaming and we proceeded to plant in stony silence.

That silence was periodically broken by tersely worded questions like "Where does this basil go?" or "The cabbage perked up" followed by a grunt of acknowledgment.

This is what got me laughing.

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that we made up. We are one little happy family again. I was a little worried that our plants would be affected by the harsh words that we uttered while planting. But we made it up to them too.

So today we planted:


basil (not pictured)

zucchini

okra

cucumbers

And our cabbage has, indeed, perked up.

What did we NOT plant today?

It was a full day at the farm today. Lots of sunscreen, lots of water and lots of planting. We were grateful for the near-constant breeze that wafted up from the river but, needless to say, that breeze will be gone (and sorely missed) come the summer months.

Alright, down to business.

Here is a list of what we planted today:

sweet corn

pole beans

sunflowers

peppers (bell, jalapeno, chili and banana)

tomatoes (cherry, Roma, beefsteak, heirloom brandywine)

wildflowers

zinnias

cucumbers

zucchini

okra

carrots

radishes

red onions

Sadly, I don't have enough pictures to correspond to all of this activity. Once I remembered my photography duties, the sun had already begun to set and the light was no good. But I did manage to get a few off before the sun fully set.

But, as you can see, our shadows were l-o-n-g when we finally started packing up.


Here is one of our corn/bean rows. The corn seeds are in back and were placed every 6 inches or so. The beans are in the front part of the row and placed in-between the corn seeds. Also, the sunflowers were planted in the row directly behind the corn/bean row.

Next up is one of our beautiful little bell peppers. We probably have more bell peppers than any other plant in the garden. Which is good since we eat them ALL THE TIME. We eat them more often than we eat tomatoes.

Most of our pepper and tomato plants are ones we grew from seeds. However, some of our seedlings just didn't look hearty enough for the great outdoors so we hedged our bets and bought some plants at a local nursery.


And here is one of our lovely tomato plants all warm and snug in its cage. The cages, lest you accuse us of tomato cruelty, are strictly for the tomatoes' benefit. They send their little stems out the openings and, as they grow, the cage provides support for those (hopefully) tomato-laden stems.


We prepared all of the beds today in the same manner as before. Hoe and rake the bed to break up clumps. Scatter peat/compost mixture. Water afterwards with the liquid fertilizer/water mixture.

You may have noticed that many of our plants have depressions around them. We made those in hopes that during the next rain, which is sure to come any moment now, some rain will gather in these little "volcanoes" instead of running off the side. We'll see how that goes.

Oh the way home, I quizzed Adam about what plant he is most excited to be growing/harvesting/eating and he, of course, said the chili peppers. He wants to make hot sauce.

My "top plant" is definitely my lovely okra! I l-o-v-e okra and simply can't wait until they are ready to harvest.

We have plans for most of the vegetables. But some of them (ahem, radishes) I'm at a loss of what to do with. Especially in such large numbers. I am excited about learning to can and sharing that (possibly harrowing) process with you. Any tips, pass them along. Please.

Naturally, we are pretty tuckered out after such a day. Off to bed we go....with visions of homemade tomato sauce in our heads.

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:

First Planting!

While Adam worked on re-tilling our rows, I set about preparing the "round mounds" that would be the home for our squashes, melons and cucumbers. The soil may look hard and cake-y on the top but it is so soft that working it with a shovel and hoe is no problem.

First of all, I broke up the ground surrounding our previously formed mounds. I took this dirt and added it to the mounds. (We have 4 mounds in each section x 4 sections = 16 mounds.)


After forming the mounds, I then sifted through the dirt by hand and pulled out the grass weeds. This sounds a little crazy, but it was actually a lot of fun! I always loved to play in dirt when I was a kid and not much has changed since those days. Plus, I got a good look at all the little bugs and critters living in our dirt.

At the end of the day, I had a bucket o' weeds.





Before I continue, I should say that I'm not a crazy weeder. It isn't something that I necessarily enjoy and it isn't something I think is always important. Overall, I don't think weeds are "bad" and Adam shares this sentiment so I can't see us spending a lot of time weeding. However, our little zucchini and melon plants were raised from seedlings and weren't doing too well....so I wanted to give them the best chance possible.

All that being said, this garden is, in many ways, an experiment for us. We certainly don't know everything there is to know and we hope to learn a lot along the way. By mid-summer we could be reformed anti-weeders with an arsenal of Round-Up at our disposal.

But I doubt it.

After preparing our "mounds" with a compost/peat mixture, I gingerly put our little plants in the mounds. As I said before, these had been raised from seedlings but had started to get weak and spindly in recent days, despite being put out in the sun for a good part of the day. I planted them pretty deep so that their weak bits were under the dirt. A storm was coming in a day and I didn't want them to be torn to shreds.

We made little zucchini "volcanoes" in the middle of the mounds and watered them with a mixture of liquid fertilizer (organic) and water.

Then we wished them luck and headed home.



Next up: Potatoes and Onions!