Nom Nom Nom

Something, probably squirrels of the tree or ground variety, have been enjoying the garden immensely. They were kind enough to leave a couple of leaves on the green beans, but stripped the lettuces clean.

The corn gave up trying to get taller and sprouted the beginnings of an ear. A couple of zucchini started to grow but bugs were more than happy to chomp them into mush. There are a lot more flowers, so we'll see who wins the race. 

The most surprising we're the tomatoes. One plant has taken off and I had to coax it through a cage for support. Naturally I accidentally snapped off a flowering branch, one of only two so far. I apologized but I'm pretty sure it's still offended.

I pulled all of the dead peas down. Being the beginning of July, maybe there's something else I can plant there. 

The carrots and basil seem to be the happiest right now, although the pumpkin and kale aren't too bad. The kale would be great if bugs would stop eating it. Something with teeth has been tasting the mint, too. 

What hasn't done well at all was the cilantro (my fault), cauliflower, spinach, and broccoli. Perhaps I'm doing something inadvertently to anger the cabbage family?  Who knows. 

The veggies have been fun but I might do  two boxes of flowers instead of one next time. And buy fully grown tomatoes in their own pots. 

Squished Squash

Jim needs a bumper sticker on his lawn mower that reads "I don't brake for vines."  One bed of squash (pumpkin, zucchini, and summer yellow) has taken off and is making double-time across the mulch toward the grass.

To save it from a rather abrupt end to its journey, I tossed together a tri-pod trellis.

You can find a list of materials here:

http://organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/simple-squash-trellis

I pretty much flipped through the instructions to get the basic idea and winged it. I didn't pull out a tape measure, but I assure you it's straight. The ground? Not so much.

You'll need a 1/4" drill bit to make holes for the bolt. I only used 4 of the 2"x2"x8' since I attached the legs directly to my beds with 3" wood screws. I didn't have any twine, either, so I used another couple of 3" screws to hold things together at the top. I had the cheapest wood possible, so the whole thing cost around $20.

Concerned my squash might be too inexperienced to figure out a trellis with such wide spacing, I stretched a nylon garden net over one side and secured it with 1 1/2" wood screws.

I carefully (because I forgot to wear gloves) encouraged the squash to attempt the climb. We will see if I end up with a leafy tunnel or it gives up and heads for the grass again.  

I checked on the green beans. There are a few started but something is eating them before they get big. It's hard to appreciate in the picture, but the purple beans have this awesome green fuzz that makes them appear almost iridescent. 

The carrots are still too little to pick but are quite fluffy on top. The kids love running their hands through them. 

The Garden

After about five days of rain, I finally checked on the garden. I had been worried that the peas would have been scorched by the sun before making a single sphere, but temps have stayed low with storms constantly blowing over.

So Alex helped me with a second harvest of snow peas. Some made it into the bucket and many got "lost" on the way. I got a couple of "I wuff peas, mom!" As he talked over a full mouth. 

The spring garden box is doing pretty well. You can just see the tiny orange carrots starting out, and the accidental onion has taken his chance at growing to heart. I'm not sure if the broccoli will make it before it gets too hot, but that's ok.

I've never grown an onion, and didn't plan to, so we are just learning as we go. 

One thing that's obvious is proper drainage in this monsoon is key. With drought conditions the past +6 years, I wasn't prepared. 

The bed on the front left has a bottom layer of grass clippings as a weed deterrent. The one on the front right has cardboard, because I thought I'd need to hold into as much water as possible. Both boxes have the same squash, zucchini, and kale but with a drastic difference in results!

I picked a decent amount of kale already but discovered caterpillars working their way through the leaves. It appears the are gone, and there should be enough left for the plants to recover. 

Here are a few other pictures from around our small patch of veggies. 

Bush bean flowers. 

Corn learning to swim. 

Spicy tasting broccoli protectors. 

Bony looking peas. 

Our spring garden with the peas tied into submission. Poor broccoli were in an eternal shadow. 

Blackberries making a start in the corner of the yard. 

One transplanted Azalea bush has stopped holding a grudge and is trying to bloom a second time. 

Square Foot Gardening

Last year in NY I had tons of gardening plans. I had prices to rent a tiller, a sunny spot picked out, and a plant list made. Many peas died on our back deck (Oops! They don't like warm weather!). Then we moved back to SC. Everything became too dynamic in my life to even try.

This year I'm going with square foot gardening. It had all if the things I was looking for: small/condensed, easy to setup, simple planting layout, and supposedly good yield. The idea of breaking everything down by grid is right up my alley.

So at this point I've got my frame done, bed filled, and the grid setup. It took two days of shopping and two days of work. I just need to get the seeds planted. I was hoping that would be today but 20 pounds of toddler sleeping on me is saying otherwise.

Our plan of attack is three squares each of Bibb lettuce, peas, carrots, and spinach. There will also be two squares of broccoli and potatoes. Later once the cooler weather plants are done, they'll be replaced with stuff like squash and corn.

I'm hoping the watermelon from last year will volunteer on their own. I left the areas they were in mostly undisturbed.

When I removed the old bed frame it was teeming with termites. Those are not attractive bugs. Naturally, I panicked and sent Jim a dramatic email. Apparently termites are everywhere and unless you want to use some nasty stuff, you just have to accept that they have a job to do.