This week in my garden: May 31

This is the entirety of my garden plot.  It doesn't seem like much compared to the garden my mom has always put in but I'm only feeding me (although some will go to the canning cause with Marian and Trudi). As you know, the ground is full of cement and not very workable so the squash are in shallow holes (4 inches deep or so) with good potting mix in a hill on top.


In no particular order, I have two hills each of zucchini, yellow squash, and acorn squash.


This bed has most of the above ground vegetables (and fruits, technically).  I have 3 heirloom varieties of tomatoes. One is a blue tomato which I expect to be fun.  I also have a Roma tomato.  There are three varieties of Basil, a black bean, cauliflower, broccoli, four varieties of peppers, and a parsley plant.  Also in this bed I have planted the two cucumber  "hills" and a pumpkin.  I put them on the edges and will direct the vines onto the ground (I hope).  There are two root vegetable sets in this bed, a set of leeks and a russet potato.  I was hoping for a sweet potato but I'll have to put that into a trug when I can find, or start, a start.


This bed has the root vegetables, bush beans, and spinach. I harvested the spinach this morning so it looks a little puny in this picture.  I hope I did it in a way which will allow it to grow back.  It was beginning to bolt so I pinched the center stalk back and took off some of the larger leaves.  The bush beans were grown from seed with the ones on the left being started a couple weeks earlier than the others.  They are a little yellow and I'm not sure why.  Next to the beans, but just barely showing through the surface are the carrots. Beyond them is the first variety of beets.  Then you see the spinach and the white onions.  Beyond that is the parsnip bed which is showing only a tiny bit of growth so far.  Then lastly, there is the second variety of beets.

Everything looks small but it really is still early.  Harvest time usually isn't until August and September so I've got a good start on it. It's the first year trying to keep my own garden and I'm not sure what will work and what won't.  Only experience will tell me that; I went with plants I know we've raised in the family garden to get the best results.  I do keep wondering what I'm forgetting.  I planted vegetables that I will eat which means that you won't see some others (no brussel sprouts or asparagus for me).  The spinach is a bit of a wild card since my body doesn't really digest it well (I didn't plant any other lettuce varieties because of the digestive issue). However, I like hiding it in lasagna and cheesy shells and I enjoy a fresh spinach salad.  I may have to blanch and freeze it to keep it long enough to use it all.

Along the fence, where you can't really see them yet, I've planted sweet peas for color and fragrance.  I'm looking forward to them blooming.