Garden Time

I had taken pictures a week or so ago of the garden so I could update here but never posted them as I got busy. I'm rather glad I didn't as I've been able to get some more work done out there and the pathways look much better. There's still raking of gravel and leveling out of the path by the house and much more clean up to be done, but it's progressing nicely. The most exciting thing is watching the little plants spring up out of the ground. The first round of peas, beans, carrots and radishes are up and can be seen here. The second round of these were planted at the end of last week...just a bit later than planned. The warmth and sunshine we've been getting lately have done wonders for the plants!

The first planting of lettuce is on its way and the bunching onions planted in between the sections are coming up nicely. I'm hoping to get the ground cleared up around this bed and the second set of lettuces growing. It's getting time to thin out some of the plants. I'll admit to being a bit nervous at thinning out as I hate to see any of them go away and I certainly don't want to cause any problems. I am looking forward to being able to get the salad from the garden soon though!

This picture shows the three square beds and the raspberry/strawberry long bed at the end. The long bed blends in with the pathway shavings so it's not so clear in this one. I'll have to take a picture of it later today as I seem to have missed that one. But you can see that the gravel or stone pathway is cleaner and at least usable now. lol It's nice to be able to drag the hose along that path for watering and not have to worry about it jumping the beds and taking out plants on it's way. I've brought home some hose guides to install at the corners of the beds so that the hose will move better around the corners should the need arise. I'm hoping to get those installed today. It's time to plant the seconds in these beds as well. The third bed out has yellow keeping onions growing in half of it. They were a last minute add in and are doing great. Not nearly enough of them to keep us over winter, but I've never grown onions like that and thought I'd give it a try.

This is the lone plant that survived from the transplanting of the vines...so sad. It's a zucchini and is doing great. I need to replant the cucumbers, pumpkins, and summer squash today. I also need to cleanup behind this area again. The wonderful weather is sure helping the native growth next door too! I will probably be transplanting tomatoes this weekend. It's time to get them settled into their outside pots so a little hardening them off is in order for the rest of the week. I had already done the cherry tomatoes and they are so miserable looking I bought three plants from work to hedge my bets. Those tomatoes are my favorite salad maters and I'm most concerned about them. lol. There is also a flat of marigolds that are wanting to move outside today...they will probably have to wait until Sunday for the planting part though.

Last, but not least, I give you the beginnings of the herb garden. I was able to get the herbs transplanted and most of them look good. I do need to direct seed some more out there and there is some more clean up to be done here too. I cut down the pyramidalis that was deformed by the last two years of snow. I was reluctant to do so at first but sometimes hard decisions have to be made. I still need to dig out the root ball. Removing this tree opened up the whole area, bringing in the late afternoon sun. I think that the herb garden will really take off now. We'll have to have a bonfire soon to clean up some of the woody debris I'm accumulating though. lol There is always so much to do and too little time. I've yet to start weeding the flower beds and seeding in new flowers. Yikes time flies!