First Harvest!! - Memorial Day Weekend update

Summer is so close, I can almost taste it!

On Saturday when we went to the plot we brought home some of our first harvests of french radishes, spinach, and cilantro! We spent the other part of the afternoon thinning out the tomatillo plants from the row to allow them enough room to continue to mature and produce plenty of tomatillos. When Tera was cutting the spinach, the rain came and drenched us both!

We very much enjoyed a tasty pasta salad that included the radishes, spinach, and a homemade dressing later in the weekend.

Tera's digging in the dirt! :-)

We went to Home Depot and bought a few big containers that are on the balcony now. This should lead to some vegetables and herbs at my fingertips as the summer goes on. And yes, I couldn't pass up the Topsy Turvy (as seen on TV!). We'll see if it goes as planned. In the containers right now there's basil, swiss chard, chives, and tomatoes.

I'm looking forward to having more time on my hands very soon so that the updates are more real time than weeks behind. Hang in there, there's much more to come on plot #10 in the weeks to come! Summer vacation is around the corner for this teacher!

Gaining Height

It's amazing what a bit of nice weather and some water will do to a garden plot! Watering had been a bit of a challenge over the weekend. I was out of town, but Kelly was going to help me out. Unfortunately the water isn't on permanently due to the leak below and such AND because the barrels that are supposed t be filled daily hadn't been. Well... that brings us to the beginning of the week when it was HOT. I repeat HOT.

I'm glad Kelly was able to get some water to my plants on Monday night and then I was able to do a quick drink on Tuesday. Wednesday was the real scorcher. Kelly gave many plots at Davis Park a long drink during the day. I went back in the evening to check out the scene and I did not need to add anymore water to the plots. The temperatures have dropped a bit today which makes it more manageable for all of us, plants included!

I just did a quick update from the pictures on Friday so that you could compare them with the pictures in this post. This post has pictures that I took last night while at plot#10. Clint and I stopped on our way back from a delicious dinner at Mexico.

I was amazed at how much the tomatillos, spinach, swiss chard, and squash has grown in less than a week. The tomatoes are starting to take off as well.

Belated Update

I'm posting pictures from Friday, May 21st basically for comparison pictures.
If you recall - I planted the tomatoes in the plot on Wednesday, May 19th.

I went out of town for the weekend and have had a busy start to the week...

Sunflowers getting taller by the second and tomatoes stabilizing

Spinach and Swiss Chard ... and many Tomatillos

Planting Tomatoes

Wednesday, May 19th

Today when I checked on the tomato plants on the porch, I noticed that they seemed to be a little unhappy. I consulted with the master gardener and decided that it was time to plant them in the ground at plot #10. Considering the weather forecast for the next few days it was determined that the tomato plants that we started from seed on April 4th should go into the ground tonight.
So I put on some clothes that I wouldn't mind getting a little dirty and headed over with the 17tomato plants. Woah. That's a lot of tomato plants for the plot that we have. I'm not sure what we'll do if they all take off!

As I got there it started to mist and as I continued to work the mist came down with more force but never really became a full out drizzle. It was a pleasant and peaceful trip to the garden and now the tomatoes are in the plot. Tera is in charge of figuring out what kind of trellis/tomato cage we'll use as they get bigger.

I think I've identified them properly below. There are 6 supersweet plants, 5 Early girl hybrid plants, and 6 Big Mama plants in plot #10. Pictures below.

Supersweet (6)

Early Girl Hybrid (5)

Big Mama (6)

Although the weather was a bit moist I stuck around the plot to mix up the soil a bit and remove the small weeds that think they stand a chance at surviving in our plot. (ha! not a chance weeds!)

Pictured below. Tomatillos, Sunflower (the strong one in the front), Swiss Chard and Spinach)

Swiss Chard and Spinach.

So... there's dirt on the leaves. That's from me moving the soil around... at least I know where that dirt came from! It's so frustrating when you go to the store and get vegetables with a bunch of dirt on them and have no idea what that dirt contains!

Hot Peppers (?) Not sure if these are the hot peppers or not. They are in the space where we planted the seeds, but it is probably too early to tell.


Sunflowers in the back of plot #10

Squash. Wet/Dirty knees. (Note to self: Dear Self, Please do what is necessary to remember the kneeler that your roommates gave to you for your birthday so you don't have to get your pants dirty.)

IKEA plants.
I didn't forget to give the update on the IKEA pots.
The basil and chives are doing well!

This morning as I was rushing to get out the door, as I do most mornings, I found Belmondo engaged in sneaking a bite of the chives! He was pulling them up and eating them!

The weather is turning nice for the end of the week. Not sure what my plans will be in an effort to celebrate a special someone's birthday... but I'll keep the blog updated as much as I can!

excited for leaves!!

It was a fabulous day today. The sun was shining. The temperature was perfect. Not too cool and not too warm. I decided that I'd better check the garden to see if watering was necessary and to see what happened since I was last there to take pictures on Thursday. I'm not sure if anyone else notices the growth but I was excited to see the leaves on the spinach, Swiss chard, and the tomatillos (pictured below). We'll have to see how they continue to come in, but I think they are going to need to be moved around a little bit to make room for each other as they continue to grow through the season. Tera and I were talking about the possibility of once the tomatillos are well established that we might think about growing some in a pot on my porch.

I was a little baffled when I got to plot #10 this afternoon to find that the orange bucket, intended to be our rain water catcher, was not where it's been for the last 3 weeks. Hmm, strange. I found the bucket (although the rocks and small containers used for watering purposes were not inside) and returned it to the corner of plot #10. Kelly came to the rescue and had a sharpie marker for me to put some identification on the bucket. I'm all for sharing but please leave it as you found it!

The two pictures above are general shows that I hope show that plot #10 is healthy and alive! I got notice this morning that last year's gardeners for plot#10 thought that they had the plot again and were surprised to see that it had been taken over by us. A little miss communication but all will be fine in the end. And the mystery plant that we couldn't figure out if it was a plant or some healthy weed turned out to be identified as sorrel. Mystery solved!

Rain is on its way for tomorrow and Wednesday so I may not make it there again until Thursday. Will update on the tomato plants, peppers, and ikea pots soon!

Thursday, May 13th

It's been a busy week and I've not had a chance to get the blog updated as frequently as I would like to. So the pictures posted here range from Monday, May 10th to today, Thursday, May 13th. (I was not at the garden on Tuesday this week.)

Here's cilantro! The picture on the left is from Monday while the one on the right is from today. Looking good. My mouth is already watering at the thought of fresh cilantro in amazing salsa verde!

While I was at the garden on Wednesday, Kelly convinced me to check out the rabe. It's growin in a plot that hasn't really been tended to yet for the season. So instead of having it go to seed, I brought some home. I'd never had it before, but it was good. Looked online for a quick link on how to steam it. I added some carrots and red pepper, served it over rice and it was a perfect dinner. I've been in the mood for some good fruits and vegetables this week, so it hit the spot! :-)

It was a little chilly here this week but not enough for frost in the city. BUT... what's going on with these leaves? It looks like something is eating those on the cucumber, but at the same time they are losing their color and don't look good. They seem to be nice and strong though so I hope that the new leaves that are popping up through the middle are healthy and that the cucumbers make it. The squash continue to be the plant that has the most noticeable growth. Even some of the leaves on the squash plants are turning a bit brown. Hmm, maybe it's the cooler temps and the gray skies?

The French radish is still doing well!

And here's the Swiss chard! I love the color!

Sunflowers- These are near the back. Those that are in the front have not been making progress.

Spinach! Beginning to see those first leaves! yay!

The onions! A lot of progress here in just a few weeks of time!

On my way out I grabbed a little bit of compost to take back to the plants that are still in the greenhouse tray. I've been watering them as needed. The tomatoes are still making progress. I placed the 2 that didn't get put into compost soil into the little orange colored pot. I'm guessing they'll take off just like the others did.

And last but not least... here's the pepper progress! I also placed these guys in a small container with some of the compost so that they will continue to grow and become strong enough for us to plant in plot #10.