Veggie progress

It took a while to get our new garden bed project completed, but we finally managed. Well, almost...one more little load of playground chips and we'll really be done! Um, well, after I plant my dill seedlings in the broccoli bed and the zinnias somewhere, then we'll be done...except I might divide my chives and plant them in the tomato bed...hmmm.

Gardens are really a work in progress all the time, aren't they? I'll let the pictures tell the story of where we are today (this very rainy, possible thunderstorms first Saturday of summer).

Broccoli (starts) interplanted with lettuce (from seed).

'Detroit Dark Red' beets (seed) - an entire 4'x8' bed of 'em!

Never mind my crooked rows. They'll look better once I thin them. These are the ones we grew in our fabulous 2009 garden...they're great for pickling and eating fresh (or from frozen).

'Rhubarb' Swiss chard (seed) and Brussels sprouts (starts). Paul told me the other day that each sprouts plant can produce 80-100 sprouts. Um...yikes. Six seedlings times 100 = I don't really even like Brussels sprouts. I'm going to have to get used to them, I guess! The chard didn't germinate that well, but I know from experience that a few plants go a long way, so we'll have plenty.

'Snow Crown' Cauliflower...yes, an entire bed of them, twelve in all. I caved to Paul's wishes and planted a whole bed of broccoli and one of cauliflower.

Ed Hume 'Gormet Lettuce Blend' from seed. I interplanted this with the tomatoes, broccoli and peas/strawberries. What looks like a ton of lettuce actually won't be, once I thin to the recommended 10" spacing. Boo! Live and learn.

We bought some sad-looking, very leggy pea seedlings - two kinds - and planted them down the center of a bed with old fencing for support. Now we know you're not supposed to separate entangled pea vines - oops! Several don't look too good, and yet are regrowing from the bottom. This bed also features strawberries on one side and lettuce and alyssum on the other, with bird netting over top of everything.



Overview from the greenhouse. In the immediate foreground, the edge of a 2'x8' bed containing four dahlia tubers. The tomato bed is next. Something's up with the 'Brandywine' start I bought (back corner tomato in that bed)...I need to look into that lest it's something catching.

'Caroline' raspberry growth! Three of our five canes have fresh growth. We can expect a nice crop of berries next year.

My hanging baskets hiding out in the greenhouse. The temperatures have been cool so far, and I got a late start on these, so they need help. Well, that and my overzealous, too early pinching on the fuschia starts. Again, live and learn! I have to be careful, though, because this greenhouse can get wicked hot inside even on cool days.