Garden!

I've never grown a garden by myself before, and this was the first year I've had the opportunity to do so.  Growing up, my dad always grew a huge garden and I helped work in it, but had never done it by myself.  I was really excited to grow my own this year.

It got a sort of late start, so some of the cooler weather plants didn't have as much time to grow before it got hot (and it got hot EARLY this year), but you learn from experience, right?

Here's the tomato forest :)  I planted the plants probably too close together, because I wanted to fit as many as possible.  They've grown more than I had anticipated, which is good, but they are a little crowded for harvesting.  I guess I'll just have to work harder to pick them.  I staked them up, rather than caging them, because I read you could plant them a little closer if you staked them.  Some of them are as tall as me now.  I planted three Early Girl, one Grape, one Cherry, five Romas and one Beefstake.  I borrowed some Wall-o-Waters from my dad so I could plant them before the last frost date, so they got an earlier start.  I'm just starting to harvest some of the cherry and grape varieties, and they are pretty tasty.

Here are my cool weather plants: swiss chard, romaine lettuce, leaf lettuce and peas.  The lettuces are just about to bolt, and I'm getting ready to tear out the peas to plant some fall greens soon.

I looked for bush varieties of squash, since they grow so huge and I don't have tons of space.  I planted a compact zucchini, cucumber and winter squash.  They're all blossoming, so hopefully we'll have some squash soon.

Our neighbor across the street had some extra zinnias, so I planted them in between other plants.  My dad gave me some T-tape for irrigation.  It's a drip tape that just waters in specific areas, which conserves water and cuts down on the amount of weeding needed, as well as decreasing the risk of disease like blight, by keeping the leaves of plants dry.

Blue Lake pole beans...I had to trellis these the other day, because they were getting to be a mess.  They seem to be liking their trellis.  I also planted some bush beans a few weeks after I planted these so I don't have to harvest all my beans at once.

The romaine lettuce...

The early girl tomatoes...I mulched the tomatoes and peppers with newspaper, then put bark mulch on top of it to maintain an even amount of moisture, which is supposed to reduce the risk of blossom end rot, as well as protect the plants from getting dirt on their leaves and getting blight.  Hopefully it will work.

The peppers:  I planted bell peppers, anaheim peppers and jalapenos.  They'll be ready to start harvesting any day now.

I also planted a couple rows of corn a few weeks ago.  I know you're supposed to plant corn in big blocks so it gets even pollination, but hopefully it will do okay anyway.  We'll see...

I've really enjoyed the garden so far!