Hey guys! It's been a while since I have had the time to schedule a post, but since I always seem to get busy on Friday I thought it would be great to go ahead and write up my #MarketFriday post on Tuesday! I already told @dswigle I was going to do it, so I can't let my pal down. We were going to go peach picking today, however it ended up being a no-go since they were letting some more fruit ripen and weren't doing U-pick today (bummer, but we may try again Friday). Given the extra time, I opted to hit up Home Depot to grab a few things for the garden and then go ahead and start on my update to share how it's coming along.
Though we've got quite a bit of plants that are coming along nicely from seed, I realized we were missing a few things I always enjoy having. We also seem to be having a pepper muncher coming and eating up any of the pepper seedlings we start, so I thought it might be a good idea just to buy a few plants to see how they did. I love buying heirloom varieties of seeds from Seed Savers Exchange, but at this point in the season getting things locally was a better option to get them in the ground in time!
I grabbed a few different types of organic bell peppers to pop right into the soil in the garden. They already have some fruit growing, so hopefully the pests can't ruin the whole plant. In addition to the plants, I grabbed a few packets of seeds for now and pumpkins to plant a bit later. I tend to get excited about the spring garden so we start that really well, but don't always plan out our fall varieties as well. Hopefully we can change that this year to have a productive few seasons.
The last thing that I really needed at the store was some potting mix for my orchids. Luckily they are still hanging in there with some blossoms now (I remembered a flower for you @dswigle!), but the roots had started growing above the level of the pot which apparently means it is time to re-pot them. I've had them ever since @dksart and I started dating over 8 years ago, so I'm a little nervous to kill them! I have faith he'll gently move them into a new pot and maybe with the new potting mixture they'll thrive even more soon!
That was all I bought at the store, so let's move on to the actual garden! @dksart is working on a new raised bed with some pallet wood that my dad gave us. He's actually outside right now as I work on typing this. Thanks for doing the hard work dear! 😘
We've got all kinds of squash growing, though he can't quite remember what he planted where. Some of the abundance of plants popped up from compost, as well, so there's no telling what we might get. Kind of fun to guess, though, haha! One year we had the best acorn squash that came up from the compost. Hopefully there's at least some zucchini in there. Looks like lots of flowers are popping up. I've never actually cooked with the blossoms, but perhaps I need to pull some off this year to actually try something out.
The tomatoes are finally starting to come along, as well. Looks like we've got 4 plants growing well, with one already flowering. Tomatoes seem to be hit or miss, but it's been a few years since we've had a good crop so I'm hoping this is a hit year!
The kohlrabi leaves are starting to get munched on pretty hard. I think we planted those a bit late, but fingers crossed we get at least a few bulbs to harvest for the space we gave them. The weather is heating up for good now, so time to pull out the hot sauce spray to try to keep some of the worst of the bugs off the plants while they grow. The mosquitoes are quite voracious already, nibbling on us every time we step anywhere close to the garden!
Finally, the strawberry plant we transplanted from a neighbor of his parents is in the ground and hopefully getting settled in nicely. The season is about done here now for strawberries, but we're hoping it will do well in future seasons.
The herbs are still growing like crazy, so I'll spare you any pictures of those this time. The cilantro (coriander) and purple basil that I bought today will be a nice addition if those seeds sprout up quickly. We'll keep working away, and maybe soon I'll have plenty of yummy stuff to cook up in the kitchen!
Thanks to the other awesome folks who share what they have growing or support those who do (like @simplymike with the #gardenjournal2019 and @sustainablelivin with #gardencorner). I've learned a lot on here, and still have a ton more to learn going forward!
Oh yess the #powerhousecreatives must all be planing gardens now. I just got through planting some of the sprouts we grew from seeds. I do have to make a trip to the nursery this weekend and pick up some peppers as I didn’t have much luck starting those indoors.
My little veggie loves greenhouses so much and just skips around giggling when we go.
Awesome!
Posted using Partiko iOS
Yeah! It's fun to see what everyone has going in the ground! It's like a blockchain farmers market. :)
Enjoy your trip to the nursery! I might have to make an excuse to go back soon because I was close to skipping on my visit, too. :)
Looks great! The only thing that I haven't managed to kill yet is Chilli, Chives, and my capsicum (bell pepper) is still alive (for now!)
We managed to get about 4kg of oranges from our Orange tree so far this year as well, which is a good return!
Hooray for scheduling posts!
Thanks! Upon looking this morning I think we might lose the kohlrabi to the bugs and the heat, but we didn't realize we planted those anyway so I'm not taking it as a big loss. ;)
That sounds like a great orange haul! I would love to have some fresh oranges. Funny thing is I scheduled this post because I thought I was going to be busy today, and then I get up this morning and my day has totally cleared out. Well I guess at least now I have time to go see what everyone else is up to!
Some good additions to the garden and the riser beds will be a nice addition when completed
thanks for this great post and being an active member of @steemusa !tip
Thanks! I'll have to do another update soon as the bed is now put together, and we have some baby squash actually popping up on the plants, too! Love watching it all grow!
Uttaranchal cool the squash is coming up looking forward to seeing the finished raised bed
🎁 Hi @plantstoplanks! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @tattoodjay!
@tattoodjay wrote lately about: Market Friday - Broadway Feel free to follow @tattoodjay if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide :)
Everything looks lovely! Our squash go into the ground this week, we are way behind you climate wise, it's quite amazing to see the difference.
Oh fun! It's been crazy to me to see some place still getting snow! The warm weather hit early this year so it is quite interesting to see things so far advanced already. I'm not complaining, though, as it is a nice relief to my food budget when we can pull some good stuff right out of the garden! The last few years have been tough, so we are due a good haul! :)
Well, I wish you a bountiful summer!!
Look at that garden! Beautiful! Now I have to ask, it's the first time I read of this... hot sauce spray?
Thanks girl! We avoid using any kind of commercial pesticides, so mixing up hot sauce or hot peppers with water and spraying it over the plants is a good way to repel some of the critters without ruining the plants or using chemicals. It doesn't work on everything, but it does help a bit. The BF made it so spicy this time around, though, that when we were both out there the other day and he started spraying we both started choking a bit. Woops! You just have to make sure you're not downwind, haha!
That's awesome! I'm always willing to learn new tricks to get things working on my side. Now with knowing this, I can have a bit more power in repelling those unwanted bugs. Thanks for sharing. And be careful with that stuff! Sounds powerful :p
Awesome post. So many healthy looking plants... I'm jealous...
I'm gonna start writing the Challenge post for this month in a minute and will publish it later today.
This would be a more than worthy entry 👍
Posted using Partiko Android
Thank you! I missed last month, so I wanted to make sure I didn't forget this time around! Especially since we have so much going on. In just the few days since I took these pictures there's already so much progress. I think we'll be pulling out the few beets today, but the kohlrabi is kaput I think. It's gotten too hot for it, so next time around we'll plant it earlier.
I haven't had a chance to plant everything out just yet. So much to do, so little opportunity... 😉
It's nice to see some update from your garden, Katie. It looks like you're doing very well. Yeah, it's fun when you get some plants but you don't know what to expect. It's a nice surprise. I wonder when you will start recognizing what it could be :)
Oh, poor kohlrabi! I hope that it will survive the attacks but you know, those little creatures also need to eat :) And you can get some kohlrabi at the farmers market too :)
Have a lovely weekend!
They have started producing some little squash babies, so I will let you know soon what we have! :) Shouldn't be too long now until we can harvest some goodies. Can't wait!
Yeah, I think the kohlrabi is done for. Hope the little ones enjoyed it. :) We'll definitely try it again in cooler weather, but you're right I know I can get some at the market, too!
I hope you have a great weekend, as well!
You have so many goodies in your garden already. Looks like the weather is warmer at your end of the world. Ours are still s all, we have nothing ready yet.
About the orchids, I advise you to watch some videos about reporting orchids. I did it last year and I know you have to clean the roots. I hope your operation will be successful.
Again, great job on the garden, everything looks very nice 😍
Yes, it is quite hot already! I hope it doesn't mean the summer is going to be so scorching that everything dies off. We shall see I suppose!
My boyfriend is huge on watching things on YouTube, so I am sure he'll watch some before we give it a try. I am quite partial to my orchids, so we'll make sure to be very gentle with them. Thank you for the tip, though!
It's raining a lot here, it's already too much, the garden is so muddy you can't do anything. if this goes on, plants are going to suffer big time.
Keep us posted about your orchids. mine is very happy since I repotted it :)
Enthusiastically gardening now in spring should give you a nice mix of veggies later in the year. Bugs and pests eating into things, ask you local nursery or gardeners what plants to grow around these plants to protect them.
Amazing how many herbs planted around certain leaf veggies save the day from bugs, beer in a flat pan attract snails keeping them at bay.
Good luck with the gardening expedition @plantstoplanks
Thanks for the great tips @joanstewart! We do need to get a little better about companion planting. Always something new to learn, right? At least it's a very fun and rewarding topic to explore!
We don't have a garden so it's nice to look at other people's!
Posted using Partiko Android
Wish I could share! The way the squash is looking, we'll have more than enough to go around. :)
Resteemed upvoted and tweeted
Posted using Partiko Android
Oh my God, I’m looking forward to that purple basil. Is it really purple? If so, a gorgeous contribution to any plate.
That’s a great looking garden @plantstoplanks. You two should be proud. When those pumpkins get going I wouldn’t mind receiving some in the mail ::wink:: ::wink:: Pumpkin is difficult to find down here.
Stupid mosquitoes. I’m still not convinced of any redeeming qualities they may have 🤦🏼♀️
I think so! This is the first time I've gotten that type of basil, so hopefully we'll find out soon enough! I love all things purple in the garden. 😍
This will be the first time trying to grow pumpkins, too. We've done a few other fall squashes, but never pumpkin. I'm definitely keeping that bread you posted on my mind for later on!
Heading over now to check out that delicious cowboy caviar...
I just found some butt squash at the store so tomorrow is stuffed butt squash (yep, I just said that). Haha. Can’t wait for your purple basil. Imagine the pesto creations…
Hahahaha! Stuffed butt. 🤣 We usually have good luck with herbs, so fingers crossed it holds true for the basil!
I wonder if you dry them and make dried basil from it? I bet you can, and then you can add purple basil to everything :))). They’ll turn out, you’ll see.
Yep! We just finished drying some lemon balm and oregano, so next up is more of the massive amount of mint. I think I'm going to pull off some of the squash blossoms this weekend to play with, too. I've always seen people use them in recipes, but it's time for me to try my own hand using them! Hopefully it turns out well so I can share. ;)
👏👏👏
What a gorgeous garden you have! I wish it good fortune on the plants to come!
Aww, thank you so much! We can use all the good energy we can get to keep everything going so well! :)
Congratulations @plantstoplanks! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Looking good! thank goodness for the hubby doing the heavy work! Did he do the cinder block garden beds too?
That's what I want to make in the one area of my yard that gets good light but very poor soil. I would probably make it 2 layers high.
I hear you about the mosquitoes! I had to pull out my bug shirt. One thing about the mosquitoes they make you work really quick to get out of there, if you aren't protected from them!
My brassicas are still small yet and I started them in trays to get a head start. I had a real bad episode of flea beetles that almost took them out but I caught them in time and could wash them away because they were in pots. I'm hesitant to put them out yet for last year we had a lot of flea beetles in the garden. I'll just have to make sure to get the row cover on them as soon as I plant them out - darn bugs!
Here's hoping for a good tomato year! I started a bunch of them but it's too early to plant them out yet - last expected frost date is June 7th. I'll put the majority of them in the covered garden before that date but the few that I am planting out side I think I'll hold off on.
Thanks for sharing your garden!
Yes, he did the cinder block beds, too! He actually rearranged those earlier in the spring to make them easier to access. Though I think the pallet bed is going to be a dream being up so high so no squatting down to work in it. :)
Oh my gosh I just went outside for a few minutes and got at least 6-7 bites on my legs in minutes! I want to harvest some of the squash blossoms to use today, but I suppose I need to put on some long pants and cover up to go back out later on, haha. Vicious little suckers!
I just got back from the farmers market, as well, and the heat is actually starting to get to quite a few of the crops. The snap and snow peas are taking a beating, and it is definitely nearing the end of the strawberry season. Lots of heat with little to no rain in the forecast. Hoping we maybe get some pop up thunderstorms to at least get a little moisture back in the ground! I'll have to check to see how much rain water we have left in our barrels. Hopefully enough to keep our little garden going for a while!
Funny you've got the mosquitoes out when it's hot and it's been dry - have you got any open standing water around your place?
We have a black spruce bog right by our place and the spring water levels are so high there is lots of standing water and lots of mosquitoes! I don't even think about going outside with out my long pants on!
Here's hoping for rain!
Things are looking good!! And we are so lucky that we can go to the store and buy plants when ours didn't quite grow as we wanted them - or even worse, getting eaten up.
I love Kohlrabi and hope that you will get some good ones!!
Yes! It's funny because I kind of forget about buying the plants already started since we have gotten pretty good at collecting and saving seeds, but it is a very nice convenience to take advantage of when needed! I can see it being really helpful for people who maybe don't have the time or energy to start plants from seed, but still want to grow some of their own produce. :)
Loved reading about what's going on in your garden. I like to see what ideas other people have. I used to have a huge garden when I lived out in the country, but not much room here in town. I do have some strawberries and a blackberry bush, but it's mostly flowers and shrubs now.
Oh my goodness you are going to have an amazing garden this year @plantstoplanks. Love the raised beds, we had those at our last home, it was so nice to garden, no back breaking weed pulling :) I have an orchid with crazy roots as well. Down here people "plant" them in trees strapping to a branch with a little bit of spagnum moss and they're quite happy :) They're really beautiful when they settle in. I can't wait to see those peaches from the orchard....happy picking!
Thank you! I hope it keeps on going strong! Oh, yes, I think I've seen the orchids like that down there! So pretty to see them like that.
Uuggh, we missed out on picking again yesterday! I don't know if it is maybe the heat and lack of rain, or it's just still early but they keep closing down the u-pick to let more ripen the days we plan to go! I'm sure we'll get there eventually. Maybe we'll get lucky and time it right when the blackberries come in. :) Until then at least I was able to grab a bag of fresh ones from the farmers market this morning to enjoy for now!
Hello!
This post has been manually curated, resteemed
and gifted with some virtually delicious cake
from the @helpiecake curation team!
Much love to you from all of us at @helpie!
Keep up the great work!
Manually curated by @vibesforlife.
Thank you very much!
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
@c-squared runs a community witness. Please consider using one of your witness votes on us here
Thank you @c-squared!