JUNE

I'm taking a quick break from cakes to think about my garden... sorry I couldn't come up with a better post title! It's June, though, hey? Cool!

I'm going to rename my Black Prince tomatoes "Ol' Reliables". This is my second year growing them from seed and they're hardy, awesome producers. They are also super delicious.

You can baaaarely make out the three rows of carrots. I kind of need to weed. And by "kind of" I mean, "I really, really, reallyreally need to weed".

Peas, lettuce and swiss chard! And weeds! One reason I'm putting off weeding is because I planted herbs all over the place and then neglected to mark them, so I'll be doing a lot of weed-tasting this weekend.

Beans! Helloooooo babieeess!

Apple tree is bustin out! It's not in full-bloom yet but hoo boy, I swoon and sigh every time I go outside.

The gate to the front. What's in the front yard? MAGIC AND ENCHANTMENT. And dandelions. Oh and a Nanking Cherry bush! Recently discovered! Alright!

Kay back to cakes. Wooo!

hoppy spring, everyone.

My garden is inching its way into existence and I am puuuuummped! The drama has begun! I seriously wish there was a reality gardening show. It's SO exciting! "She's put the seedlings out... HOW WILL THEY TAKE IT? One of them is looking droopy, WILL IT SURVIVE THE TRANSPLANT??" It never ends, you guys! I can't even imagine how thrilling and stressful it must have been for people who had to rely on their crops and gardens for survival. I enjoy it as a side-hobby, but maaaaaan it had to have been nerve wracking (as well as monumentally fulfilling) to have had to bank your life on the elements. CRAZY. 

Okay anyway: 

Transplanted most of the heirloom tomatoes and am now hardening them off. Poly is the most useful thing ever! Instant little greenhouses!

Best pal ex's are the best – mine in particular. He built this sweet mini-greenhouse/cold frame so I can start my tenders (melons & squash) in the ground a bit earlier. I'm determined to get melons, goddammit!! Nothing's gonna stop me now.

And this is my slowly-forming plot. Can I get a hollah for my back? I've tilled all of this by hand/pitchfork, starting last fall and working on it bit by bit as the ground thawed. Almost there! Just 2/3 of lump/sod sifting left! If you see me and I have disproportionally developed lower back muscles, this is why. Oh and watch out cuz my back muscles will punch your wimpy back muscles.

Also I've discovered that, even though it's filled with drama and emotional rollercoastering, gardening is the one thing that can ease my mind no matter what. It's like a brain massage and I love it more than Alias' words can say. Didn't catch that reference? Here:

http://youtu.be/RM146mVPttY

Now you know.

faster, slower, FASTER! slooowwer...

The last frost date is this coming Saturday and I'm DYING. Of course it has to be the nicest, most titillating garden week ever. I went ahead and planted some seeds this past weekend, I figure that if they pop up before the frost I can toss a bed sheet over them no probs. I planted blue-podded peas, winter lutz beets, cosmic purple carrots, small purple onions, and a ton of herbs.

What's left to plant are the lettuce and my seedlings. They need to get outside so bad, and I've been putting them out during the day, but eeeek they need outta those little pots. Some of them have said "to hell with it" and have start blossoming. Come ON already, May!

Of course, I want May to fly by for gardening purposes, but for everything else I'm begging it to slow down. I have four big things happening right now that will more or less wrap up as the month ends. This is when space-time manipulation powers would come in really handy.

Anyway, on to recent planty progress:

One of my silver fir tomato plants (heirloom, with foliage like carrots!) has decided to go for it. It's about a foot and a half tall, so I'm not pinching them. I'm happy that we might have tomaters early though!

This is my summer squash. It wants wide open spaces asap. The melons are coming up nicely too. I can't wait to get them out!

One of my pepper plants, the variety of which I've actually forgotten because I tossed the package after I planted them. Anyway, it's looking busy too, and will hopefully actually produce something, unlike that weird robot-pepper plant I bought at the flea market last year.

I'm sooooooooooooooooooooo excited about my garden this year! Next week is going to be AWESOME.

doin it!

First off: can anyone tell me how I can make the blog portion of this thing wider?? Least intuitive blog template evar!

I was hesitant to continue on with this blog, since after our move so much was up in the air as far as having time or space for gardening. HAPPILY, my garden this year will be even more awesome than last year, as my landlord has been super enthusiastic about my proposals re: our backyard planting potential. Seriously, guys. This garden is going to rawk.

A few things I learned last year:
- most veggie plants need lots of SUN. I underestimated how much shade full summer leaves would cast, and this year I need to be more careful about that.
- overfeeding plants doesn't make them fat and healthy, it makes them dead.
- peas don't like to be too hot
- squirrels, rabbits and birds will eat/destroy most things that they can reach

Kay, but on to my current garden sitch. Here's where I'm planting:

Also, I just wrestled with blogger for like, a half hour trying to add words between these friggin pictures, and I can't seem to do it. SO:

First pic: my amazing landlord DUG OUT the entire contents of this (south facing) raised bed, and then filled it with awesome rich garden dirt.

Second pic: half of the plot is quite shaded, but I think my LL is going to trim back the hedges quite a bit. On the shady side I'm putting peas, lettuce, beets, and carrots (carrot along the front where most of the light hits). The end by the garage wall is sunny almost all day and is really well protected from wind and stuff. I'm putting pickling cucumbers, summer squash, sugar pumpkins, and melons there.

Third pic: this spot is right in front of our living room window and gets lots of sun. I think I'll put peppers and eggplants here. You can also see a few of my seedlings. They are literally dying to get outside. I started the tomatoes too early, wah!

Fourth pic: this is our backyard. It's pretty nice. We share it with two other apartments, but they hardly ever use it. The people above us do potted tomatoes and are really nice.

Fifth pic: we even have a nice water feature! I'm going to plant thyme in the brown patches between the stones.

So ya! Yay!! I have many many tomato plants inside that are becoming increasingly leggy and sad-looking. I'll likely re-pot the nicest ones and have to -sniff- toss the others.

Anyway, the rest of my garden is going to kick ass and I'm very excited. Two weeks till I can plant stuff!!! Wheeeeeeeeee!