Starting the New Year!

More changes to the garden this year!  The pathway is moving to the side of the main garden, so the tomatoes and beans don't have their plots split in two.  I'm also cutting down on what I'm growing to get a better handle on it!

Only two types of tomatoes this year; tomatoes for BLT's and cherry tomatoes for eating!
I couldn't figure out what to do with last year's pepperchini's (they were too hot to eat on their own, and I never got around to trying to preserve them), so they're out this year; instead I'm growing more chilli peppers!  They were a big hit and I didn't have enough to last/go-around, so I'm growing more plants this year.  I should also get more out of them since I know they're not going to turn red on the plant!

The marigolds were nice last year; this year I'm trying to start over 200 of them from seed.  I've got a few different varieties, but so far one has totally failed to sprout and I've replaced it with a different breed.  I also figured out that the other plant I wanted is really a mum; I'll see how that pans out later in the spring.

No gourds again this year, just pumpkins; and they're going to be confined to the pumpkin patch!  They did too much damage to the rest of the garden last year, and I had too many mutant pumpkins that weren't good for carving, so I'm reigning them in this year!

I've had mixed luck with the beans in the past, and no gourds or pumpkins running over them this year should help, but the biggest change I'm making is that I'm sowing them directly into the soil instead of trying to start them indoors first.  It's been warm enough that I've actually already planted 7 of them out there!  I won't be too disappointed if they die from frost or something, but I do have some styrofoam covers that I'm hoping will be good enough to protect them for the rest of spring.  Either way, I haven't invested much in them and they're enough trouble starting as it is I won't lose much if they fail.

Last years mulch turned out great; the grass in it has pretty well decomposed and it's really just a mound of dirt now.  I'm using it to grade the garden a little better and try and flatten out the new grass path.  The grass path I created last year is going away, so I'm tearing it up and moving it to the new spot.  I'm hoping to get a flatter installation, but I've got some ideas on how to fix any issues over the long term.

And I've had the first casualties of the year!  We had a vegetarian mouse in the basement and he bit the heads off of a few of my baby sunflowers!  He's trapped now so he shouldn't do any more harm, but I get the feeling we're going to end up keeping him as a pet!

Things to remember...

• Grow lemon grass, mums and marigolds around and in the pumpkins for insect control
• Mix sand in carrot patch 16"+ deep, plant all at once
• 2 fresh jalapeno peppers + 1 onion + 1tbps paprika + 1tbps cayenne pepper = squirrel repellent = save the pumpkins and sunflowers
• Grow ingredients for squirrel repellent
• Need more watermelons in soil
• Need border and watering system

 

Signs of life!

Signs of life!

Lots of Tomatoes!

Chili Peppers!

Pepperchinis

Pumpkins!

Watermelons!

We've also had some intruders in the garden! Squirrels have been attacking some of the pumpkins!
The mutant got eaten, along with a couple more, but I've repositioned the scarecrows and I'm starting to use a hot pepper spray to keep them away!
We've also got two squash bug infestations that I've been fighting! No damage to the pumpkins, but sucking the water out of the leaves and killing them!
Luckily, the pumpkins are taking over this year so they're growing new leaves faster than they're losing them and we've got new pumpkings starting all the time!

The Garden is Thriving!

We've had some storms, and the sunflowers have lost some limbs, but the garden is thriving! We're seeing more beans and pumpkins, and we're starting to see tomatoes!

Tomatoes!

The Pumpkins are moving in, but the Tomatoes are still going strong!

Someone has been eating the Sunflowers!

These are seeds from last year's Chocolate Sunflowers, cross-polinated with the Mamoths
In the center front you can see a young sunflower from last year's Mamoths

Beans! (a little dirty from the storm)

Carrots!

More Lettuce!

Pepperchinis!

Chili Peppers!

Pumpkins attacking the Tomatoes

Pumpkin Patch!

First Pumpkin is a mutant!

Marigolds that ring the fire pit seating!

The Garden is Growing!

The garden is in full swing! There won't be too much more planting after this (maybe some beans, carrots and lettuce, but that's it). Some plants are still quite young (I got a late start on the tomatoes) but others are already starting to produce! And the pumpkins have made it clear that they plan on devouring the yard this year!

Tomatoes!

The silver cages are 'wild' tomatoes that grew from what was left on the ground last year!

The Oldest

The Youngest (though not the smallest)

Carrots! You can also see two tomatoes that had to get moved (the one in the orange cage is older than the one above, but got no light)

Beans!

Sunflowers!

The first lettuce, all alone...

Pepperchinis!

Chili Peppers!

Pumpkin Patch!

Wild Pumpkins in the Garden!

First Pumpkin! (Wild in the Garden!)