An update at last 5.17.15

It's been a while since I have had a chance to check-in here. However, I am happy to report that my garden is well on its way. Today I transplanted the beans (Pole Runner Scarlet Emperor), romaine lettuce (Romaine Paris Island), cosmos (sensation blend), and carnations (chaubad blend) to the garden. I also started some cucumbers indoors (about 20 plants). The cuke seeds are from last year so we will have to see what the germination rate turns out to be. The alpine strawberries are also doing well and are still inside the house awaiting transplant.

FREE Poppy Seeds for Your Garden

Its amazing to see the number of free give aways going on right now. Here is another one: Free Poppy Seeds for your Garden. 

FREE Butterfly Garden Starter Kit

Act fast! The National Wildlife Federation is offering a free butterfly garden pack (seeds) for those who take the pledge and upload a photo of themselves making the ASL butterfly sign.

How to pledge

Gardening Pre-Game

In desperately looking for some "gardening" to do, I found myself reading an article featuring information on how to pre-plan for the gardening season by taking care of the soil. While I don't think I will be able to find the ground here for weeks still; here is what I learned:

Dreaming of Warmer Days

Back in October, I was lucky enough to frequent Maui for a few days of sand and sun. What I did not expect was to follow a thin windy stone pathway to find a gardening adventure.  It turned out that the hotel we were staying at had its own organic garden that was used to supply the hotel/restaurants with fruit, spices, and veges. In October, I saw limes, bananas, pomegranates and much more. I'm sorry to say that the photos don't do it justice as we were somewhat quick to leave due to the mosquito population.

There's Time ..... to Grow!

Now that we are in August, some of you (like me) are probably wondering where your summer has gone as you realize that the time for gardening left is limited. But, there is good news! There is still enough time to get lots more out of your garden this year.

To name a few -
 •Beets
 •Carrot
 •Lettuce
 •Rutabaga
 •Swiss chard
 •Broccoli
 •Brussels sprouts
 •Cabbage
 •Collards
 •English peas
 •Kale
 •Kohlrabi
 •Mustard greens
 •Radish
 •Spinach
 •Turnip

Realizing that I neglected my garden for most of July, I have turned to quick growing vege's that will give me a harvest before it gets too cold. There are a number of options but below I have noted a couple of great "fast growing" varieties of fall garden veges.

Little Finger Carrots (57 days)

Pea Snow Oregon Sugar Pod II Seeds (60 days)

Broccoli Di Cicco (48 days)

Radish Cherry Belle  (24 days)

Kale Red Winter Organic ( 50 days)

Bloom Day 4.20.14

Huzzah! This is the first flower I've seen this year. I'm not quite sure when this was planted, but I'm guessing it's been at least 2 months. This flower is an amaryllis but I'm not sure what variety. I'm also excited to go back to the garden and am just hoping that the daffodils are  now blooming.

Garden Update 6/27/12

Lots of green tomatos. Some beans. The strawberries are turning red and critters are eating them up before we have a chance to harvest

Gone ... the Peas are Gone

Imagine my disappointment when I saw that all the leaves on my pea plants were gone. After figuring out that this was not the work of weather or disease .. I found the true culprits ... RABBITS!!I realized this as I saw the baby bunnies admiring the lettuce plants two lots over.

My next step (of course) is to remedy the situation by planting more pea plants and figuring out a way to protect them. Fencing and netting is always an option but I was considering planting chives all over the place instead. Has anyone had any luck with keeping rabbits away?

The Peas - just stem no leaves

Strawberry Plants in Bloom

A few cauliflower plants made it through the weeds

Blueberry bush full of unripe fruit