My garden is growing!

I am happy to start seeing some substantial growth in the garden. I am an extremely impatient person and add to that a worry-wart. When a seed hasn't germinated within a given amount of time, it sets off this whirlwind of worry in me. "What should I have done differently?" "What else could I have done?"

I have been blessed that gardening and mothering has built a lot of character in me. These two things are quite similar when you think about it. You have to plant the seeds you wish to cultivate. You have to be patient and easily adaptable because nature will improvise.

Anyway, I just wanted to share some updated pictures of the garden.


Lettuce


Lettuce


Cucumber Seedlings


Albion Strawberry


Zinnia


Corne de Belier Snow Pea


Dakota Black Popcorn



Purple Podded Pole Beans


Various Potatoes


Jacob's Cattle Bush Beans


Country Gentleman Sweet Corn

A little green to lift your spirits...

Hmmm... Where do I begin?
I have been busy with all sorts of things the past few weeks. I have planted our bare root strawberry plants and transplanted around 80 lettuce seedlings all into one bed. The strawberry plants were a sight to see! They went from being basically roots and a crown (minimal green/no leaves) to being beautiful little strawberry plants. The lettuce has also really taken off since I put it outside. I was a bit of a rebel and didn't harden them off first. I did take care to build a 'covered wagon' out of PVC and 4 mil plastic to protect them from direct sunlight and wind the first few days. It worked perfectly! I did make the mistake of lightly mulching with wheat straw around the strawberries. I now have wheatgrass popping up everywhere that I have to pull. It makes me sad to pull a plant up-even a weed. :(
I also planted our potatoes (I like to call them taters) in the deepest raised bed. This is my first time planting any taters and so far I am loving them. We let them 'chit' before we planted them to give them a good jump-start. I am SO excited to say that they are sprouting up out of the soil. They look so cute! I can't wait to see them get bigger!






In case you are wondering, I will share with you where I bought these seeds, plants and seed taters.

Organic Albion Bare-Root Strawberry Plants, Certified Organic Seed Potatoes (Caribe, Sangre, Yellow Finn, Yukon Gold & Red Gold), & Lettuce Seeds (Jericho Romaine & Tom Thumb)
~Purchased online from
http://www.naturalgardening.com
I highly recommend this family operation. They were very patient and thorough with me with my many questions.

Heirloom Lettuce Seeds ( Parris Island, Black-Seeded Simpson & Little Gem)
~Purchased from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (recommended by GardenGirl)
http://www.rareseeds.com
A gem of a company that strives to protect the true open-pollinated varieties of almost everything!