This is the view from the patio. Those two containers in front were an attempt at some extra tomatoes. I've had great luck with tomatoes in containers before but this time I messed it up. I used plain soil in there so it's all compacted now, and the container is too small. The plants are still the same size as this picture but at least they are sprouting some tomatoes now. Oh, and on the left side of the table is another tomato plant. Also in a small containter but that one is a mix of dirt and compost so it's growing much better (no tomatoes yet though).In the back is the main square foot garden and to the left, the square foot garden box for the carrots we tried to grow last year. Carrots never work for me.
A close up shot. Those are trellises for the cukes and beans. The beans look like they're not going to give us anything. I think I started them too late. These cukes don't have any fruit yet, but they do have flowers.
To the left is tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes. Go ahead and guess what my favorite veggie is ;-)
This small box was the carrot attempt last year. Over the winter I put some compost in this one and the other one. This one ended up sprouting a very robust and happy cucumber and a tomato plant that is also doing really well. In the front on the left is some parsley that is wilting.
That's a little ceramic mushroom I made with my friend Christine on a mom's day out a year ago (more?). Those are crazy big cucumber leaves over it. I thought that plant was a pumpkin for awhile!
One more view of the garden with the trellises. The one on the right Robert made last year copying one I saw online. The ones on the left he made this year. A lot easier to make, take up less space and just as effective.
The garden does get full sun but only for about 4 hours a day (I think? I need to time it). Other than cutting down some trees (joking!) we're not getting more where it is now. If I put a garden in the middle of the yard it might get more but then, well, it will be in the middle of the yard. It's pretty lush looking right now, just that the beans aren't producing, melons never grow, carrots fail miserably and peppers are a total crap shoot.
But tomatoes and cucumbers I can do :-) Well, except for last year when the cukes came out really, REALLY bitter for no apparent reason. But this year I'm happy so far.
1 comment:
your garden looks lovely! Wanted to comment on growing carrots. Pat, the local gardening guru, wrote this in one of her recent group emails: "Incidentally, I don't recommend trying root crops, including carrots, until your third year, and then only if you have dug in LOTS of organic matter. It's that organic matter that makes things grow, introduced via compost or mulch."
I took note of this 'cause this is our first time growing carrots, and I think our 3rd maybe 2nd year gardening in the spot we've got the carrots. We didn't do anything special before we sowed; maybe that is why they're just okay. I think I told you how Bridget enjoyed harvesting and washing carrots here the other day -- well, I finally tasted one for the first time (only the rabbit had tasted them prior) -- and they are bitter! Still, very fun to grow and super satisfying to harvest. Maybe they just weren't done growing yet. Also, wonderful to grow when you have a bunny. I'm going to try to throw some more carrot seeds in the ground before we go plus zucchini.
Fun! Fun!
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