So Begins Another Year in the Garden

 I love this time of year. I love getting my hands dirty (and everything else), planting and tending to the garden. And later enjoying the bounty that nature has to offer. 

I tried my hand at seed starting this year. And it started off great! All the seedlings were sprouting. Then I left for four days with my sister and left husband in charge of watering. Well, I had to start again. I got them going - they were beautiful. Leggy, but beautiful! 

Then, when it was hardening off time, I dropped them. And so I began again. But in my impatience, I rushed them. Needless to say, I bought most of my new plants. I will be spending summer starting seedlings for practice and taking notes of what I do right and what I did wrong. But I digress. 

SO - First on the list is to prep the beds. I used a pitch fork to loosen all the soil, then a hard rake to remove the big debris. Old, decaying plant matter is good for the soil. 

After the dirt was all loosened and cleared, I sprinkled in a couple of handfuls of vegetable fertilizer pellets. Using the heavy rake, I raked it into the soil to evenly spread it. 

I decided to put soaker hoses in under the top layer of soil, so this was the time to lay it. I wrapped it around so it all fit, the hooked it to the hose and let it run for a bit. I wanted to make sure it was where I needed it, and I wanted to dampen the soil and release the fertilizer. 

I have a short hose hooked up to my rain barrel so I can use rain water with the soaker hose. 

Once the soil was damp and the hoses were down in both beds, I added three and half (1.5 CF) bags of planting mix to each bed. That got raked out and spread evenly. Now it's ready for plants. 

I put up a trellis for the peas made of old bamboo sticks and chicken wire. The bamboo branch trellis is for the asparagus beans and the curly maple is for the pumpkin on a stick and blue lake pole beans (but mostly because it looks cool).

Then I placed the tomato cages where I'll put the tomatoes. 

Before anything went in, I dampened the top of the soil. I planted my seedlings that survived and direct sowed some peas, beans and radishes. Then I made the list of what I still needed - and I went shoppin'!

When selecting my tomatoes I tried to keep two things in mind - what I would use them for, and whether they are determinate or indeterminate. 

Determinate tomatoes will give one crop. They produce all their fruit at the same time, then die off, usually mid to late summer. Let them go. They've done their job. This group of tomatoes are also smaller, bushing plants. Once they start blossoming on the tips, they are finished growing, They won't get any bigger. 

On the counter side, determinate tomatoes will continue to grow and produce until the first frost. They grow tall and fast! Sometimes they grow over 10 feet high! You need to make sure you have supports for that much growth. 

I wanted tomatoes for slicing and salads, and some smaller ones for snacking on. I chose a determinate and indeterminate for each of them. One of my favorites is the current tomato - little pea sized gems of sweetness!! Great on salad or charcuterie boards!

We also love peppers!! There are several jalapeño and several poblano. These are peppers we use a lot. I also added the tiny firecracker piquinos and a cherry bomb plant. 

Of course there are three pickling cucumber plants. I make them every year. 

I brought home all the plants and got them in the ground. I love to play in the dirt!

I learned a very important step in planting tomatoes. You should strip the leave about half way up the stem and plant them that deep - so only the top half sticks out. Roots will develop where the leaves were and the tomato will be stronger and healthier. I'm wondering if this is why my tomatoes always looked to weak. We'll see. 

The peas and radishes are sprouting and the beans are popping up too.

I planted a few new herbs (I forgot a new sage plant!! Guess what's going in this week). The basil and cilantro are both direct seeded so we wait for those. 

And the berries are doing fantastic. I planted a bare root white strawberry but it never came up. I'll try that one again next year, But the strawberry plants I've had for a few year are getting covered with blossoms! 

The raspberry bush is loaded and the early blues are already starting to set fruit. 

I think it's going to be a tasty summer this year! I'll keep you update. 

Do you garden? What are you planting? How is it going? I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Gardening!