Gardening isn't for sissys

The seedlings survived hardening, and now that Memorial Day is here, I planted the tomatoes & other warm weather crops under sunny skies and warm temps. Just before I started, my garden neighbor and friend Laura came by to see how my garden was growing. Not much to report, though the lettuce looks pretty good (and should be ready to pick in early July) and the herbs & onions are coming along just fine. The peas are a little slow to start, I wonder if the warm weather is a good or bad thing? Not sure what I'll plant in July when the lettuce is done. Maybe some more cilantro, or a fall weather crop? Can't say I really eat many fall weather crops...I'll have to think about that some more.




I started by planting the cucumbers and added a set of trellising. I got this idea a few weeks ago, since I didn't think the peas or cucumbers will be able to reach the trellising on the fence on it's own. So I tied a number of strings to a garden stake, buried the stake in front of the veggies, and tied the other string ends to the vertical trellising on the fence. Now the climbing vines can grab the new trellising that runs right over them. The idea is that they will continue to grow along the lower trellising and eventually reach the vertical strings. I'm pretty sure this will work, and I can even slide the knots up as the vines grow taller - a feat of creative engineering in the mid-day sun!



I continued the gardening madness by planting all the tomatoes & peppers. I saw a bunch of worms as I dug, always a good sign. Not too many weeds to contend with, which also good...but it's only May. I plan to buy another cherry tomato plant, as well as some basil. Later in the day, my brother gave me some yellow tomatoes he couldn't fit in his garden (which were actually given to him by our dad). So it looks like I'll have plenty of tomatoes varieties year!



It was so warm & dry I must have watered the garden 3 times before leaving. I saw one of my other neighbors planting some more and watering her onions and other leaf-type crops. I visited Laura as she was planting, but was so hungry and tired I didn't stay too long...I had another weekend cookout to get ready for!



(Notice a blurry spot on the photos? That's what's leftover on the inside of the lens from dropping my camera in the water last weekend.)

Addition: I also planted a Golden Jubilee tomato plant from my dad (yellow, medium sized), as well 2 Italian basil plants, and one African Basil plant (new to me!). I also planted some stuff on the porch, including another Golden Jubilee, Italian Basil, and the 3 nasturtiums.

Seedling Shopping

Just before Laura and I went on a pilgrimage to Mahoney's to buy warm weather crops for our gardens, I made a quick visit to Pemberton in Cambridge to pick up my infamous Green Salsa Hot Peppers and herbs. Although the green salsa peppers were in great shape, I didn't like the look of the Tarragon or any other herbs they had, and they didn't have any sun golds for sale. Satisfied with my single purchase, I returned home and soon got picked up by Laura.

When we got there, we b-lined it straight to the vegetable section since we only had one hour before they closed. We instantly got caught up in the many tomato heirloom varieties. The descriptions & packaging get more and more standardized as these become popular (no more popsicle sticks with hand-written names on them).

Tomatoes were my main priority for being at Mahoney's, here's what I got:
- 2 Brandywines (heirloom)
- 1 Yellow Brandywine
- 1 Old German (heirloom)
- 1 Oregon Spring (early producer)
- Sun Sugar (cherry tomatoes)

I also bought:
- 1 Nasturtium (in a 3 pack...a new thing in the seedling world)
- 1 Cucumber (also a 3 pack)
- 5 wooden tomato stakes

Other things I plan to buy:
- 1 Basil (for porch)
- 1 Thai Basil
- 1 Tarragon (for porch)
- Sun Gold cherry tomatoes (heirlooms at Pemberton)
- Mint (maybe?)

The herbs I was planning on buying, both Basil and Tarragon, we're looking pretty rough, as were the Taxi tomatoes. So instead of buying those, I decided a revisit to Pemberton next week would be best. And although Laura and I talked about splitting some 6-packs of veggies, we ended up choosing own stuff to grown, and we didn't really buy many 6-packs anyways. The two guys in Mahoney's were cracking me up, calling out maturity dates to one another for approval, reading odd bits from the bottom of pots, and at the register, comparing the cheap price of gardening to that of the high price of sit down therapy (gardening being therapy for some of us:)

At home, I placed the seedlings out on the porch for a week of sun and hardening (And I don't know who this "Chef Jeff" character is, but I'm hoping he makes some good seedlings 'cause I bought 3 of those brand.)


Seedings on the porch

May showers...

There's been just enough rain in May to keep me from visiting the garden. But after two days of sunny, dry conditions, I went to take a peek and do a little watering before a doctor visit. Everything seemed to be doing well, and the peas are slowly making there way up towards the string. The lettuce is looking heartier, yet the onion stalks seem a little thin. The hay is keeping things moist below for the tomatoes I hope to plant next week. The dill and cilantro are growing together quite well in my experimental plot. We'll see what happens as they fight it out in the coming weeks for space & light.


Romaine lettuce


Red Onions


Cilantro & Dill


Peas


Garden view


Neighboring garden