Patience

Gardening is teaching me patience....I have been waiting and waiting on the seeds to grow & finally vegetation is emerging.

Every year, something changes. So far, this year, it has been the weather. The weather has been cool and rainy. Im enjoying the cool weather, however, the warm weather crops are not so happy. It has been a slow growing season so far, but still excited to see what is ahead.

So many things have been going on in the garden:

1. water is now piped to the garden
2. we made a cucumber trellis out of pvc pipe
3. planted kale, onions, shallots
4. harvested some kale already
5. harvested 4 beets
6. pulled up the broccoli (5.22.13)
7. saw emerging cauliflower heads for the first time (5.22.13)
8. planted beans, sunflowers, more marigolds, morning glories, corn, watermelon, canteloupe, 
    tomatoes, parsley, borage, zinnas, asters, bachelors button, snapdragons, lavender, celosia and             salvia
9. transplanted the seedlings I started in the milk jug greenhouses (zinnas, aster, cilantro, and
    tomatoes)

Now for the exciting visuals

its so nice to have water in the garden. no more messy hoses!

may 8      the beets are coming along...they are now doubled in size

supplies for trellis

Here's part of the trellis...can you believe my 3 year old took this picture of me?

Below is a better view of the trellis

kale, shallots and onions

kale inter-planted with marigolds : marigolds right below kale

4 beets harvested on may 22

cauliflower is really growing....i think i may have planted them too close...oops!

its been raining, so i havent been able to take a picture of how the cauliflower looks right now. Its doubled in size from this picture 2 weeks ago

planting corn.....non-GMO corn (Genetically Modified Organism) . Get Facts Here

 

pole beans emerging from the ground

 

 

pole beans are fast growing

decided to grow the pole beans along the fence instead of using a bed and trying to making supports...the fence is perfect for beans to climb

 

snap peas are coming along.  I had to re-plant them a couple of weeks ago. These seem to be doing much better.

            Cucumbers. I didnt plant them this close....the rain must have washed the seeds together. Had to do some thinning

Zinna Transplants

teaching

Bolting Broccoli

Say what? Yes...the broccoli bolted. It means that it started turning to flower because the temperatures are too warm.

It is rather strange because we have had mostly cool weather with some hot days. But it was still very, very delicious! It was a super easy crop too. I had no issues with bugs, which is always good! I usually go out to the garden twice a day to make sure the plants are well watered and I dont see any evidence of pests.  Each day while I made my rounds, I was always so excited to see how it grew so quickly. Its funny because after a nice soaking rain, the next day, I'd always see a huge growth spurt.

I will try broccoli as a fall crop and see if that helps keep the head intact and together....as it loves cool weather.

I have no cauliflower yet....Im just seeing huge leaves. Im researching this further.

And on Tuesday evening, we had our first Garden to Table dinner. I used the broccoli in a pasta primavera. I  tend to improvise and use a combination of recipes to make meals. If you want to read more about the meal. You can see it here. 

Meanwhile, here are some photographs:
 

 april 17...the head is fully intact

april 23 cauliflower

april 23

april 23

april 26     turning to flower

planted on march 12 and harvested april 30

april 30 

april 30 

her hands are occupied

even lilly gets to eat the broccoli