It's Growing!!!

It's been a little while since my last post and since then, my fruits and veggies have really taken off. The weather here in the Baltimore region has warmed considerably with most days being in the 70s. Rain has also been fairly consistent but not overwhelming. I have many updates to provide and thought I would divide all of the updates into sections corresponding to the plant type and garden. As you know, I am growing two gardens in two different locations. The first location is in my backyard and the other location is at a community garden located 1 mile away.

Community Garden:
On Friday (the 13th...), my dad and I roto-tilled my community garden plot and planted veggies. We planted various varieties of tomatoes, squash and zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, and watermelon. The ground was pretty hard and compacted so we made several passes with the tiller to loosen the soil. I also incorporated some compost and garden tone fertilizer before planting. Here are some pictures...



Backyard Garden:
In my backyard, I have an established 8ft by 6ft raised bed, some potted herbs, and some blackberry bushes. Earlier in the spring I planted various salad greens such as lettuce and spinach, as well as some radishes. The radishes and spinach are finished, however the lettuce is still in the garden and thriving. I have cut some leaves here and there for sandwiches and salads, but most of it is still in the garden.



In addition to the lettuce, I also have some green beans and edamame (soy beans) growing in the garden. The lettuce and beans were both grown directly from seeds planted in the garden. In the past, I have always been successful with green beans so I have decided to grow them again. They seem to be more tolerant to partial shade conditions then tomatoes, for example.



This year I took a stab at starting herbs from seed indoors. In the past, we have always bought starter plants and then grown them in containers on our front porch. I bought an herb planter kit from Burpee which came with a small planter, soil, and various herb seeds (chives, flat leaf parsley, basil, and oregano). I setup the planter in my dining room window and planted the seeds back in February. Around the same time I also started some seeds in pots in my basement which I planned on transplanting into the garden or into pots when they were ready. To make a long story short, I think my basement was too cold because most of the seeds germinated very slowly and overall were very small and puny. The herb planter in the window faired a little better but the herbs were still pretty small and did not have great color. When the weather warmed up, I moved everything outdoors. Since then, most of the plants have done well, with some being lost to birds and squirrels. In all, I ended up with 1 thyme plant (seeds bought separately), 3 basils, and 3 parsleys. Also, the herbs in the planter are doing very well now, especially after getting a small dose of liquid fertilizer.