My Gourds are Sprouting!

I planted pumpkins, squash, zucchini, and sunflowers a week and a half ago and they are coming up great. That is zucchini in the top image then squash, pumpkin, and a sunflower. I love growing these because they grow quickly and produce a lot. Since our yard is mostly dirt, the pumpkins spread out and make it look lush while protecting the soil and encouraging the grass to grow. The zucchini, courtesy of my cousin Stephanie, are sprouting even bigger than the pumpkins. I have never grown them before, but I'm really looking forward to it. The sunflowers I planted have a fighting chance this year, because the dogs have more room in the yard and don't feel the need to trample everything I plant outside of the garden bed. I can't believe it's still April and almost the whole garden is planted. I am liking this longer growing season.

Tomatoes and Peppers

Lettuce

Spinach

Beets

Peas

Huge Weekend of Planting

Had a perfect weekend for planting last frost stuff. It rained Friday night leaving the ground softened, and Saturday was overcast. I managed to make a raised strawberry bed and plant it, make hills and plant pumpkins and cantaloupe, and make and plant a raised squash/zucchini bed. I also planted lima beans, and a bunch of hollyhocks and sunflowers have found their homes around the yard.

The peas are doing really great and are starting to wrap their tendrils around sticks I put up for a makeshift trellis. I am going to try to let one cantaloupe plant climb up the fence and put pantyhose hammocks under the fruit for support. It's something I read about and I would be tickled if it worked; we'll see.

Today I took on the challenge of transplanting the tomato and tomatillo plants. I just figured out that when tomato seedlings get their second leaves, you should transplant them into bigger containers. The fine little hairs that grow along the stem will turn into roots when you bury them up to their first leaves. The problem here is that I have over a hundred tomato seedlings growing and there is no way I'm going to be able to transplant them all. I started with the biggest and best, and I'll probably end up giving some away.

All that's left to put out in the garden is tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, and catnip. They all need a little more time to grow. They also need at least another week to get hardened off to the outdoors.

One Week 'Til LFD!

Last weekend Joseph and I made two raised beds and planted carrots and beets, and while watering this morning I saw a brave carrot that has already popped up. Today I am going to dig up the area for tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, and squash. The two small areas of grass I planted is starting to fill in nicely, the pea plants are getting big, and everyday I find new surprises popping up around the yard.
It feels like we have done so much planting already; watering takes almost an hour. However, the bulk of the planting isn't until after last frost date, so we are definitely going to need a sprinkler. My tomato and pepper plants that were started inside are getting their second leaves, but I don't think they will be ready for transplant next weekend. Next weekend I can plant strawberries, hollyhocks, squash, pumpkins, cantaloupe, sunflowers, and a bunch of herbs. It will be a challenge to remember where everything is.
The owner of the house we live in already had lots of things growing, so it has been fun discovering it all. Tulips and daffodils and trees are all flowering, plus there are some nice succulents and ground cover growing in. I planted some honeysuckle, which seems to be taking the transplant well, and lettuce and spinach should be ready to eat in a few weeks. My favorite garden crop is pumpkins and I am tempted to put them in the ground today, but there is a lot of other stuff to do and I am trying to do it all by the book this year.