More of the Garden

The frosty nights should be behind us but now the garden is a soggy mess from yesterday’s rain and it’s supposed to rain more today so I doubt I get anything planted til at least Sunday. I have peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and eggplant to get planted. Some of those will go into grow bags and some will go into the raised beds. Once the garlic is out of the ground, I’ll plant okra in that bed, assuming the garlic is pulled by mid-June.

I have several pots of basil, each one with four or five plants. I also have two big pots of basil. I’m hoping I can keep it alive through the summer, then keep at least some of it alive in the greenhouse next winter. Pretty optimistic, huh? We use a lot of basil.

The potatoes are doing great. I covered them with straw and had very little frost damage. All of the potatoes are planted in bags. Not counting the potatoes that I didn’t plant that are growing, I think I have 25 bags with potatoes. I’d be happy to get 5 pounds of potatoes from each bag but it’s possible to get way more. We may have potato overload!

I’m a bit concerned that the garlic is putting all its energy in growing tall. I’ve dug around several plants and am not finding much below the ground.

There’s rhubarb in the back, rhubarb in the front, rhubarb on both sides of the house. Above is what’s in the back and it’s probably getting a bit more shade than it would like. There’s some in the front that needs to be cut but I’m afraid I’ll be tempted to make those Rhubarb Cream Bars and I don’t need to do that!

See the potatoes popping up to the right of the rhubarb? Ughh! That empty area is where I have cucumbers planted and will soon plant luffa. Both can climb up that wire fencing.

Another collection of grow bags. The nine big bags in the back have potatoes. There are 10 bags in the foreground and tomatoes will be planted there. The smallest bags will hold peppers and there are more of those in another spot.

Because I save seeds, I have to keep the different types of tomatoes spaced apart so there’s no cross pollination. I think I have 14 San Marzano plants, 15 or 16 yellow pear (these are my grandpa’s seeds that Chad brought back from Louisiana). Otherwise, there are three or four of several varieties, and 1 of three or four varieties so I’ll have tomatoes all over the back yard.

Once I plant the sweet potatoes, all of my raised beds will be full so all the tomatoes, all the peppers, the eggplant, the squash – it all has to be in bags. I also have Thelma Sanders and Candy Roasters planted in bags.

I’m ready to get everything planted and more ready to start using fresh produce.