It's May 5th and this is my first garden update for the whole year. This year is going to be a rebuilding year and my garden will be smaller than previous years. Moving to a new house and having to get a garden going on top of all my other projects has been a bit overwhelming.
I will try and give the reader's digest version on what I have been doing since January. I said I wasn't going to start plants from seeds this year because of time. Well, that went out the window and I started tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants from seed. I decided to set my beds up in "L" configurations to conserve space. I filled the six beds with a garden soil mix from a sand and gravel yard. I didn't take time to amend the soil, I just went with their mix so I hope it works. After filling the beds, I have been planting for the past three weeks. I hope to post regular garden updates now that I am off and running.
Here is an overall picture of the new garden, you can see the three "L" shapes I created. You can the layout of these same beds at my old house here. I kind of like this new configuration, it saves space and I still have plenty of room to reach into beds.
Bed Number 1 - Nothing but tomatoes here. I have a total of 12 tomatoes this year which is double the amount I planted last year. I have the same combination of Better Boys, Best Boys, and Roma tomatoes. I have the bed all covered in plastic and caged up. This should be a tomato forest in a few month months.
Bed Number 2 - Eight yellow squash plants in the background, and four zucchini in the foreground. I plan to harvest these hard until the borers get them in a few months and then plant something else in July, corn maybe.
Bed Number 3 - This bed contains peppers, eggplants, and lettuce. I have planted 4 jalapenos, 3 Hungarian wax peppers, 2 habanero peppers, 2 yellow bell peppers. They haven't sprouted yet, but I have planted lettuce and romaine as well. I still have two slots in the top right corner that need to be planted with something. Ideas anyone?
Close up of tomato plant. They have started to take off and the stems are getting thick.
Close up of squash plant, something eating the leaves.
13 comments:
It's looking really nice! I like the L-shaped beds, and that sure is a lot of yellow squash and zucchini, LOL! Good luck with your new garden and wishing you happiness in your new home.
You are off to a great start! I like the "L" shaped beds. It should be easy to reach in to tend to the plants and harvest.
I like the L shaped boxes. I may have to try that configuration. Maybe then I could get more gardening space from my plot of land.
Very nice! We also have 4 L-shape beds and I find it very easy to reach into them and it creates nice visual layout. Love how you used black plastic to keep weeds out and just made holes for plants - I might do this on mine and see if it works.
Granny oh no you didn't Mrs. "I planted over 36 peppers". Lol it is going to be a lot of squash but I always seem to have issues with yellow squash so I plant extra.
Thanks for the well wishes, that is nice of you. It is starting to feel like home.
Thanks Rachel I honestly don't know why it took me so long to think of it sooner. I spent weeks trying to figure out how to get all my beds from old house to fit in this new area. Then I was like duh.
Thanks Cristy and it was so easy to do. All they are is one 4x8 bed and one 4x4 bed. I didnt screw the beds together or anything they are just butted up to each other.
You could take an additional 4x4 bed and make a "T" bed or an "S" bed depending on where you added it. These would also be easy to reach in to.
Jenny, for raised beds that contain single plants this is the only way to do it in my opinion. The cost of the plastic is nothing compared to the time saved not having to worry about weeds. If your beds are four feet wide is ideal because that is the size the rolls are.
Things like corn or beans or peas this obviously would be a hassle because of the amount of holes but for everything else this is how I do it.
Uh, Kris...I think that number is up to 51 now, LOL! What on earth was I thinking?
Granny, it's OK because I would have done the same thing. When we spend time starting things from seed, it is impossible not to plant them all if you have room in the garden.
I like to grow what I like to eat and my theory is the more the better, hence my 8 squash plants.
I hope you have a bumper crop of peppers.
It's looking really good. I understand how overwhelming it all can be. There is always so much to do, in the garden and around the yard and house! In the spring, everything seems to get so neglected when getting the garden going! Looking forward to your future harvests.
Shawn Ann - Thanks, and there is so much to do. I love our new house, but I had everything down to a system at my old house after living there 12 years. It was a smaller house, a smaller yard and you can get into a routine.
I now have to learn a new routine and it will just take some time. Thanks.
I love this blog Kris! And I am in East Texas!
If I had a book for you to review, what would be the best way to contact you? I would love to send you a free copy and let you look at it and review it if you want...no obligation.
Sorry to sorta spam up your comments. You have great stuff here. Peace!
Trey
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