Happy Happy Vegetables in the Garden

I will admit that it has been too long since my last post.  However, my family comes before my updates and this is a busy time of the year for us so the blog was on the back burner.  But no worries I have exciting updates to share!

Beautiful Heirloom Lettuce

Its already time for me to start harvesting the lettuce.  This is the first year that we have tried lettuce and we have been amazed at how healthy and well it has grown.  I ordered the "Cutting Mixture" from Heirloom Solutions which contains 12 different varieties of lettuce and we have been very pleased with the quality of seed! 

2014 Garden (BED #1 on left - BED #4 on right)

Three out of four raised beds are completely planted and we just have BED #3 left to plant (with Zucchini, Bush Beans, Peppers & Cucumbers).  Everything is growing well and flourishing under the row covers.  

2014 ADDITION OF THE CHILDREN'S GARDEN:

Digging Dirt Bed

We also added (2) small additional raised beds (2x4 and 2x2) this year in the center of the garden!  They are directly behind the gate.  We decided we wanted our kids to have their own place to plant and play in the garden.  This helps them to feel included in process and will also keep them busy while we are taking care of the beds throughout the growing season.

New Children's Raised Beds

 Next year the larger of the 2 beds will be for "little mans" plants!  (This year it has become an herb bed he helps water). 

The smaller bed will be a digging dirt bed with no plants just dirt to play with!  Updates to come on the instructions to build your own small beds. 

BED #2 (Zucchini, Lettuce, Onions, Tomatoes, Okra)

 On May 4th the majority of BED #2 was planted.  I covered this bed with a winter row cover just in case a frost or cold night comes through.  The plants are still small right now but they will grow quickly. The only thing left to plant in this bed are the Cucumbers & Nasturtiums!

Tomato plants & Okra plants in back

Bush Zucchini starting to grow!

The Asparagus in BED #1 are growing quickly! We decided to wait until next year to harvest them, which will be year #3 for the plants.  Right now the summer row cover is doing a good job of keeping any pests off the plants. So far I haven't seen any Asparagus Beetles!

BED #1 (Asparagus, Parsley & Summer Squash)

I was amazed at how healthy our transplants were this year that we started indoors from seed. We discovered that moving everything upstairs made a big difference from growing plants in the cooler basement last year.   We had a total of 20 baby tomato plants!  I planted 8 in a raised bed and then 5 in pots on the deck. I gave the other 7 away to friends!

Tomatoes on deck

Tomatoes, Petunias & a Gerbera Daisy

This week & next I will be planting: Cucumbers, Nasturtiums, Marigolds, Peppers (if @ night it is at least 60 degrees consistently), Bush Beans, Cilantro, Dill, and the rest of the Zucchini.  Then planting is done for the spring!