More roses!

On Friday my two new bare root David Austin roses arrived! I didn't waste time; yesterday morning I did the recommended root ball immersion in buckets of water, and in the late afternoon I planted them on either side of the Eustacia Vye. That particular bed is finished now (aside from some possible future companion plants for the roses). It's on the south side of the screened porch, and the three rose varieties are Benjamin Britten, Eustacia Vye, and Desdemona. Considering that last year my Eustacia bloomed less than two months from planting out, and then bloomed again in the summer, I have high hopes of seeing all three flowers this year.

Earth Day in the garden

Yesterday after work my loving husband helped me set up 7 foot t-posts in the raised garden bed. They will serve as the support for the Florida Weave trellis I plan to build. Now that they're hammered into the ground, they're only about 5 and a half feet tall, which should be plenty of height for tomato support. I'm excited to try the Florida Weave method. The t-posts weren't cheap, but I should be able to use them for years and years.

Today I planted most of my garden!

Tomatoes: Two each of Eva Purple Ball, Hillbilly Potato Leaf, Nebraska Wedding, Rosso Sicilian, and Berkeley Tie Dye. Two cherry tomato plants (Mexico Midget and Ingleheart Yellow Cherry) are planted elsewhere (the flower bed in front of the porch). 

Although you can't see it in this picture, there's space on this end of the bed for my cucumbers. I plan to build a trellis for them with the two end t-posts and some smaller bamboo stakes. Another thing you can't see in these photos: marigolds are sprouting down the center of the bed and between the tomato plants. I planted those seeds a couple of weeks ago to get them a small head start. Year before last, when I used marigolds as a living mulch, I got the most tomato production I'd ever seen! I don't know if the scent kept bad insects away, or if the flowers attracted pollinators. Maybe both. It was a good year.

On this end you can see the baby lettuce and the radishes growing. Only about 6 or 7 carrots have sprouted, over on the right side. They're not very noticeable. (I don't have much luck with carrots, for some reason). The radishes will come up and out soon, but the lettuce needs to grow a bit more before I start picking it. Eventually, that end will be where the pepper plants go.

This last picture is of my potted up peppers (Datil hot peppers, Zapotec Jalapenos, and Sheepnose Pimentos) and the leftover tomato plants. As soon as I see if the tomatoes I planted in the bed take off, I'll be giving away the extras to gardening friends. The peppers will be ready to start planting out in a couple more weeks.

After working in the garden for a couple of hours, I got a little tiny bit of sunburn on my arms. I came inside, took a shower, ate lunch, and had the most delicious two hour nap. It rained while I was asleep--perfect for my newly planted garden!

Happy Earth Day!

Starting a garden

I'm so excited! Yesterday I planted my first little garden at this house. It doesn't look like much at the moment, but I have high hopes.

I prepared the bed around the back porch on Friday by hoeing and digging out all of the grass and weeds. I texted my husband halfway through that task and said, "Hoeing is HARD WORK" to which he replied, "So I've heard.......!" Hahaha. All joking aside, though, it really was hard work for someone like me who's unaccustomed to such labor and out of shape to boot. I have three blisters on my hands to prove it. 

That afternoon, once I'd showered and cleaned up, I went out to Lowe's and bought seedlings. Their selection was somewhat small, but I got five indeterminate tomato plants, all heirlooms, and three determinates, all hybrids. The indeterminates:  Mr. Stripey, German Queen, San Marzano, Red Beefsteak, and Pink Brandywine. The determinates: two Celebrity seedlings and one Bonnie's Centennial. 

In addition to the tomatoes, I picked up a 6 pack of small jalapeno plants, and two little containers with 5 cucumber seedlings in them. I separated the cucumbers so I'll eventually have five separate plants. They have to grow some before I plant them, since they barely have true leaves at this point. I also bought some marigold plants and two little pots of Italian flat leaf parsley which you can see in the foreground of the photo. I also picked up some extra marigold and nasturtium seeds to sow to fill out the empty spaces some. I want the beds to be pretty as well as productive!

I did all the work of actually planting yesterday morning. All of that bending, kneeling, digging, and crawling around has left me sore today (especially in the legs). It seems to have been a really good workout! Hopefully I'll strengthen up some this summer as I work to maintain everything.

My garden bed extends around the corner of the porch into an L shape. Five of the jalapenos are planted around the corner, and further along, I set out the banana plants that overwintered on the back porch in pots.

The pomegranate tree (the lower half of it) is visible at the end of the bed, by the windows. Maybe this year we'll get a few pomegranates. I dare not hope for bananas, but that would be nice! My fig tree is doing well, too, but it will probably be another year or two before we get any figs. Patience is a big part of gardening.

 I hope my garden can grow and expand in the coming years, and one of these days I'm going to build nice raised beds out in the yard. Another ongoing homeowner process, but one that I think I'll enjoy more than most!