My Garden

I've almost finished planting on my garden for this year. I have two little garden beds in my side yard, and a vast container garden spread around my patio area. I am still waiting for delivery of my cherry tree, but since I don't expect fruit from it for probably two years, I'm willing to write it off for now.

So, the final tally is this:

1. Large garden bed. 8x4'. I've planted this garden bed with:
* 3 tomato plants: a Brandywine, an Early Girl, and a Sun Gold. The Sun Gold is not thriving yet, but it's still alive, so I'm hoping that the warmer it gets, the better it will be.
* 2 bell pepper plants. I have no idea what color. They were from an "assortment" pack. Yay for surprise!
* 4 bush bean plants
* 2 zucchini
* 1 straightneck squash.

2. Small garden bed. 4x3, roughly. We call this "Wesley's Garden," for my son, who will be 4 this summer. He planted carrots, romaine lettuce, and celery in it. Everything is growing very nicely, and we can probably expect first harvest in around a month.

3. Earthbox. I bought an earthbox planting system, which was a ROYAL PAIN to set up. I honestly think the "make your own" substitutes on the web may be easier to build than this thing was to put together. Oh well. Growing in it, I have 2 Sweet 100s Cherry Tomato plants.

4. Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter. This is a lark. We'll see how it goes. I planted a Mountain Fresh tomato plant in it.

5. Hanging Strawberry Planter. It's a hanging strawberry planter. Strawberries will probably be ripe starting in 2 weeks or so.

6. Blueberry Bush. It's in a big pot, and should last a few years. Wesley loves this bush, and badly wants the blueberries to be ready to eat. Late June/early July is my guess.

7. Red Bell Pepper Pot. One red bell pepper in a 6-gallon pot.

8. Squash Pot. One crookneck squash and one zucchini in a 6-gallon pot.

9. Herb Garden. My traditional herb garden has basil, parsley, oregano, and then sage, thyme, and tarragon which all came back from last year.

10. Herb Bowl. A small container garden with basil, parsley, variegated oregano, thyme, and tarragon. I have it mostly to be pretty and smell nice, but will certainly harvest regularly.

11. Tomato Urns. 2 5-gallon urns, each with a Sweet 100s Cherry Tomato plant.

12. Windowbox Lettuce. 3 heads of salad lettuce.

13. Lettuce Pots. 2 1-gallon pots, each with a head of salad lettuce.

14. Peas. I have 5 sugar snap pea plants along the front of my house, growing toward the twine fence I made them. They're up to around 6-8 inches tall now.

15. Pumpkins. On a whim, I planted these on my front slope, in bad soil. They're alive, but not thriving.

16. Raspberries. My raspberry bushes, along fence at the front of my side yard, are lush and gorgeous. And trying to spread, of course. This winter, I will attack the roots to try and keep them in their place.

17. Asparagus. This year was not terribly heartening for my new asparagus trenches. They need more time, certainly, but each crown produced only 1-2 stalks, which I let go to fern. I may completely avoid harvesting again next year, and wait until 2011 to harvest from them at all.

And that is my complete supply of edible gardening for the year, less the cherry tree they still need to ship to me. Yay for gardening!