Compost Update

The compost I started last fall has still not finished breaking down completely. I'm sure it's because I neglected it. I'm not sure what to do with it now. Do I leave it alone or add new stuff to it?

In the meantime, I started a new pile with grass clippings and kitchen scraps. And I am adding equal amounts of shredded leaves to it. It is heating up nicely. I collected leaves last fall, shredded them and bagged them. I keep them under my deck and grab a bag after mowing the yard.

Not sure what I will do with all this compost though, lol.

Watermelon

I've been looking for specifics on growing watermelon in raised beds, but haven't really found the information I am looking for. So I just have to wing it.

Today I planted 2 sugar baby watermelon in my last 4'x4' box. I don't think I will be trellising them so they will just have to spill out onto the yard. I hope I will still be able to mow around them. I guess I can just pick up the vines to mow under them.

I will wait a few weeks and plant 2 pie pumpkins in the other half of the bed. I really have no idea of the spacing required, so it's trial and error this year.

UPDATE: 5.24.14
Here are my little watermelon sprouts. You can't see the one too well, but it's there.

UPDATE: 27 JUN 2014
Today I noticed a little tiny watermelon growing! It's so cute.

I Took the Plunge and an Update

I couldn't wait another day. I have had my tomato and pepper  plants in their little pots long enough. I transplanted them today. I probably should have done it earlier in the morning, it was kinda hot and sunny. And they are still kinda wilted looking.

I had to do the trench method on the tomatoes because they were so tall and somewhat leggy. I got 3 of them planted just fine, then on the 4th...snap! I broke the stem. It didn't break completely in half. I hope it makes it, but I'm not holding my breath. I will have to replace it with a store bought one, it is a cherry tomato.

I have a flower on one of the tomatoes, I think it's the one that I broke. And flowers on most of the peppers, with 2 tiny little banana peppers already growing. It's so exciting.

The strawberries have all leafed out, even the few that I thought were duds. We have taken leaves from the lettuce for a salad once so far. Everything is doing fine.

I have noticed the last several days that we have had a whole bunch of fuzzy caterpillar/worm things. I don't know what they are, but I don/t want them eating my garden. So I killed every one I came across.

Today, I also planted some more carrots, bush beans, a lemon cucumber, a green cucumber, and a honey dew melon. I planted some shallots last week and they have started coming up, I noticed.

So, now I have 3 of my boxes completely planted. I have 1 more box that I will plant a sugar baby watermelon and a pie pumpkin, probably in a couple weeks.

UPDATE: 5.11.14 I harvested a whole head of lettuce yesterday. It is really beautiful, not a blemish. I also noticed that both cucumbers are about an inch tall and the honeydew has sprouted. The bush beans are really growing fast, I will have to thin out a few of them. And the yellow onions are starting to sprout as well. Exciting!
I should also note that the tomato plant that I broke shows no signs of problems yet, but I will keep a close watch on it. While I was out there I also pinched off several suckers.

Garden 4.11.14

Here is a picture of one of my raised beds. It has mesclun mix, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, peas ad carrots growing. Not everything came up, but it's a start.

And here is a picture of the strawberry patch. 

My Strawberries Are Here!!

My bare root strawberry plants arrived today, all 75 of them. And guess who is ill-prepared? Me. I don't have much of a clue on what to do with them. I don't think I can plant them yet, we just had snow a couple days ago!

So I called the nursery. They told me to wrap the roots in a damp paper towel, put them in a plastic bag and put them in the fridge. And so I did.

I ordered 3 different varieties, 25 of each, that will supposedly provide fresh strawberries all summer long. I got Honeoye and Sparkle, which are June bearers and Ozark Beauty, which is an everbearer.

It's hard to believe that, in the right hands, these dead looking things

will grow these beauties!

from Degroot-inc.com

I have my plot all ready for them, I even bought bird netting so I don't have to share. Now I need to find out when I can put them out. 

Wish me luck!

Seedlings Are Transplanted ... Well, Most of Them

One thing I did not take into consideration was whether or not I was going to have enough room under my light for the seedlings when I transplanted them into bigger pots.

Today, I transplanted the tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and some lettuce. I didn't have room for the onions, the rest of the lettuce or the mesclun mix. These are gonna have to stay in their little pots until they go outside next week.

I actually think, without looking, that the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage can go outside next week too. Don't know if this week in a bigger pot will benefit them or not.

So I chose pots that are about 2" square or so. I think now that they're too small and I will probably have to pot up again before the tomatoes and peppers can go outside.

Anyway, I wasn't sure when I was supposed to transplant. I think I waited a little too long. Every single plant had roots coming out through the netting. And these little roots were broken off during the process. And now they are looking very droopy. I hope I didn't kill them. They're sad!

And here is a picture of the rest of my seedlings.

That lettuce is looking good enough to eat!

UPDATE:
I did a lot of research about starting my garden, there was no "a wing and a prayer" type of thing going on. I found lots of discrepancies about how to do things and since I know nothing about it, I had to pick someone's method. I chose to follow the guidelines set out in Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening book.

I made the beds like he instructed, made my growing medium just like he said and I started my seeds as he suggested and when he suggested.

After posting my excitement about my progress in GardenWeb forums, I have been told that I started everything way too early and that some of the things I started from seed indoors was unnecessary as they could have been direct seeded. I was told that by the time I set them out they are going to be very big and I guess hard to survive the transplant.

So my little bubble was burst! Now I feel like I'm back to square one, not knowing whose advice to follow about when I should put these little plants outside. There's different dates all over the place! 

First Seeds Planted

Well I took the plunge today. I'm not sure if it is the right day or not. The package says 5 weeks before our last spring frost, so does the book, so that's what I'm doing. And besides that, I heard that St Patty's Day is the traditional day to plant peas. I need a little luck of the Irish.

It is very strange, this weather in Missouri. Just yesterday we had freezing temps and about 2 inches of snow and sleet fall. Today, no sweater required!

I planted 1 square of peas. I know that's not a lot, but you got to start somewhere. I also planted 1 square of spinach and I will probably wish I planted more for sure. We'll see. And I planted 1 square of carrots, which I will do again every 2 weeks until I have 4 squares planted. Maybe I can do that with the spinach too, I'll have to look into it. Then I watered lightly and covered with plastic like the book says to do.

This was my first time planting in Mel's Mix. I found it very loose and kinda difficult to work with. I guess I should have watered it down before planting.

Tomorrow I will transplant my seedlings into bigger pots. And I still have to tie my string on to make the individual squares. 

Yeah, I know that drawing is lame. 

UPDATE:

I have been told that I started these seeds too early. So they probably won't come up (and they haven't yet). I will have to put some more out.

UPDATE: 4.8.14

A few of the spinach seeds have sprouted a few days ago, as have a few peas, no carrots in site. I guess I will put some more seeds in. 

Today I put some of the transplants in the beds. I planted broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce and onions. I put a cardboard tube around the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage so I hope the cutworms stay away! Tomorrow I will put the strawberries in and take a picture of everything.