Garden Update #2

I'm 99% done with the garden and all it's associated projects. I decided to wait for the most humid and hot day of the year so far....go figure! But Todd and the kids had a blast getting the inflatable pool, sprinkler, squirt guns and slip and slid out while I was doing it, so at least it kept me a little cool every time I got srayed or a bucket of water dumped on my head!

Here is the three raised beds as of 2pm! We added two trellises to the 4'x4' boxes and added chicken wire around the 3'x6' box since rabbits ate all my plants in that bed only!


This is box #1. The Amish snap peas are doing great! I had a really hard time getting the trellis in between the middle, but they were happy once I started working them up the trellis! The spinach and lettuce are also in DESPERATE need of being picked over. I've got two salad on the dinner menu this week and two pasta dishes for the spinach...so hopefully that should keep them manageable!


This is box #2. I was lucky enough to find some pretty large cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and brussel sprout plants at Meijer this weekend for cheap, so I figured why not. Well try to grow them and see what happens.We also added leftover chicken wire from the compost pile around the bed to keep the rabbits from coming back and having another feast!


This is box #3. The pole beans are going crazy! I also noticed quit a bit of the romaine is coming up as well as the carrots. The eggplant has also gone crazy and the leaves are getting huge compared to the tiny little seedlings we planted just a few weeks ago!

As for the structures, here is a picture of the whole trellis. We actually found out Lowes carries cement remesh panels, which are much cheaper than the 100' roll others use. The panel is 3 1/2' x 7' for only $6.39. These panels fit perfectly inside the beds and then we attached them to t-stakes with zip ties.

This is a good picture of the chicken wire we placed around bed #2 to keep the rabits out. The hardest part was keeping the top of the chicken wire from bowing out, so we needed lots of stakes. Thankfully we found some wood stakes in the shed as well as a few scrap pieces from the deck railing. May not be pretty, but it works great!

I also didn't plan out my garden before ordering seeds, so I already had watermelon seeds as well as pie pumpkins and jack o'lanterns. So it wasn't until I planned it out that I realized there was no way I'd have room for these in the raised beds. So after thinking it over, I decided what the heck, I threw some dying herbs in our beds last year and they did great, so why not try a few plants in there was well. I also picked up a few melons at Meijers last night as well. So below are the freshly planted melon seedlings.

Along the pack of the house, we put in the watermelons and sugar pie pumpkins. I also threw in an extra brussel sprout plant and extra broccoli I had.

And over here is the pumpkins. Currently they are marked with tiny toothpicks so I know where to water, but this is still on my to-so list....figure out a way of marking all of my plants. ;P

This is our potato bin. The "seeds" came in a variety pack I bought with onions, strawberries, and asparagus, so I figured I'd give them a try. I read online that they could be grown in a trashcan, so I figured, why not try a plastic bin I already had in the basement. So we cleaned it out really good and drilled several holes in the bottom for drainage.

I also ordered zuchinni and squash plants without really looking into how they can be grown in a square foot garden. After finding out how much room they really need, I decided to try container gardening for these. And wanting to keep cost down, I figured I'd try using some galvanized tubs I had leftover from our wedding 5 years ago! Again, we cleaned them up and drilled holes in the bottom. Again, not finished just yet though. We have an old wood ladder under the deck which I'm going to make into a trellis for these.

And last but not least, another idea I saw online was growing strawberries in a bucket. I was able to get the bucket for just $2.99 at Home Depot (as if you can't tell ;P). I then bought a 6 pk of strawberry plants. Tod used his 1" spade drill bit and made 16 or so holes in the bucket. I then placed the 6 plants inside the bucket, weaving the vines out through the holes and filling it up with compost as we went. I'm hoping we have lots of strawberries in another month or so!

We're super excited about the progress we've made so far and all the work we've put into it. The ony thing left we have to do, that I didn't mention earlier is a small herb garden on the deck. I want to grow some basil, cilantro, and parsley in a 3 basket planter. Hopefully I'll get around to that one night this week!