I started out with great intentions of keeping a detailed garden log of our first real gardening season, but after penning a few pages here and there with random notes, I sort of threw in the towel. Instead, I've been looking back through photos and Instagram posts to chronicle the first 2 months of the growing season. We built (or rather, Kristian built!) the raised beds on April 8th, and we planted them on the 15th. I'll have Kristian do a follow up post on his methodology, since he extensively researched companion planting, and thoroughly organized all of the beds with a spreadsheet.
Right after we built the beds and filled them:
Two months later:
We had to built some super DIY makeshift trellises and poles for the snap peas and the beans because they were growing like gangbusters! We also had some leftover smaller pieces of wood that we fashioned into poles that are going to hold some lovely little solar-powered outdoor bistro lights for dinners outside.
Some growing notes for my own reference, and in case anyone else is curious about how we're doing things!
Zucchini - growing so well, but waaaaay too big for square foot gardening. In the future, we'll give them more space since right now their giant leaves are blocking some smaller plants from getting proper sunlight, like an edamame plant and a nasturtium. Also working on figuring out the whole pollinating thing, but I think the bees might have gotten it done because we have two gorgeous zucchinis growing already! More to come on this.
Chinese cabbage - also growing spectacularly well, and I have to research when to harvest. I believe this is a head cabbage, so probably next month sometime around the 80 day mark.
Italian and Wasabi Arulaga - wasabi arugala has flowered, but from what I've read that's ok as they are edible, too! And the bees are loving it. We've been snipping away at these twice a week to add to salads.
Tomato plants - We planted 9 varieties of cherry tomatoes (yes, I am aware the tomato cages are in upside down haha novice mistake! Gotta fix them this weekend.) and after a slow start, they've really been picking up speed!
Lettuce varieties - Amazing. We get a giant colander of leafy greens roughly twice a week and next year, I want to plant twice as much because fresh lettuce is just incredible.
Corn - I was skeptical when Kristian said he wanted to plant corn, but I might have to eat my words because damn it, they're growing so well! We have yet to see any meaningful cob action, but keeping our eyes peeled.
Peas and Beans - I honestly cannot believe how quickly these guys have grown.
Other items in there: hot peppers (think they're struggling because of May Gray/June Gloom but I have faith), watermelon, edamame, swiss chard, bok choy, basil, dill, chives, and cucumber.
For more up to date details on the garden haps, follow along with our Instagram account --> @frontyardveggies
Next up on the docket: monitoring the raised 6'x4' flower bed I built in a grassy, dirt patch that I despised with every fiber of my being. I threw in some sunflowers, cosmos, nasturtium, coreopsis, and calendula to attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Also we're going to be adding some worms to the family in the form of vermicompost. We currently have a tumbler, but it's totally full and needs to cook for a couple months, meaning we can't add anything else to it. But our friend is giving away her vermicompost setup and graciously offered it to us! So we'll be able to use that in the meantime, and potentially switch fully over to that pending how it works out. Fingers crossed!
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