So how does the garden grow?

So, how does the garden grow? Well, I am harvesting spinach right now.  The asparagus looks like it needs to mature one more year. The peas are finally getting too big for what ever it is that kept eating the new leaves and is finally growing tall and the sunflowers have sprouted. (I am using Cayenne Pepper, Chili Powder and Red Pepper to keep these pests away at an alarming rate. It works, I just hope the peas aren't too hot to eat!) I have kale, beets and swiss chard growing, planted some tomatoes. The lettuce never did sprout, so I have re-seeded. The artichokes are about 6' tall now...and will soon have itty bitty artichokes appearing, I am sure. And tomorrow, in go the squash seeds. Oh my gosh! Last year we lived on squash...good thing we love it!

But here is the exciting part today! My mother bought me a "pitch fork" today for my mulch/compost. But I have been toying with a worm bed. So tonight, on Friday night, I took the fork out to the garden and turned some soil in my garden with it. What I found was the soil is rather "foamy". And 2 red worms. So I did it again, and found a few more worms. I moved to another part of the garden about 5' away and found 6-8 more worms...all sizes. I gathered them all into a bowl. I dug over by the tomatoes...more worms! There are worms in every part of my garden! This is GOOD!

I have an old kitchen sink out in the back, which I am going to pull up to the garden area and dig a hole to sink it down into the soil (worms like it cool). I am going to put my worms in and cover them with dirt and kitchen scraps. I am going to let those little wiggly creatures make some of the best compost/fertilizer for my garden EVER!

What a good Friday night! I can go to sleep dreaming of my new worm bed and rich soil and veggies!




And who knows...one story I read about "worm farming", the guy made $150,000 in the first year selling his farmed worms!

Veggie Gardening 2011

I just want to re-cap what and how I did last year, using an 'organic' gardening outline...meaning, I used no chemicals or artificial fertilizers at all. I did use fertilizer, bone meal, and blood meal, all certified organic. I was able to give away pounds and pounds of tomatoes and squash. Some of the things I didn't give away, didn't get used. There was plenty. And I vow never to pay $1.29/lb for summer squashes again in my life! 

Artichokes

Turnips and greens

Beets and turnips (I never took many pics of the beets, but they actually turned out to be one of my favorite things to grow and eat!)

Turnips

Spinach

Spinach

Yellow Crookneck Squash

Watermelon

Watermelon

Sunflower

Tomato

More Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi

Carrots

Swiss Chard

Spinach

Lots of Swiss Chard

A garden gone awry. Tomatoes, Asparagus, Artichokes, Cantaloupes.

Squash and Tomatoes

More squash

Some of the garden

Artichokes

Artichoke, Kohlrabi and squash

Tomatoes, Squashes, Eggplant

This was my Pineapple Tomato. It was delicious. Oh, and Squash!

More squash, tomato and eggplant

Squash

Artichokes...we get around 60-80 artichokes off one plant each season.

 This season, I am growing spinach and lettuces, kale, Swiss chard and beets, sweet peas and chinese snow peas, bell peppers, eggplant and tomatoes, summer squashes, broccolini and of course the artichokes and asparagus...so far. I don't usually grow broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kohlrabi or broccolini because I have too many bad experiences with aphids. One year I will try them with some lady bugs, I guess. Right now I am going through cayenne pepper like mad because something out there loves my peas as they sprout, but they hate the cayenne! (I sure hope my peas don't taste too hot when I finally get to eat some!) I am going to start another garden for my salsa garden, which will have jalapenos, tomatoes and other peppers. I have some sunflowers in the ground too...I love the color and it brightens things up, catches people's attention.