Garden Update

Well, almost a month has passed now since the city finally turned on the water at our community garden and Katie and I were finally able to plant. We have a 25 by 15 foot plot and 8 garden beds to fill and a limited budget so things have sort of gone in stages. However, we put in the last of it last weekend and stuff is sprouting away!

The final list includes: Strawberries, 4 different kinds of peppers, tomatoes, green beans, sugar snap peas, carrots, buttercrunch lettuce, spinach, broccoli, brussels sprouts, basil, chives, oregano, rosemary, thyme, lavender, straweberries, marigolds, nasturiums & chamomile.

In a strange way, I feel like I have been transported back to the 2nd grade when we had a class "garden" sprouted in dixie cups! I feel that kind of ridiculous excitement. I also feel strangely maternal over all my little plant "babies" (although I recognize that it is a little sick to be full of anticipation over the prospect of eating the objects of my maternal affection!)

Anyway, things are mostly growing good. A few of the herbs have not come up yet and only a few of the carrots and lettuces sprouted. But the peppers, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, brussels sprouts and strawberries are all doing beautifully!

Some nasty little aphids have been attacking my broccoli and green beans and I have started researching how to wage full out war on them. Would you like to know what my weapons of warfare will be? Soapy water and manure tea! Muuhahah! (That is my poor attempt at an evil laugh...) The soapy water, in theory, will destroy the oils on the outside of the aphids and keep them from being able to stick to the underside of the leaf. The manure tea (literally, manure steeped in water with a tiny bit of molasses - yum!) will help speed the growth and replenish nutrients that the aphids have sucked out. We'll see how it goes!

I know these pictures are not very exciting yet, but I will share them anyway.

The beginnings of some nasturiums, marigolds & chamomile - all very pretty flowers that happen to be edible!



Walla-walla (sweet) onions, a bell pepper and serano chili pepper:



Lettuce, spinach and some itty-bitty carrots that are too small to see in the picture:



Broccoli & Brussels sprouts:



Tomato plants:



Herb garden bed:



Our plot at a glance:



I am an utter beginner at all of this, so if any of you have gardening tips that you would like to share, I would gobble up any advice (particularly if it has to do with growing tomatoes in our climate or annihilating nasty aphids)!