May 2009 Backyard Garden

17 May

Gardening by numbers

Bed 1 is my wife’s herb garden with an 8 foot row of cucumbers along the fence. Just seeded this weekend.

Bed 2 has strawberries, three kinds of peppers and a couple eggplants I got at the farmer’s market this weekend.

Bed 3 is seeded with sweet corn on the left side, white onion sets down the middle and melons on the right.

Bed 4 is seeded with bush green beans, beets, sweet potatoes and carrots.

Bed 5 has rapidly maturing broccoli and was seeded a few weeks ago with beets and radishes.

Bed 6 has broccoli, a zucchini, cabbages, a couple lettuce and my sons’ 2×2 squares on the left corners.

Bed 7 has hybrid Big Mama tomatoes, supposedly a huge paste tomato. The perimeter is planted with radishes.

Bed 8 is planted with 8 heirloom tomatoes and has a perimeter ring of carrots.

Bed 9 is a row of straw bales planted with lettuce and a couple extra herbs.

Bed 10 is an 8 foot wide narrow bed planted with a double row. Cucumbers and snow peas will climb the lattice.

Posted by Leslie on May 17, 2009 at 10:08 pm

Looks great! I like the new beds you added!

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Posted by bethsmiles on May 18, 2009 at 7:44 am

Oh wow! What a GREAT garden!! I LOVE the hay bales! Is there some gardening tip reason you used hay bales? Or was it just a creative way to plant something?

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Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on May 18, 2009 at 7:50 am

The idea came from other blogs I read. The main reason I used the bales there was because the water from the creek behind the fence rises up almost as high as the top of the bales. Thankfully this doesn’t happen often. If the planted straw works out, then I’ve killed two birds with one stone. As the bales rot away and turn into compost, I’ll be raising the ground level there a little. Also, I can’t have a raised bed in that corner due to underground wires.

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Posted by Randomability on May 18, 2009 at 7:51 am

What did the boys plant?

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Posted by Jimmy Cracked-Corn on May 18, 2009 at 7:56 am

S. planted entirely salad. He loves eating greens. H. planted everything! Potatoes, jack-o-lantern, gourds, broccoli, onions, probably even more than that. We’ll thin it when/if things come up.

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Posted by tazreverie on May 19, 2009 at 3:30 pm

The garden is looking great! I’m sure all your hard work will pay off in a very tasty way very shortly.

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Posted by bethsmiles on May 20, 2009 at 7:48 am

Aha! Really great idea!!

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Posted by jaredsalzano on June 1, 2009 at 2:36 pm

Jealous

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