We Have Carrots!

Last week we planted 2 types of carrots...short ones and long ones. Yesterday a quick trip to the plot revealed successful germination. They only have their "milk leaves" so we will wait to thin them once the next set of leaves appears.

Many years ago we had an old house on an acre and a half. We couldn't really afford to furnish it with the fine antiques it deserved, but we did what we could. It had a new roof and a nice paint job on the outside. We figured out quickly that if we transformed the gardens, the rest didn't matter. We knew that at one point, the house had gardens, so we cleared brush by hand and with Lazarus (my mom's 25 year old lawn mower that wouldn't die). We discovered a terraced garden in the back and the 75 year old daffodil patch.

We created our garden from this.

I knew I wanted flower gardens and that I needed alot of them. I spent the winter months pouring over seed catalogues, going to the library, talking to neighbors. This was before Al Gore invented the internet. I learned everything I needed to be able to grow flowers from seeds, root cuttings, and plant divisions. Luckily, I had neighbors who shared flowers with me. It was during that time that I learned that the first 2 leaves on a plant are called "milk leaves". It seems like it's a reference to infants. It's just one of those little things that is stored in the brain and you wonder "why do I know that" and the lovely memories come flooding back.

No Weed Violations!

Yesterday, my daughter, Liz, told me we could get on a list for a larger plot in the future, but we have to have a year with no weed violations. There is a certain tolerance for weeds in the garden plots. This is 100% organic gardening so there are bound to be the odd weed or two. What Liz meant is that when the weed police come around, the whole garden plot can't be full of weeds. Guess who sends out the weed violation notices? Yes, that's one of Liz's many job duties.

I wish I had a newer picture to share. We have completely mulched our garden with organic leaf mulch and it looks beautiful. I did weed yesterday morning and had a small handful of weeds.

We do have one small area that may have weeds but it's too early to tell. I direct sowed some Foxglove, Poppies and Daisies. The first two have micro seeds which means initial growth is also micro. Since they are so small, I am not sure yet what is weed and what is successful germination, so I am leaving them alone until they get the 2nd or 3rd set of leaves. Then I will be able to identify the flowers vs weeds. I've never really direct sown in regular garden soil. I've always dug out a trench and filled it with store bought good quality potting mix. It's usually finer than regular dirt very distinctive. I always did this so that I would know where my seedlings were. We have decided to embrace the organic way and see what happens. I just hope I can figure out what are flowers and what are weeds before the weed police arrive!

HOT HOT HOT

We haven't been to the garden plot today, but our early morning there yesterday was quite surprising.

Everything has grown in spite of the intense heat. We expected to see some signs of heat stress, but everything is thriving.

After our initial planting of cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, one yellow squash plant, herbs and marigolds (they keep bugs away from the tomatoes) I realized, I would like some zuchini. I was at Home Depot and found one scrawny forgotten plant and bought it anyway. It is now twice the size and has flowers.

We met a fellow gardener, Prince, and he offered to let me pick some red currants to make jelly. He has been gardening there for quite some time.