Tomato Update

I finally have some pictures of tomatoes! These photos are a combination of freshly harvested tomatoes and greenies we brought into the house to ripen, in hopes of saving them from critters. 

I'll start with the greenies pictured above. These were all solid green when Booh Bear picked them. We had lost too many huge, luscious tomatoes to invisible deer *eye roll*, squirrels, and rabbits. I should have taken the photo after they all turned, but I found the mid-ripening-process colors fascinating to look at. At full ripe we had a range of reds, yellows, red/purple, and yellow/red. They looked beautiful and tasted delicious!   

This next picture was a fresh batch that was brought in one evening. Most prominent in this photo are my Sunrise Bumblebee cherry tomatoes. Aren't they lovely? Not only are they photogenic, but the flavor is tomato perfection! I would describe them as relatively mild, with a seemingly low acid content and good mouth feel. I have already harvested some seeds to dry for next spring. <3 

The other small tomatoes pictured above are your standard orange plum tomatoes, along with some yellow pear tomatoes not quite in view. Also pictured is a smaller yellow mortgage lifter. 

The larger tomatoes, like this steakhouse, have been ripening mostly indoors. This is one of the smaller ones, but it gives you an idea of the size we are going for. I am serving these up in meals as quickly as I can get them ripe, along with the equally-large hillbilly potato leaf tomatoes. (Those are large red/yellow streaked heirlooms.) The flavor is bold, and everything you would expect from a hybrid tomato. They are delicious in fat, meaty slabs on a sandwich or in wedges served raw. <3 

This is part of our most recent haul. I say part, because I literally just tried to get a good mix of what we were harvesting into the photo. The basket in the background is the standard shopping size hand-held basket like you might find at a grocery store. (It was given to us by an elderly friend who had had it for decades.) The take I have partially pictured here was fully half a basket, both green and ripe. 

We took in sixteen different varieties of tomato that day alone, I believe. In fact, out of the twenty-three varieties of tomato I have planted, we have confirmed harvest of twenty-one of those (as of yesterday) in total. There are two that I have not seen come through yet, although I swear that a couple of the ones we had to throw out (half-eaten on the vine) fall into those categories. 

One tomato missing from my harvest so far is the black early, which plant got accidentally snapped in half early in the season. The other is, I am guessing, a plumito. Those look like the shape of bell peppers, even though they are tomatoes. I have yet to see any, although I did see plenty of them green on the vine. It may not be their time yet. 

This is a picture of different kinds of 'cherry' tomatoes. There are nine distinct varieties pictured, although I forgot to add the tenth. I placed a chocolate cherry in the picture, but not the black cherry. I have both. :) Not pictured are the yellow pear and the red cherry tomatoes we harvested earlier in the season. 

Again, you see most of these varieties because I took seeds from two variety packs I had purchased at WalMart and Sam's Club, dried them for a week, and then germinated them here at home. I do not even know what the long red paste tomato is called. It tastes a bit like a roma. They hang on the vine looking like jalapeno peppers. haha I am getting quite the return on those two purchases! ;)

One last picture before we go... 

We are done with zucchini, cucumber, and broccoli for the year. I have some baby romaine lettuce growing. We are just now beginning to take in orange bell pepper. My peppers in general (green, orange, and mixed) are still growing very slowly. Our potatoes were gorgeous, and tasted *so* good! I will definitely be growing these again in the future! Spaghetti squash has tasted delicious, as well. Butternut (only a few of each of these things pictured) squash has been prolific. I keep spotting another and another hiding out there in my jungle. In fact, we have shared more spaghetti and butternut squash with our neighbors than zucchini. That is crazy! The picture only shows a couple, but you get the idea.

Something killed my cantaloupe vine. That was heartbreaking for my daughter, who so dearly loves them. The watermelon vine put out two small melons, but those also fizzled out before we could really enjoy them in fullness. Most of our fruits and veggies have produced, but you can see that some had an off-year. Next year, I am going to consider working harder on a smaller garden.  

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So there you have it. If you were curious about the myriad of tomato varieties we have growing, this is your answer. They are definitely coming up! It took ages for them to ripen, we have dealt with critters eating them, the weather has been hot and brutal at times, but we have persevered. The 2018 garden season had a late start and has had a difficult summer, but it *is* producing goodies. We are very blessed. <3

Don't forget to tend those spiritual gardens! Feeding the soul is as necessary as feeding the body.

Oh, Deer Me...

I have had a weird, hard summer, garden-wise.  I have been somewhat laissez-faire about tending it, for one. The ninety-plus degree days are not my friends. They are hot and I get soaked and cranky in no time. 

There has also been the odd growing rates. Thanks to the later start, some of my bell peppers are only just now looking like early-season plants. The extra-long winter we had seems to have thrown off the ripening schedule of most gardens across this growing zone. I am glad it is not just me, but still.

Cucumber beetles have hit the garden like crazy! This is the worst year we have ever had. My bug protection has been kind of hit and miss. I bought some Sevin dust, but it is way too toxic and I will not use it for plants. I ran out of diatomaceous earth dust. I purchased Neem oil, and am trying to remember to spray the plants down after it rains.

That brings me to the next thing... it hasn't really been raining. This is the driest July on record for my area. Add to that the fact that, for some unknown reason, zucchini hasn't really cared for the conditions this year. I am seeing in gardening groups that other gardeners are having the same issues with zucchini as I am all across Zone 5b, from coast to coast. 

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The largest source of confusion and frustration has been my prized tomatoes. I've planted nearly two dozen varieties of them. The garden is my heart, but the tomatoes are specifically my babies. I take tremendous pride in my tomatoes. They are the joy of my life when they get fat, fat, fatter and then bloom in all colors, shapes, and sizes. 

This year, my garden keeps falling down! I kid you not, I wake up in the morning and entire chunks of my garden are on the ground! Booh Bear and I go out and I hold the plants up while she zip ties the branches loosely (but not so much that they would slip) to the cattle panel.

At first, we thought that it was the weight of the squash pulling my vines to the ground. I thought that that was odd, given that my squash, cucumbers, and cantaloupes have long held up the tomatoes without ever choking a single plant. They have never fallen before. Nevertheless, I was so convinced that this was the only explanation which made sense, so I posted exactly that on FB. We cut out six or seven spaghetti squash, butternut squash, and pumpkins (although those we took bc they were turning color and I wanted to take stress off of the plant so I can get more pumpkins) and set them out to finish ripening on the patio. We fastened the vines back up and prayed that the tomatoes weren't too traumatized. 

To my shock, it happened again! This time, we had finally gotten rain. It wasn't loud. It didn't feel like much, but when we went up my garden was in pieces hanging onto the ground. That time, I attributed it to storms. Roughly two days later, it happened again. My beautiful, bushy garden which looks like an overly confident jungle has instead turned into this sad, patchy game of "Lynn cannot keep her plants up off the ground." It is July and I can see big sections of cattle panel. This shouldn't be happening! It has been somewhat demoralizing.

No matter what we do, I keep losing chunks of my garden. We patch up what we can and wake up in no time to find chunks falling down again. 

On top of that (I know... will this blog post never end?), it began to look like bunnies might be a problem for the first time ever. We have a straw bale garden and we grow our tomatoes upward. Bunnies don't need to get to my tomatoes, and the few times they did in the past I always think, "Aww, how cute. We are feeding bunnies!" This year, we are picking the tomatoes that hang low (because let's face it, that is all of them at some point now) and allowing them to ripen on trays out on the patio. I am determined to see some of my hard work pay off, darn it!

OKAY... so now we get to the part where the intentional spoiler of the blog post title comes in. Booh Bear was in the garden harvesting (saving the lives of) huge green tomatoes when she spotted my very first ripe hillbilly tomato. It was bigger than the size of my hand (I can palm a basketball, friend... I do not have dainty hands), and that gorgeous yellow and red signature shading. It was heaven!! Except... well, it had been bitten into and was ruined. *this is where we cry softly*

That tomato and one other about as large, just like it, solved the falling garden mystery. The tomato was far above bunny height. It was not bitten into with tiny bites like a rabbit or raccoon or squirrel. No, these were massive bites. For context, we once had a big old stray German Shepherd come through and steal a tomato in front of our eyes. These bites were this big, but also higher than a large dog would know to go. (He had stolen one off of the patio that year.)

It finally hit me. Oh my soul, deer! Somehow, somewhere, the deer everyone always talks about have discovered the location of my bountiful garden! Ugh! :( :( :( :( What else can reach up that tall and takes bites that big? If a neighbor was eating my tomatoes, they would pick them off and steal them away home. Nope, it has to be deer. 

We put up as much of the garden as we could again, and came out this morning to it having been downed... again. These intruders are destroying my garden! *ugly cry goes here* You can tell me to put up a fence, but I can't. Not only am I not allowed to per the city (not just the HOA) because we live on an easement, I also cannot bc I check with 811 and there are pipes and wires and crap around there. 

SO, there you have it. We are still harvesting tomatoes that we can and eating the different ripe small tomatoes. We eat them too quickly to get a sufficient picture of harvesting them by the basket-loads like last year. I am still hoping and praying that more tomatoes will ripen so fast that they cannot be pilled by man nor beast. In the meantime, our ton of green tomatoes are ripening slowly, kind of one by one. 

I will end this novel with a simple list of the cherry tomatoes that we have tasted so far. The garden has not been in vain... it has just been somewhat of a battle and light discouragement. I won't give up, of course. We will keep doing what we can. I just think that my garden may possibly come to an unseasonably early end this year. I hope not, but we shall see.


Harvested tomatoes (I will try to have photos eventually!)

Golden Globe... 1-2" inch true yellow fruits (deeeelicious!)

Brandywine Cherry... much larger than just a cherry, with the shape, flavor, and color of their cousin the Brandywine

Pear-shaped cherries... these range from yellow to orange and seem to ripen the fastest

Pepper-shaped-cherry-paste... these are ones I said I do not know the true name of. I harvested the seeds from a tomato variety blend I bought from Sam's Club. They dried for a week, and then I planted them. They've done very well!

Sunrise Bumblebee... so far only one has come ripe (we will check tomatoes again later today). They are yellow and red striped cherry tomatoes with a great flavor

Golden Nugget... these are more of a round shape than the pear, and are quite small and orange

Actual Brandywine (yum!)
Large Yellow tomatoes

Large orange tomatoes

**Those last two were, I believe, the Big Rainbow I received last year which never developed red. They stayed yellow and orange. I was either sold the wrong seeds (and kept using them bc, yum!) or the red didn't develop bc of the weather conditions (I heard this posited in a garden group).


Anyway, we have a good handful of varieties ripening off of the vine. It is just going slowly. What a weird year! If you have any non-expensive deer-deterrent tips, please do share! I cannot put up a fence. I refuse to place toxins of any sort on my plants. I am not in a great place to spend a lot of money. I am also in no position to go 'deer hunting' in the middle of the city in what is probably not deer season anyway. 

In the meantime, happy gardening! <3 :) <3 

Early July Straw Bale Garden Update

Good Morning! :)

Today is Independence Day here in the US, but this post is not about that. It is another garden update! *wide grin* I know, I know... I have become very one-note, haven't I? So what! There are growing goodies to share! Let's get to it!

SBG July 2, 2018

Here is a somewhat panoramic view of our garden at the beginning of this week. :) You can see that the garden has taken over the bales and framework, to the point where you almost can't even see the cattle panel. Yay! *This* stage of gardening is what I live for! If you look in the corner of the bales at the right of the frame (immediately behind my watering cans), you will see that a volunteer wild sunflower plant has sprung up! 

Side note... I call any plants that were not planted by any of us 'volunteer'. This sunflower was the one seed that escaped intact from the copious amounts of seed mix we put in the yard for the local wildlife this winter. It happened to grow in the absolute perfect location, so much so that it looks intentional! haha Next year, I *will* grow some on purpose! I have mysteriously gone from hating sunflowers to absolute mirth when I see them! :D :D Photo credit to my Booh Bear for every picture you see in here. She has become quite adept at taking them!

As you can see, things are growing quite well in the garden. We have too many kinds of tomatoes to keep mentioning over and over. Plus, in this stage of growing, they are all green and hard to tell apart. However, this is a picture of our Sunrise Bumblebee tomatoes. You can clearly see that they'll be striped. <3 

What follows are other pictures of tomatoes that I won't be describing in detail. ;) Like this one!

And these happy little growers right here. :) I love that you can see the a cucumber flower kissing a tomato in the left of the photo!

There are also these...

And these...

Aaaaand these.
You get the idea! ;)

We also have spaghetti squash growing very well, like these. In fact, you can sometimes spot more spaghetti squash in the pictures of other veggies we've taken and shared. 
There is also a squash growing that my Booh Bear keeps swearing up and down is a spaghetti squash. The thing is, it has stripes on it. I have an inkling that it is something else entirely. I have not checked it out in person, but I hope to soon. It doesn't make sense to me that absolutely all of our squash look alike but that one. I am hoping that it is a watermelon, actually.

I have a picture of it sitting by other plants, but I want to get close and solve that mystery before I post about it any further. :)

This is a butternut squash. I have grown these in honor of my beloved dad, God rest his soul. They will not go to waste. My mom (Granna, in these blogs) loves them every bit as much as my dad did. My plants did not thrive last year, yielding only one (much-appreciated but tiny) little squash. It sits on a shelf with pictures of my dad. <3 <3 <3  

There are also zucchini coming on very well. My mom and Booh Bear have already been enjoying them consistently. <3 I may not like this vegetable personally, but I will attempt to grow absolutely anything I can get my hands on! :) We are also going to begin carting some over to the neighbors, per usual. 

After last year's struggle, I happily  report that we are again keeping ourselves in cucumbers. Yay! This is one of my favorite veggies to eat fresh from the garden, though you will rarely catch me buying them from the store. Little Giraffe really loves them, as well. We've had some pest issues, but I am about to try a neem oil/dish soap/water mix. Finger's crossed!

We have very few pumpkin plants this year. I think only two, maybe? They seem to be doing alright. The garden is so big that it is somewhat painful to dig around the rough vines. I am not sure how many pumpkins we have, but there will for sure be at least one! lol

The broccoli are finally starting to develop wee heads. They, the spinach, the watermelon, and the cabbage are all kind of being buried under the massive squash and zucchini plants. That said, I've not had squash actually kill any plants at any point in the past. I just have to get some gloves on and go digging when the temperature finally drops to a tolerable level.

This is the last picture I have right now. My pepper plants are a mix of "Aaawww, maaaannnn!" and "Meh". I know... not great. The plants I started from seedlings are only a few inches tall. They are beautiful but too small to do anything this year. The plants I bought from the farmer's market (one is pictured) are growing orange peppers. The plants are growing in funky shapes and the peppers are small, but they are at least there! :) I find it so odd how I can have great success with a plant seasons in a row, only to have a random bad season. 

So, there you have it. The garden continues to grow. We haven't seen any cantaloupe on those vines yet, but everything else seems to be off and running. Most of it is doing very well. Only a couple of things are not. I neglected my potatoes on accident for a very hot week. Now I am fighting to save the plants. Yikes! Live and learn!

I hope that everyone is having a happy and healthy summer. School will begin before you know it. We are probably going to be starting the new grades ourselves here in another week and a half. In the meantime, Hubs, Granna, Booh Bear, Little Giraffe and I all bid you a Happy Independence Day! 

Quick Edit:
The mystery plant is a second pumpkin! It is very light in color for some reason. We have also found wee little watermelons and cantaloupes! Yaay! <3

<3 Remember to tend those spiritual gardens! <3

June 15th Straw Bale Garden Update

It is almost zucchini time! :) Giraffe found this wee little guy growing in the bales today. <3 I still don't even like or eat zucchini. These will go to Granna, Giraffe, friends and neighbors. <3 I will probably end up trying some this year, though. I have promised myself that I would. 

My yard needs to be mowed terribly, so pictures today are all up close. lol

My potato plants are freakishly tall. the container doesn't seem to be big enough for them. That said, due to the wild success we seem to be having, next year I will be sure to grow two full tubs if I can. I can see that placing them in "just a planter" is going to ensure crowded conditions. I had no clue they would sprout so much! Last year our 'success' amounted to two tiny, perfect little potatoes and that was it.

Some of my tomatoes are beginning to grow. We are still quite a way from fresh ripe fruit, though. It takes time.

We have also reached the time of year where my yard would periodically make you want to wretch. lol We are using Alaska fish fertilizer. It works like a charm, but the smell... oh my soul. It's the smell after a fishing excursion *IF* you had also emulsified the fish and sprayed it everywhere. Ew! lol

Isn't this a lovely picture? Photo credit to Giraffe, who went into the garden to take these snaps for me. <3 There is something special about the tendrils of a vine. <3 I love seeing how plants send out these little guys which seem so weak, but can hang on for dear life. It seems so apropos to life in general, doesn't it? Each tendril is so small, yet plays a vital role in in the health and growth of the entire plant. <3 

So many other things are also growing. Watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumber, pumpkins, butternut squash, and spaghetti squash are all putting out these little ovaries. <3 It all comes down to which ones end up being pollinated or not. We have only done a little bit of hand pollination so far, but it is definitely time to step it up. I so enjoy seeing all of these fat little gals growing from their vines. <3 Life is really good right now! <3 

There are also bugs to be dealt with. God bless them, they do love my garden! This is a cucumber beetle of some sort. Yeesh. My Sevin dust arrives in two days. This will be my first time using the stuff, so finger's crossed. I have traditionally stuck to using diatomaceous earth. That didn't do as well for my plants last year as I hoped it would. My dear Grandpa recommended Sevin to me. I am eager to try it out. :)  

Other than that, there isn't much else to say. Life in the garden is all about fertilizing every two weeks, watering daily, and finding time to trim suckers from tomatoes and the other routine plant care. It has been hot here in 5b, so the last two weeks haven't seen me out in the garden as much as I would like to be. That should change more in the coming week. <3 Happy gardening, all! :) 

Straw Bale Garden: Our Story

It has been well established that I love to garden. :) There is something deeply symbiotic about working with nature. Hawaiians might call it "aloha aina"... the love of the land. It is a relationship of respect where you take ownership and stewardship of the earth. We care for the garden, which in turn cares for us. <3 There are benefits physically and spiritually. Simply put, nature is good for the soul. 

I come by this deep internal sense of connection to the earth honestly. My parents kept gardens throughout my childhood. I have many happy memories of working in the garden with my mom and dad. I even have some fun memories of my sister's iguana climbing a pole and eating the fresh leaves of pea plants. :)

My grandparents on both sides also loved gardening. Both grandfathers invested a lot of time in tilling the land and forming careful gardens. My grandmothers too, of course. They also enjoyed picking berries and laying up jellies and other goodies. Their plots were always well-tended and robust with life.

I can still see my paternal grandfather walking among his corn. He is in his eighties now. His garden is smaller. He told me that this year he is probably only going to put out some tomatoes. Even so, he is still practicing that connection to his land. I can still taste his tomatoes and other vegetables, cooked as only my grandmother could. She passed away last fall. Those memories are all we have left and oh, so very precious.

My maternal grandparents did not have as much property, but they still put in wonderful gardens. I smile as I think of my grandfather talking to his little plants, much the way he spoke lovingly to his pigeons. I can almost still feel the sun warming my skin as we picked what would become the night's salad, as well as fresh strawberries for after dinner. <3 The sounds of his calls and whistles to his racer, roller, and prized pigeons zooming and looping in the sky above us still echo in my ears and in my heart. He passed away in 2010. The memories I have of him, while vivid, are not recent. 

Most precious are the memories of 2016, the year my dad went rapidly downhill with no apparent explanation. He visited often that summer, walking through my own (comparably small) garden. Dad gave me tips about growing vegetables, letting me know when my peppers would be ripe enough to pick. With every visit, he had lost more mobility. Even so, he would walk through the L-shape of my bale garden from beginning to end. We sent him home with as much fresh produce as we possibly could. These memories with my dad are my dearest and most precious. He passed away the following spring, just 69 days after being diagnosed with ALS.

None of my favorite memories of my last summer with my dad would have been possible without straw bale gardening. In spring of 2009 (I think... possibly 2010) my hubs, Giraffe, and I were all still living in a second story apartment. I had a pot of brand new tomatoes out on the deck. It was the only living thing I had grown as an adult. lol My sweet little one spoke lovingly to the plant, just like I had taught her to. She also read books to it and told it stories from the time it was a seedling. It warmed my heart to see the actions of her great grandparents reflected in her. <3

One afternoon, the local news ran a story on Joel Karsten's straw bale gardening method. I was fascinated by this idea that plants could be grown this way! I would never forget the diagram of carrots and other vegetables growing deep inside straw bales. My little deck was too small to try, but the image stayed with me. 

In 2010, we were surprised to learn that we would be able to build our own home! It had a very small backyard that felt huge to us! <3 We watched our dream grow, and then settled down into enjoying it. Our own family also grew before too long. We were a busy, happy little home. <3

By 2013, I began to want a garden. Since we live under the regulation of the local HOA, I called and asked what protocol was. To my dismay, we were not allowed to have any 'permanent' changes such as an in-ground garden. I was disappointed, but it made sense. On top of that, my spine curves in several places. The pain is at times excruciating. It feels as though my spine is made of glass which is shattering from the bottom all the way up into my neck. I knew that bending over and getting down on the ground repeatedly would be impossible for me. The same could be said of hoeing and trying to dig up a plot of dirt. 

One day, I remembered the news piece I had seen on straw bale gardening! I did not know how I might go about it, but I thought it would be worth a try. I asked Hubs what he thought, and he was all for it. In spring 2014, we picked up four bales of straw from the local TSC store. I googled information as much as I could, since I could not at the time afford to buy the book. (A rookie mistake... the book really is the best place to start! lol) I initially tried to plant in my bales facing the wrong way and completely raw (unconditioned). Further online research showed me that I needed to remove my plants and begin the process of conditioning correctly.

SBG June 2014

This is the result of my efforts that year. By June 2014, this is what I had growing out back. :) We had tomatoes, peas, cucumbers and broccoli. It was a very small garden. I did not know back then that I had wasted a lot of valuable bale space. This felt like a truly big deal to us! Our tomatoes grew well that year. I did not know about stabilizing them, so I simply used tomato cages. The result was top-heavy tomatoes that literally fell out of the bale, massive root ball and all! 

SBG July 2015

In 2015, I was determined to try again. I have to laugh at what a pro I thought I was by then! :) This time, we put up T posts and strung wire between. No tomatoes fell out of their bales this year! hehe We also branched out a little bit, growing carrots and teensy-tiny watermelon. :) My garden was still small, but felt absolutely huge to us! I was really warming up to the idea of having a green thumb! ;) The joy we found in our garden was immeasurable!

SBG July 2016

By 2016, I had this thing under control. I was ready to go big! We bought eight bales and Giraffe helped me to plant them. We had pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers, tomatoes, cantaloupe, zucchini, and more! (I have blog posts about this garden!) As I said, this was the year my dad walked through my garden during his visits. Those memories bring me joy and comfort I cannot even put into words. <3 <3 <3 <3

SBG June 2017

Last year, I began my garden after my dad passed away. This was a sincerely dark and painful time in our lives. I used 18 bales, and planted everything I could possibly think of to buy. The garden became a place where I could reflect on the searing pain of our loss, and draw close the memories of my beloved dad. This garden brought life to a heart shrouded in death. 

SBG May 2018

So, here we are in 2018. We are one year out from the loss of my dad. We started the seeds indoors for the third time, but with more information and better success than ever. My Mom (Granna), Giraffe, Koala, and I all planted seeds on the one-year mark of my dad's Heaven date. We have twenty-two bales of starter plants, and are greatly looking forward to seeing how they all grow through the summer.

Straw bale gardening started out as something interesting I heard about on the news one day while living in an apartment. It makes practical sense because of my back and other health issues. Our enjoyment of it, however, goes far beyond practicality. Straw bale gardening connects us to the earth, to one another, and to those precious relatives who have gone on without us. My children are growing up with a garden in their backyard. This would not have been possible without straw bale gardening. 

On a more personal note, the bale garden is where I find my peace. It is the place I go to breathe deeply and to center myself when the world is chaotic around me. Every seed is my friend. Every sprout is my baby. Every seedling that becomes a starter plant that then grows into six to eight feet of tomato-bearing goodness is my flesh and blood. Straw bale gardening is how I give back to the earth by sharing with friends, family, and neighbors. It is how the earth gives back to me on a soul-deep level. I would recommend it to absolutely anyone. <3

Hallelujah, She's Planted!!

Has this been a year, or has this been a year? For one, we are nearly in June. Crazy! Five months never went by so quickly! For another, taking on the task of prepping for and filling twenty-two bales of straw was almost daunting! It would have been, had I not been so stinking excited! haha I sincerely intended to plant a mere 14 bales this year, down from last year's 18. Some of those bales were wasted last year, as seeds didn't take. (It was hard for me to stay motivated so close to my dad's death.) It is purely repetition for me say at this point that we ended up with *so* many seedlings that we simply *had* to have the additional eight bales! lol Suffice it to say that this mama loooooves getting straw bales!

This morning we were out in the garden around six thirty (almost on the dot). Giraffe helped out with three bales worth of plants. I tried not to ask for too much help, since it was so early. Koala was a willing worker... almost too willing. That is how it is when they are tiny though, isn't it? haha She wanted to put plants into bales for me, so I had to pull out straw and then very carefully tip the plant out of the plastic cup into her hand. It is a beautiful thing to teach the little ones how to garden! <3 <3 <3 

Above is the somewhat skewed panoramic picture of the yard/garden. Excuse the pool. ;) One does not get through a summer without a pool of some sort, am I right? Call it spring if you want. The temps in the 90's say otherwise! You can see the lettuce camped out to the left of it. haha They are coming along nicely. 

Here is a picture of our pot of potatoes. This is our second attempt. It seems to be successful so far! These are mostly russet, if I remember correctly. We also threw in a red potato I couldn't bear to trash. Truth be told, I don't even know if it is advisable to mix potatoes. It probably isn't! I suppose you can call this an experimental year for us, potato-wise. ;)

Our beets are still tiny, but I have to mention them. They are my absolute favorite seedling at the moment! Why? I am glad you asked! haha These little babies germinate out of their seed looking like wee little flamingos! haha They are tiny, stringy, and a very bright shade of pink! Pictured is one of five little fellas that has leaves. The rest are all naked and hiding in the dirt where I placed them. I'm in love!

These are some of the plants I put in this morning. There were still cabbages, cantaloupe, cucumbers, tomatoes (plenty!), peppers, beets, carrots, parsley, and more squash. :) Let me tell you, we worked fast and hard pulling out straw to make holes, plopping plants into them, and filling them with dirt. When we began it was already 69/70 degrees out and almost 80 degrees when we came back in.

Here are some of my lovely peppers. I initially planned on having two varieties, but thanks to a wonderful weekend trip to the farmer's market I have four! Mine were not growing quickly enough. I now have Big Bertha and Emerald for my greens, Sweet California Wonder (red, yellow, green) and Orange Bell for my colors.

I don't know if you can tell or not, but Koala placed all of our 'fancy' Dollar Tree lawn ornaments into the fronts of the bales this morning. There are now random butterflies, frogs, and birds at odd intervals beautifying our space. It is quite lovely in person, regardless of how how it looks in the pictures. :)

You can probably see one better in this picture of my too-tiny green pepper plants. :) How cute is that little frog? He really adds something to the garden. :) Anyway, I don't suppose I should continue adding pictures. I just wanted to share how sincerely delighted I am in having finished planting my garden for the year! 

To that end, here is a(nother) list of everything that made it into our backyard. I have updated it to reflect the new plants we've added. All told, we planted twenty-two different kinds of tomatoes. Can I say just how *eager* I am to see them thrive and produce fruit!?!?

VEGETABLES

Zucchini 

Romaine Lettuce (green)
Romaine Lettuce (red)

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
New Zealand Spinach

Red Acre Cabbage

California Sweet Wonder Pepper (multi-colored bell peppers)

Emerald Green Bell Pepper
Big Bertha (a 7" huge green pepper)
Orange Bell Pepper

Spaghetti Squash

Butternut Squash

Bush Beans

Muncher Cucumber
Tendergreen Cucumber
Waltham Broccoli

Radishes

Detroit Dark Red Beets

Scarlet Nantes Carrots
Danvers Half Long Carrots
Russet Potatoes
Red Potatoes

FRUITS

Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe

Congo Watermelon

Strawberries

FLOWERS

Morning Glories
Lilacs
Red Roses
White Roses

TOMATOES

Sunrise Bumblebee (a red/yellow striped cherry tomato of moderate size)

Sun Sugar (best guess... small yellow/orange cherry)

Small Yellow Pear
Orange plum 

Honey Delight Hybrid (large 2" light yellow globes)

Chocolate Cherry (an acidic cherry almost brown with green)

Red Cherry 

Brandywine Cherry (same flavor, smaller tomato)

Unknown Small Red Paste (best guess... shaped like small jalapeno peppers)

Gold Nugget (best guess... small, orange cherry)

Plumito (Best guess... dark red, shaped like bell pepper)

Black Cherry

Blue Beauty 

Hillbilly Potato Leaf (large red/yellow fruit)

Beefsteak 

Brandywine (pinkish fruit the size of a slice of bread... my favorite flavor)

Big Rainbow (another large red/yellow fruit)

Steakhouse (the largest tomato ever bred... fruit up to 3lbs! We shall see!)

Abe Lincoln (a regular red heirloom)

Yellow Mortgage Lifter 

Serendipity (another yellow/red mix)

Black Early 

Plan Nine from Outer Space (a yellow/red)

So far, we have harvested bush beans, radishes, and lettuce. The rest is still growing. Also, you can add peas to the list of things I still want to plant as soon as I find an available spot for them to grow! haha I am also eyeballing a bunch of dry beans from my collection, and wondering if they would bother to germinate. haha I cannot help it! I have gardening deep in my blood! <3 <3 <3 I look forward to sharing pictures of produce as the year continues to progress. 

Live happily, everyone. We only get one go at this! :) <3 :)

Straw Bale Garden Update :)

After what felt like an eternity of winter, no spring at all, and what has amounted to being flung face-first into summer... it is safe to say that we are hitting our stride in the garden. That feels incredible! :D I thought I would show you where we are with our garden this past and present week. <3 

This is a view of my messy but happy backyard. :D If my bales look as though they are casually laid around without thought, you are wrong. I wanted them to extend further out this side, closer to the picture. However, we live in a neighborhood that has a governing HOA. They graciously allow me to put up my garden year after year, with two stipulations: 1. It must not be visible from the road. 2. It must be temporary... no permanent structure. 

The bale closest to us was just a wee bit visible from the road when it was aligned with the rest. (Poo!) We had no choice but to point him inward. As you can see, the swingset is in this portion of yard. I did not want the kids' play to be impeded and I did not want my bales to be in harm's way, so we stopped at the one bale. In the far side of the yard, the bales came up to and then skirt around our small patio. The layout doesn't "appear" to make sense, but it does. Bales closest to the house will receive the most shade. They will host the plants which require it. 

This is some of what it looks like from my door. You get a better idea of the layout. Most of the bales are doubled, so we have two full rows. There are 22 bales in all. You can also see what most excites me in this picture!!! Eeeekkk!!! Hubs brought me a cattle panel! Measuring 50" by 16', this beauty supports 10 bales, front and back!

I have planted an assortment of tomatoes (18 varieties) along those back rows. Interspersed in between the tomatoes are cucumbers on the front and cantaloupe on the back. The cucumbers will vine upward through the summer, helping to hold up the tomato plants when they get really tall! The cantaloupe will be directed down the back, out of sight. I simply *cannot wait* to see these bales fully loaded and growing!

Here is a little peek at the bales. We are not done yet, of course. I ran out of dirt, so I need to get more to put around the base of these plants and the plants in the back row. We are still not done inserting plants, either. I have around 30 plants in the house yet, and more on the back porch. I am also germinating beets and carrots. I have peas, more bush beans, some flowers, and a few other seeds I still need to get started, as well. 

This is the view from the side of the patio. Please excuse the red flag in the background. We call 811 before we place stakes, even though we know by now that our garden is not in the way of anything. It is the responsible thing to do. ;)

As previously stated, these will hold plants that need a little bit more shade. We don't get much as it is. Any bit helps.

These are some of the lettuce plants I have growing. This pot contains mostly red romaine lettuce. There are two regular romaine plants growing in there, as well. The other varieties of lettuce are in other containers. They seem to like it in there, so far!

I know that this update doesn't cover 'everything' today. It is going to be harder to cover everything with every post or they would be unending! haha

Anyway, I hope that this at least lets you know what our progression is like. We continue to place plants into bales and containers as we have time - and weather permitting. The rain is free water, so I am not complaining! haha We also continue to germinate new plants so that we are staggering our grow cycles through the summer. We have begun to harvest bush (green) beans and radishes. We could harvest the lettuce while it is small, but I intend to get it grow a bit yet. 

The last thing I haven't mentioned here is the conditioning process of my Mother's Day bales. All eight bales are a solid seven days into the process. They will be ready to plant into by this weekend. Yay!  In all, I would have to say that we are having a successful garden season so far. Surely, a ton of life has burst forth from my dad's heaven-date anniversary this year. We will be continue to nurture, protect, and eventually enjoy consuming the fruits (and vegetables) of that labor of love for months to come. <3 <3 <3 

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Are you tending your spiritual garden? Fill your heart and life with fruits of the spirit. These may be found by time spent daily in His Word. <3