Well, it finally dried up enough outside that I was able to get out in the garden and plant a few more things today. Here’s what’s going on in the garden so far…
The strawberries are looking good! The little berries are growing, and just starting to turn red.
The potatoes are doing very well. The ones I planted in the rows instead of the holes seem to be coming up better.
When it rained forever, the holes filled up with water. I think some of seeds rotted. Plus, there were worms in the holes when they were wet. But, all in all, they are doing very well.
The first two rows of corn are coming up nicely. I think I’ll need to fertilize them soon. I’m going to see if I could use chicken or goat manure on them (does anybody know?). I planted two more rows of corn today.
I also planted my pole beans today. I wanted to put poles up for them, but hubby hasn’t had the time to construct any for me, and I couldn’t find anything around the house that I could use.
So, I planted them with the corn. I read that you can plant pole beans with corn; they help each other grow. The beans add nitrogen to the soil, and the corn soaks it up.
The corn acts as a pole for the beans to grow up. You’re only supposed to plant one bean seed per corn stalk, so that you don’t overwhelm the stock and weigh it down.
Plant the beans when the corn is a few inches tall. They need to be planted about an inch from the corn stalk, and about 1-2″ deep.
My carrots and lettuce aren’t doing anything. I’m wondering if they’ll even come up.
My cucumbers were doing well… until I got the bright idea to thin some out. I can’t believe how quickly they wilted, practically right before my eyes!
Note to self: don’t thin cucumber seedlings! Perhaps I should have waited till they were much bigger, or maybe I should have just left them alone all together. So now, I’m down from four to two. I might try planting more.
I planted two zucchini plants, but the wind blew one over and the stem broke. So, now I only have one. It’s doing okay… looks like it’s struggling a little.
One of the watermelon seedlings is emerging. I hope it does well!
The cantaloupe haven’t made an appearance yet; not sure they will. I think they should have been up by now.
I finally got the broccoli and tomatoes in the garden today. Both of them are still scrawny seedlings. I really hope they do well. I’m afraid I didn’t get the broccoli in early enough.
From what I’ve read they do much better in cold weather, and it’s starting to get pretty hot here. I’ll probably end up trying them again in Fall. We’ll see!
Next time I start seeds, I won’t use straight potting soil. It gets as hard as a rock after a little while. I’m pretty sure that’s why they haven’t done very well. The little roots have had a hard time growing in such hard soil.
Anyways, that’s my update! How is your garden growing? I’d love to hear from you and see what you guys have been able to do.
A city girl learning to homestead on an acre of land in the country. Wife and homeschooling mother of four. Enjoying life, and everything that has to do with self sufficient living.
Your off to a great start!
If your manure is not “aged” yet, you can find free weed free manure offers on craigslist or your local paper. some people will even load the manure into the back of a truck for you with a back hoe.
You can also speed up the aging process of your manure by combining it with your other compost items in a sunny spot, water regularly, and turn it.
Looks good. Isn’t it exciting when those seeds sprout?
The corn and beans idea really does work…we use it often when we garden. The corn makes a perfect pole for the beans. 🙂 Things are looking good in your garden!! Hope you have a bountiful season!
Your garden is looking good. I just mentioned the green beans with corn idea on my site this morning too. I forgot to do that this year.
Love your garden photos! I started a new gardening meme this week on my blog. Maybe you will link yours up next week 🙂
Any manure should be composted at least a year before adding to soil where you are growing food.
My raised beds are doing nicely, but it has rained for so long I haven’t gotten any corn in yet! Don’t know if it is too late or not. Some of the commercial farms have corn that is already about 4-5″ tall.
It’s looking really good! We compost our chicken manure first, I am not sure if it’s okay to put it on their fresh or not, maybe someone else will know. Your soil looks like it may have clay in it, does it? I have heard both ways about the pole beans and corn. Some say it’s good, some say it’s bad. Seems like a good way to use your corn stalks, lol! You should see how we have ours, it’s pretty redneck looking! I would like to have corn next year, I think. I just posted an update about my garden yesterday on my blog. My strawberry plants made lots of red strawberries and they are so juicy! It’s really exciting to see the rewards of our labor!