June 2, 2012 Garden Harvest

First of all I transplanted all of the Genovese Basil to the garden.  There are 14 in the row garden. I placed them between the tomatoes.  It's supposed to help ward off tomato horn worms.  It worked last year in the square foot garden. We'll see how it goes this year.  I started the basil from seed. 

I also brought the pepper plants outside to sit on the porch and start to harden them off before transplanting.  Serrano, Jalapeno, and Bell. I started them from seed as well (except for 4 of the Serrano).  The Jalapenos did the best.  They sure are pretty and dark green.  Grow lights are wonderful! They are in the shade today but they'll get a little sun in the morning an then back to shade.  

I harvested a few strawberries.  We have a tiny patch and it looks like the voles are back.  I bated around the big square foot garden and need to get more.  It's an organic variety but it works amazingly well.  

And my husband, daughter, and son all loved them.  My husband even encouraged me to buy more and grow a bigger patch.  I wish I remembered which type they were but my mom gave them to me and I have no idea. 

This is Summer Time lettuce that I spread on my plate and added a little LiteHouse Ranch (soy free). And this is the first time growing Summer Time.  It's a head lettuce and it handles the summer heat very well.  It is delicious and pretty.  I can't have wheat (hives) so I use a bed of lettuce instead of a bun with my burgers.

And the Correnta Spinach looks yummy.  Can't wait to eat some of that tonight.

Harvest Monday - March 5, 2012

This is my garden on Friday - looking west. Most of the snow fell in one night.

This is my garden last week:

And here is a pretty photo of the long shadows in the winter Friday morning.

March 1st I spent the day planting seeds for peppers and heirloom tomatoes because Hot Peppers take 12-14 weeks before they can be transplanted outside.  Sweet Peppers take 10 weeks around here. And once I take all of the cold weather veggies outside and away from the sprouting station I will transplant the sweet peppers into 9" pots.

I brought the seed starting mix in from the garage in the 5 gallon bucket.  Then I added water and used my spade to add it into the pots.

 I planted 12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 4 serrano peppers, and 2 cayenne peppers. 

I'm also going to try growing Baby Bok Choy this year.

And in these 6 inch pots I planted heirloom tomatoes which also take a lot longer to sprout and they are pretty slow growing.  I collected the seeds from last year.  This year I purchased seeds for Cherokee Purple which I've never grown before but I've seen that it's quite popular among gardeners.  While I absolutely adore eating Pink Brandywine tomatoes, I do love bottling tomato juice and making my own crush tomato sauce with roasted garlic (my mouth is watering).

Not quite sure why I started my romas.  huh. Early Girls will get planted the first of April.

I purchased the 3 inch peat pots in a pack of 22 for $1.50

Check out Daphne's Dandelions for more great garden ideas!