Friday, June 26, 2009

Garden Update

This past weekend I spent 1/2 of Thursday and all day Friday getting caught up in the garden. Thursday I tilled the corn and the empty space between the corn and green beans.
And went through the bean rows a couple times. We have mostly grass "weeds" in our garden, so it takes a bit to get it tilled all pretty looking.
Here are the tomato plants and pepper plants. It's kinda hard to see the peppers... they are to the right of the front 2 tomato plants.
Friday the first thing I did was put nitrogen on the corn. Our soil is pretty "blah" to say the least. Not only does the corn need the nitrogen (notice the leaves yellowing), but it also gives it a nice kick in the pants and helps it do really well anyway. To do that I used the hoe to dig a trench down the side of each row (since I have double rows I did one on each side of the double row) and then shoogied the granular nitrogen into the trench. After that I covered it up and watered it to help it get started into the soil.
Then I planted more corn. 1 whole double row and 2 three-quarter length double rows. There were 2 volunteer squash or zucchini plants growing and I didn't want to eliminate them for the corn. If all the corn does well, I hope to have a bumper crop!! Last year we didn't have nearly as much as I wanted, so I'm all gung-ho on it this year.
And of course watered the newly planted corn :) I was a little surprised how dry the dirt was. It has been a bit since it's rained, and it was ALL dry. When I ran the tiller there was a nice cloud of dust kicking up around me.
At the end of the day I spent some time in the beans. I weeded about 3/4 the way down 2 of the rows. I hope to get the rest finished this week. They are starting to bloom, and I killed 2 bugs, too. I didn't notice lots of eggs, but I imagine they are out there. I just hope they don't do too much damage before I notice them and get them sprayed.
In the empty space above the tomatoes and peppers I tilled that all up and planted 1 whole row of squash (yellow straight-neck) and 1 whole row of zucchini. It is probably a bit late to be planting seeds for them, but we have a longer growing season so I'm hoping that we get a nice crop :) I know, it sounds like a lot to me, too, but so far I haven't had a season yet without something getting my squash/zucchini plants. I figure if we have too much I can give it away. I think I would rather plant/get more than not plant as much and not have enough.

6 comments:

Phoebe @ GettingFreedom said... [Reply to comment]

Yay for pictures! :) Looks great!!

We meant to plant corn (which is one of my husband's favorites) but we got so incredibly busy that we just didn't get to it. Our whole goal this year was to have loads of corn, green beans, herbs and tomatoes. Atleast we'll end up with loads of tomatoes! I have a lot of green beans in, but I keep wondering if it is enough to last us until next year. Hopefully I can get a fall crop in.

Elizabeth said... [Reply to comment]

Looks terrific! I can't wait to have my own yard soon and get a veggie garden going next year. There won't be enough time this year (Minnesota freezes early in the fall) so I'll have to spend the winter researching what to do!

Sally said... [Reply to comment]

Wow! You have been working like crazy in that garden, and it shows! It looks fantastic! You're doing great. I fertilized our anemic corn this evening. I don't know if it is in time to help, since it is already making ears. Well, I am off to check FB and clean the bathroom.

Leisia said... [Reply to comment]

I love your garden. I haven't been able to find very much time to give my garden the attention it needs but I already have veggies like crazy. I cant hardly keep up with picking the greenbeans. It feels good to eat a meal that you grow yourself, it is so worth it.

Anonymous said... [Reply to comment]

Wow! I can't believe how green your yard is. We are burn't to a crisp. I can't water cause the cistern spigot busted and so the corn looks like pineapple tops! I am hoping to get it fixed today though!!

Leighann said... [Reply to comment]

Miriam,

Your garden is beautiful! We planted a garden this year for the first time. We made pickles from all of the cucumbers last weekend and are going to do another batch this weekend. We have also gotten squash and dug a few new potatoes. No beans yet, but it shouldn't be long. We are hooked!

I was worried about the lack of rain here lately, but we have had some GOOD rain this evening in Powhatan and hope you got some up your way too.

Happy gardening!

Leighann