Garden Started Outside

Finally, stuff planted outside!

Well, I did get the snow peas planted outside 3 weeks ago and they are emerging well.

But the other stuff had to wait.  I should mention that I love "square foot gardening".  Well, it's just me here, so I don't need much of anything at one time.  Can you just imagine me using a 20' row of cabbage all at once?  LOL!

So I plant in square feet individually in succession, as long as the season permits and then for Fall too.  So right now, I have individual intensive plantings of carrots, 2 kinds of radish, spinach, beets, shallots, scallions, chinese cabbage, and kohlrabi.  I have leeks ready to transplant in 2 weeks.

Nothing but labels right now, though there are seedlings emerging everywhere but the spinach.  I had no luck with that last year; it may be the seeds.

My garlic planted last Fall is doing well...  They are on the opposite side of the trellis from all the small crops.

My cole crops are looking good as transplants.  I gave the seeds better light this year and it shows.  This year I have broccoli, cabbage and radicchio.  I'll be trying brussels sprouts as a Fall crop this year; it just doesn't work here planted in Spring.

I know it looks like so little, but 3 of each will keep me for a month and I have succession plantings scheduled for 2 weeks.  I will start more of them for a Fall harvest too.

My small herb garden, planted last year, is doing great!  I have parsley, tarragon, thyme, chives,  sage.  And I am growing the few annual basil plants.

 I am even trying celery and parsnips, but it is too early for transplants or direct seeding.

The more regular veggies have to wait for a few weeks.  My heirloom tomatoes are great this year.  They are short and compact with good stems.  I have transplanted them once indoors  and they will go out in 2 weeks.  I have red, yellow, orange, and lilac sweet bell peppers ready to go in early May.

There will be flat Italian pole beans, cukes, 3 kinds of melons, squashes later. but that's for May days, not April around here.

And I have 6 flats of annual flowers going now.  THAT should brighten up the garden.  I love my perennials, but only annuals give a backbone of lasting color and I am using more this year.  And I can plant them in different places next year for a change of appearance.  Salvias, marigolds, forget-me-nots,  impatiens, and coleus.  Nothing special, just some plants to lock in season-long color in varying light conditions.

There are a few perennials I am ordering more of this year.  Some that grew well where I put them and I plan to make larger areas of those successful plants.  The stokesias and troillus did well, so more of them .  My flowerbed was too full of too many small groups of flowers.  I want larger areas of those that do well here.  Instead of 6 square feet of something; 60!  That's still only 6' x 10' per plant!

My total long flowerbed is about 100' by 10', so there is plenty of room.