How does your garden grow?

We spent a good portion of the day working on the gardens.  It still isn't all done but we got more planted.  Some things, like beans, we plant all the way through the middle of July so we have enough for farmers' markets.  Others like the squash and melons need to get in asap.

In the garden by the house, the one that is mostly for us not markets, we put in some more peppers.  They were sitting by the garage just begging to get in the ground so we put them in this garden just to get them in.  The garden is also full of row after row of radishes that just are not growing in our odd spring weather.  I thought that most of them would be out by now but they still will need a few more weeks.  Because they are still there I am not able to plant somethings as soon as I would have liked to.   I am sure everything will catch up once we have some warm nights. 

He did go back and fill the spots were the previously planted veggies didn't germinate as well as they could have.  The peas had a few bare spots as did the Black Seeded Simpson lettuce.  The spinach is tiny but already blooming so I may just dig it up and replant.  Dancer put a small of spinach at an end of a row that had a little more room in it.  It was a different kind of spinach so maybe it will do better.  We also put in some Asian beans that grow to a yard long, those sounded kinda fun.  We also got a melon and squash put in down by the radishes.  By the time the radishes come out the melon and squash can start taking over that room.  I put them in where the sunflowers were because a rabbit got in and ate all but about five of the sunflowers.  A short row of wax beans made it in the dirt.  It was a little 10 cent packet so it didn't go far but we will get a few.

Of course, there was plenty of weeding to do.  They are growing like, well weeds.  We will weed one day and the next a new crop has popped up over night.

In the market garden there are six long rows of snap peas that are starting to come up.  Five long row of lettuce are almost ready to be picked.  We have 37 tomato plants that are well established despite the lack of rain we have  had.  We have done some watering.  We don't over do it with watering because we have to run the pump which makes the electric bill pop right up to levels that make me uncomfortable to write the check out when I know it was for water.  The bill and, this hasn't happened to us here, but we don't want the well to go dry when it gets droughtish.  The kids put in 27 hills of cucumbers.  They hope that they will be their big money maker this summer.  Those they will advertise in the paper or perhaps on Craig's List besides taking them to the market.  We got another rhubarb plant this spring so now we have seven.  It will takes a few years for them to really start producing but they have a good start. 

Dad got two more of the gardens tilled.  I know he put green beans in one, not sure what he has planned for the other one.

Since the kids get all their spending money from the farmers' markets they have really been pitching in and helping.  If they don't work, they don't get paid.  Spark other years has seen Dancer get paid and he hasn't because he refused to help.  This year he has some items he wants to buy and so he has stepped his game up.