What's Working and What's Not.

First of all, sorry for the gap between posts, but as a writer, my first priority is my novels and deadlines and self-promotion and ...well, the list goes on - lol! With that said, alot of interesting things are happening in our garden these days. The weather has been spectacular, and the plants are really feeling it! Well, except for those plants that are clearly giving in and giving up. I'm quite annoyed with those plants - yes, they know who they are.

So, for fun I decided to rate all the new plants in the garden as if they were a first date.

The beans...

As I excepted, trying to plant anything in egg cartons yields nothing but frustration and a few tears..lol.. I think it's because as soon as the moisture goes in, it evaps right out - no matter what I cover it with. At this point, I got nothin' but dry soil and seed.

Egg carton=Jerk. :-)

La Topsy Turvy (Say this 10 times fast and in a French accent)

Yeah, laugh it up, but last year this baby grew us some pretty and very tasty tomatoes as well as some Pasilla chilies. This year, I have no idea what's happening. Although there are tiny tomatoes on it already, the leaves look horribly sad... (Shakes head)

Topsy Turvy=Inconsistent and kind of unattractive

The corn.

The corn.

I don't know what's happening here. Here's the corn several weeks ago...

... and here it is now.

Can you see the difference? I know I can't. Basically at this rate, I think I'll have corn sometime in the summer of 2015...

Corn=Not ready to commit.

Then there's this.

Oh yeah, baby!

The tomatoes planted right in the organic compost bag. Wow. Beautiful, and a ton of flowers. This was a great tip, great idea for easy planting - although I'm not sure what to do when the fruit begins... do I try and cage it?? nonetheless...

Tomatoes=Dreamy, what a catch!

And last but not least..

The Taters.

GORGEOUS! Who knew this would be so simple, so beautiful, so hardy. I say, plant some today - the only thing is, I have NO IDEA WHEN THEY'RE READY. Do you?

Potatoes=Soul Mate.

That's right I said it!

I Got It! I Got it!

With so little space to grow anything here, the city has provided some acreage for us Angelinos (or is it Angelenos?) to use. The problem is so many people want these 10x20 plots you need to wait until one opens up. I put my name on the waiting list over a year ago! I got the call a few weeks ago, and went in and claimed my land:-) It's very exciting and wonderful to be around all these fabulous experienced and newbie gardeners.

Here are some pictures that Little Manster took of our space as well as several others.

(We haven't decided what to plant here yet, but I'll let you know when we do!)

Here's our plot, the one on the right. The one on the left is new too, but this woman got it before I could snap it up. I was very jealous of the beautiful artichoke plant they left behind...

Speaking of artichokes - look at this beauty!

There's a greenhouse too - anyone can use it, start from seed..

You can grow pretty much anything here: veg, fruit, flowers - it just can't be over 6 feet and block the sun from another's garden.

This person is just getting started with her raised beds..

Lovely flowers..

This is a great thing to look into for you and your kids. They can really have pride of ownership here, choose what they want to grow and take the responsibility of caring for it - its success or failure. At our garden center, there's picnic tables and beaches. After looking at our plot, Little Manster and I had a snack in the shade and read some books. He was pretty tired afterwards and took a 2 1/2 hour nap...a nice side benefit, and I'm not afraid to admit it!

In Honor Of Greenie's Birthday...

We have green sprouts!

The Potatoes have risen!

Tomatoes, Cucs and Beans - Oh My!

B.E.A.N.S.

Greenie's choices were yellow beans, Roma tomatoes and pickling cucumbers. We decided to try the topless egg cartons for this. I've never been successful with egg cartons, but I wanted to try it again. It's fun, easy and when/if your seeds arrive, you can plant the whole deal in the ground!

Start the regular way. Soil in.

One seed in the center of each cup.

Almost there..

Use very important garden tool (Blue Sharpie) to push seeds down and cover with soil.

That's it. Water it and cover with plastic wrap.

Now cross your fingers..:-)