The tomatoes are coming along nicely as well. They have reached a point where I need to start tying them up to the trellis. They have also begun to flower. There are already a couple of tiny green tomatoes on a few of the plants. I have a feeling that I will be getting plenty of tomatoes this year since they have gotten off to such a good start for me.
The potatoes are growing like mad. They too have started flowering which means that there are also tubers forming underground. It has been months since I have eaten a fresh potato and I may start digging them up a little early since I have so many volunteers around the garden. Potatoes seem to really like it here and have always grown well for me.
The cucumbers seem to be off to a rough start. They didn't germinate all that well and I think many of them were mowed down by young grasshoppers shortly after they came up. I did have a handful of survivors that seem to be doing ok, but I had to do a second round of planting about a week ago. Hopefully this round will have better luck than the first and fill in the large gaps on the trellis. I am hoping to can a bunch more pickles this summer, so I will be needing lots of cucumbers from these beds. I may even have to buy more seed if this round doesn't take off the way I hope.
The corn beds are looking fairly happy. They had some patchy germination, but the ones that did come up are doing well. I planted Ute Indian Squash in the larger gaps in the corn beds. I also planted Scarlet Runner Beans in the smaller gaps. This is yet another variation on the three sisters that I am trying this year. I think that timing of the plantings is important so each variety gets what they need. The beans go in last so that the corn has time to grow tall enough to support them. The squash go in after the corn germinates but is still small enough that it won't shade out the young squash. I try to put them on the edges of the beds so that they can sprawl out from the bed as much as they want without really bothering anything else. By the end of summer the squash should make a good ground cover between the corn and around the edges of the beds.
The celery is looking very good. I finally got around to weeding everything thoroughly and this bed revealed happy, healthy celery plants and a nice row of parsnip seedlings. The celery stalks are still small, but I have begun to add the tender young stalks to my salads and stir fries.
The green beans are off to a good start. All three rows had decent germination and I only lost a few to insect damage. This bed was very weedy, but once I got those under control and mulched around the beans, things were looking pretty nice in here. I saw the beginnings of flowers on some of the plants, so I'm sure it won't be long until my dinner menu includes fresh green beans.
The broccoli are filling out nicely. I saw the beginnings of florets on some of the plants so I should be able to start harvesting soon. I just hope the heat doesn't cause them to bolt. The bed does get some shade during the day, but it has been in the 90s here and the sun is intense.
This was the spinach bed that got away. There were a number of other things planted in this bed and they were all cool season crops that are now past their prime for harvesting. There were numerous lettuce volunteers and a handful of radishes that came up without any help from me. Also the turnips that I planted over winter skipped forming a nice round root and instead went straight to flowering. I will let this bed go to seed so I can have more free veggies again next year. I was able to harvest lettuce and radishes from this bed daily over the past few weeks and all I had to do was add water.
The onion beds have been growing very nicely for the past several weeks. I was able to weed them pretty well before they were mulched and they seem to be enjoying the benefits of a straw blanket. Some of them are sending up flower heads also, so I may get free onion seed to plant next year also.
Last but not least is the very nice looking garlic bed. The plants are nearing the end of their season. They have started to send up their flower stalks or scapes and I will be harvesting them for fresh eating for as long as they are available. Once the lower leaves begin to turn brown I will have to let the bed dry out a little before I harvest and cure my garlic crop. I am excited to see what the bulbs look like this year. Garlic is a crop that will acclimate to it's environment over time. This is the third year I have planted it in this garden and the bulbs have gotten bigger every year.
Most of the garden has gotten off to a good start this year and as long as I can keep it from drying out too much I think I can look forward to a pretty decent harvest season this summer. I am happy that I was able to get most everything mulched in this early in the season. It should make a lot less work for me as far as weeding and watering goes. I am going to try to keep my watering as minimal as possible due to the very bad drought we are experiencing here, so the mulch will definitely be helpful with that. Now I will have a little more time in the next few weeks to turn my attention to other parts of the yard like the flower bed. Maybe this will be the year that I keep up with the ragweed infestation.
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