April 25, 2014 Garden update (Greens sprouting)

I wanted to make a quick post about what James and I have been doing the past week, along with some pictures of our vegetable growth.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, my cousin Lisa has asked me to till her garden and grow food this year. So we burned on the garden space to take out the grass, ivy, and other debris. The space is almost as big as the garden at my Mom's, so that will grow plenty of beans, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers. Aside from the tomatoes, these vegetables can be directly sown in the ground.
The next step towards revamping the space is to burn in more spots, then dig up the space with a shovel. This process will take another week due to rain delaying our work. But once the garden is shoveled, we can till then hoe up rows at the beginning of May. 

Other than working on my cousin's garden, we go over to my grandparents to water our rows of greens and peas everyday. Of course we have rain barrels set up to collect rain water.
Below are pictures of the peas sprouting. Parallel to the peas is a row of half Iceberg Lettuce and half Buttercrunch lettuce. The next row over is Kale, then a row of Spinach, then Salad bowl Lettuce, then Grand Rapids Lettuce.
It is hard to see the greens sprouting, but a couple of days of rain will help speed their growth. (Some of the greens will be ready to eat within the next three weeks).

Peas

Iceberg lettuce

Half Iceberg lettuce & Buttercrunch lettuce

Six Rows of greens & peas

Other things that are growing nicely are my cantaloupe and watermelon sprouts. I have transplanted some melon plants to Styrofoam cups with potting soil.

Cantaloupe transplanted to Styrofoam pots

Cantaloupe & Watermelon seed

My tomatoes are growing nicely in the open trays/tubs, while the pepper seeds are taking much time to germinate and sprout. Only but a couple of pepper sprouts have popped up in the last couple of days.

Non-gmo "Beefsteak" tomatoes

San Marzano tomatoes + mixture of other tomatoes

I also have tomatoes and peppers growing in pots. So it seems I have many tomato plants started, but I also have them growing up in my strawberry beds. So I look at it as I am very fortunate. I also have greens and peas I started in large containers-- which are all growing at my Mom's.

"Sweetie" tomatoes

Non-gmo Green peas (I will be saving seed from)

Arugula

As mentioned in my last Garden update, we have planted 125 lbs of potatoes, which I have displayed in the pictures below. I have ten 3 foot wide rows with approximately 12 lbs of potatoes. The rows are very short but we buried those potatoes with lots of pine needles as mulch.

At the beginning of May I will plant Squash on one end of the garden (in the foreground of the picture), then further down I will be planting non-gmo beans.You can see the peas and greens sprouting in the middle of the garden (middle of the picture). Towards the further end of the garden contains potatoes, then at the very end of the garden (in the background of the picture) will contain cucumbers and butternut squash and Cushaw.

Here is a picture an additional garden at my Grandparent's property. It is known as the one across the road. After I get the dirt mashed down, shoveled, then tilled, I will plant corn, beans, and tomatoes. Basically this year I am focusing on seven different fruits and vegetables.

On a final note, I wanted to show you some of the photography I have been doing of the beautiful blooms and the scenes of Spring as well.