Garden Update and other mindless, nonoffensive info

I can't believe there are actual sprouts in MY garden! I cannot believe, with the brown thumb I am cursed with, that there could actually be new life! I must give a lot of credit to T who actually planned out the irrigation system to make it "sweet" - I mean water is the most important part!! But, whatever the reason, I am so excited to see my new green babies pop their little heads up out of the dirt! Little do they know that they will either be sacrificed to allow for ample room for others to grow or they will be plucked from the dirt at maturity to end up in my salad bowl topped with a little fat free Catalina! Hey, that's destiny for ya.

So here is a tour of the garden as of today:
I believe these are the radishes peeking through. The first two rows are radish seeds mixed with carrot seeds per my SMom's suggestion. The third and fourth row only have carrot seeds. Therefore, I have concluded these are radishes due to the fact that the 3rd and 4th rows are not showing any sprouts as of yet.




Here is a close up:



No sign of the green onions that I planted from seed and the garlic and shallot are still hiding as well. But my sweet onions that used to be in a cardboard box waiting for the garden:




...are looking AMAZING now that they are in the actual garden! They are LOVING it! They look thicker, greener and taller. I couldn't be more excited!




My peppers are remaining about the same. A little bit of growth has been noticed. I took a flower off of the chile pepper per advice I have been given. I guess for peppers and tomatoes you want to deadhead any blossom that develops before it reaches a foot tall so that the plant can use the energy it is dedicating to the blossom to growing taller and fuller, thus producing more fruit. Here are my peppers as of today:



And my tomato plants (which have grown significantly since planted):




No cucumbers popping out of the ground yet but one row of lettuce is making itself known! I just noticed this today and I was super excited to see some growth. I can't remember which variety this lettuce is but, once I get my garden log together, I will send that info along. But lettuce nonetheless...




My herbs - the cilantro is really taking off but the others are pretty much the same (or at least I can't tell the difference). The only one I am really concerned about is the pineapple sage. Its leaves are not looking so good so we'll see how that goes. I know our Super Walmart up the road has bins of them so I can replace it if it bites the dust.




My mint - looks to be spreading. I have always heard that these herbs are VERY hard to get rid of so it may be right down my alley! I have limited it to a small pot so that it doesn't take over anything else. How cool will it be to use my own mint for my Derby party mint juleps?




These are Tay's plants. The geranium's name is Jewel and, yes, there are glass marbles in the pot per Tay's choice. And part of the reason her name is Jewel. Tay picked her out, picked out the pot, helped me plant her, helped me paint the pot and waters her when she is here.

The other plant, the succulent, is Orphan Andy. We found him laying in the Home Depot parking lot on the way out last weekend. We didn't see anyone drop him and he looked to be left with no home. So we took him. Tay picked out his pot and we are going to paint it next weekend. She doesn't mind that his full name is Orphan Andy but asked me if she could just call him Andy because that's easier! =]




The latest garden development is one that T just pointed out to me while I was doing this entry. I had to take the camera downstairs to check it out. It's my garlic, it's sprouting too! It may be hard to see in these pics but you are looking for a greenish brown oblong looking sprout:







That's the latest update! We are about to head out for a bike ride and then come back for me to make some Baked Ziti for dinner. It is a new recipe I found so I want to try it tonight. Tomorrow will be gym and then lunch with Steph, Lauren and Ryan. I am hoping T can make it too.

Oh, and we finally bought a refrigerator for the garage. I have been wanting one to hold soft drinks and beers so that we can clear out our kitchen fridge. Plus the extra freezer space will be nice for meats that I may buy in bulk! It will be delivered on Friday! Yay!

Well, I hope this entry didn't leave a scratch on anyone. I am looking to make the blog a little less exciting for a while...well, until someone else gets their feathers all ruffled because of garden envy! Haha! Kidding (I think).

Time to ride off into the sunset...