Strawberries Week 2

After two weeks of growth and daily watering, they have grown like champs. Of all the roots/plants that were put in the ground, only one hasn’t taken. 🍓

Strawberry Time 🍓

On a chilly June day (55 degrees), we planted Quinalt Everbearing strawberries from bare roots. We bought them from Amazon. From what I understand they are supposed to be planted during the spring, so I hope the abnormally cold June day will help them grow. 

The direction from the seller said that they should be planted in at least 30% sand. I grabbed some sand from the sandbox and threw it in liberally. I also think I planted them too close to each other. I’m just hoping they grow quickly and then I can transplant them to other areas. 

Harvest Time

This is the fruits of the labor.

The HONEYSHAW seeds given to me by a coworker have been the easiest melons to grow ever! They were like the magic bean seeds that just grew and grew. I picked several of the melons, and this is what they look like. A canary colored melon with an orange center. To be honest, they taste like cantaloupe. My kids and my wife liked it! Success

I brought this into work and cut it up, as you can...orange fruit. Kinda tastes like cantaloupe. 

Week 1 (kinda)

The peas are creeping up the trellis however we don’t have any pods yet, strange. 

After putting in the tomatoes 🍅 it got pretty cold and rainy for the last couple weeks. They definitely are not thriving, hopefully they make it. 

June 3rd we finally got around to planting the rest of the garden. We had to use a lantern because it was about 9:45 when we were putting in the last of the seeds. We put in corn, beans, cucumber 🥒, zucchini, summer squash, cantaloupe, pumpkin, and thanks to a coworker we tried something that I’ve never even heard of before. We tried honeyshaw. It’s a mix between a Crenshaw and a honey dew. I planted five mounds of the honeyshaw. Hopefully the melon gods smile down on us ☀️ 

The tomatoes and peppers are planted. All but one of the tomatoes we’re grown in a coworkers green house. Everything else was bought at the local Home Depot.

It’s hard to see from this picture, but the strawberries are growing like crazy in the upper left of the picture. I had to move a few of them because they were creeping too far into the garden. I think I killed them all. I’ll keep you posted to see if they survive.

Backyard Landscape Project

After looking at our backyard by the shed, we decided that it needed some TLC

The project took some time because I had to run a whole new sprinkler line to the area.

It's done!
We put fresh new sod in, lined the shed with bark, and put paver stones at the door.
So much better!

Garden 3.0 (Week 20)

This is what happens when you don't prune your peach tree. It can't even keep it's little branches up (except for that one rogue branch sticking straight up on the right side of the picture) and it looks more like a bush than a tree. The peaches taste amazing though!

The corn is only a week or two away from being ripe, can't wait!

 We learned this year that we need to get larger tomato cages. The tomato plants are tipping over and the cages can't handle the weight. That's a good sign though that the garden is growing. Also, the green beans are out of control. They just keep producing. For all of you reading this post, come over and grab some.

I know we have had some people wishing that the little patch of grass would make a comeback...wait no more, here it is in all of its green glory. You're welcome Vain Janglings.

The Joy of Owning a Boat

Garden 3.0 (Week 17)

The first three rows of corn are looking great. The last four are looking pretty shabby. *Note: I planted the last four, Julie planted the first three...hmmm...

Our zucchini plants are out of control as always. If you need some, give me a holler. I'm starting to door bell ditch them on people's doorsteps

The tomato plants look amazing. No red tomatoes yet, but plenty of blossoms.

The beans used to look like rows, now they're just a mass of green.

Garden 3.0 (Week 14)

Carrots and onions are looking like they might produce something worth eating!

The green beans are also looking better. For a while they were getting eaten by some sort of creature/insect, but they're pulling through now.

The tomatoes and peppers are also enjoying the 100 degree heat. Growing super well.

The corn is now all in the ground. This morning I planted the last 2 rows.

Garden 3.0 (Week 11)

As requested, I made a quick video of the garden and how it's looking right now. 

The peas are ready to harvest and taste amazing. I took them to work this morning, and they were liked by all! (Well, maybe not Justin)

 The green beans are growing pretty well. I'm glad Julie planted them this year. They seem like they're being eaten by something. I'm going to blame it on that dang Sasquatch.

 The corn is starting to poke through!

Garden 3.0 (Week 10)

On Memorial Day we had a long day working out in the yard. It started early in the morning so that we could get sprinklers in for a grass area that we are adding around the shed. I wore a cheap cowboy hat that I bought at a gas station, and that proved to be very helpful as it was in the upper 80's all day long. My goal was to have all of this done by Tuesday, the first day of the summer semester. I got very close to finishing it, I got all the trenches dug, the pipes laid, and now I just have 3 of the 6 sprinklers left to finish the project! 

This picture is of the three rows of corn that Julie planted. We decided to plant the corn a couple rows at a time so that we don't have so much corn all at once. Last year we were eating corn for breakfast, lunch and dinner.Julie planted four rows of Tendergreen Beans in this area. You will also notice that we have peppers and tomatoes to the left of the beans. Since we have been doing the sprinkler project, we haven't been stellar at watering, so they are looking a little wilted.

The peas are really starting to get heavy, as you can see they are pulling down the trellis. The interesting thing is that the row without the trellis is creeping over so that it can attach itself. It's weird how plants adapt to their environment.

Quilting Star

So this is what happens when your mom is kind of a big deal in the quilting world, you end up in quilting magazines and on quilting websites. Yep, my wife (Julie) and I were part of a marketing campaign for Handi Quilter, where my mom works. We could be found in quilting magazines all throughout the country, enjoying our new quilt that my mom made for our wedding. 

Garden 3.0 (Week 8)

I went on a walk in downtown Ogden this afternoon (amid some grumblings from my friends) and saw some really unique homes. One of those homes had a garden with onions. The onions were huge! (well, at least the green above ground part). I am doing something wrong with my onions. Does anyone have any advice?

The peas are really starting to weigh down the trellis. The netting is not holding very well, so I'll need to figure out another way to tighten it.

Also, note that there is a trace of snow on the ground...are you kidding me?! It's May 17th and we're still getting snow. Now I understand why these are called snow peas. Speaking of snow peas, here are some little known facts about them:

• Snow peas are thought to be an Asian vegetable. That’s because today they are essential to Chinese cooking. 
• Snow peas are the main pea eaten in China and Japan.
• Snow peas were first cultivated in Holland.
• The snow pea was developed by Dutch farmers in 1536. The Dutch love developing new tender, sweet peas.
• From Holland, snow peas—which were then known as Dutch peas—traveled to England and from England traders introduced snow peas to China. The Chinese name for snow pea is hoh laan dau—which means Holland pea.
• The Chinese snow pea did not get the name snow pea in China. Immigrant Cantonese farmers in San Francisco during the nineteenth century called the Chinese pea shii dau—snow pea. No one is sure why.

http://www.harvesttotable.com/2007/04/snow_peas_you_can/

Garden 3.0 (Week 7)

 The carrots and onions are finally showing some life, unlike the Jazz in the playoffs. One of the reasons they were so slow might be that I didn't put any fertilizer in the soil before planting them. So, for all of you looking for garden tips, this blog hasn't been ripe with them lately.

The peas are really starting to take off. I've been hand watering them every night and I think that's been key for the recent growth. The trellises seem to be holding pretty strong, but I worry about when the fruit comes that they won't be able to hold the weight. The next couple weeks are going to be telling. Stay tuned!

Garden 3.0 (Week 6)

I did it! It's the first time I've ever put up a trellis for my peas. It's hardly even noticeable, but the two closest rows have trellis nets in between the two posts. I left the far row without a trellis to see what the difference in yield will be.
The trellis netting is very fine and the posts are super slim. I hope they will be able to hold up the peas, especially since the netting is held on by twist ties I found in the pantry. Sophisticated, I know.

The onions and carrots are barely doing anything, nothing much to report.

On a side note: Once again it snowed on the peas, making them a true Snow Pea. 

Garden 3.0 (Week 5)

The peas are finally showing some life. I've had an idea of putting a trellis next to them so that they can grow rather than just flop on the ground like in years past. I'm still trying to figure out what the best, cheapest method will be since the rows are pretty long. Stay tuned to see how it's going to happen. (On a side note, I received feedback that the patch of grass I was blogging about was not very interesting, especially when compared to Sugar Snap Peas. Therefore I've pulled it from the blog)
Also, notice the circle patch of plants in the background. I believe they are volunteer sunflowers from last year, because of that, I will let them grow for a month or two to see if that's the case.

Garden 3.0 (Week 3)

Can you believe it?! It's that time of the year again, time to put seeds in the ground and hope for a miracle. Once again, we didn't really prepare the soil with any organic fertilizer, so we're just hoping for Mother Nature to take over. Luckily there has been a lot of rain, and even snow to keep the ground moist. I wonder if the Snow Peas will taste better because of it.

The peas are popping out of the ground, but the row of onions and carrots aren't even showing. Carrots and onions didn't work last year either. Stay tuned for next week, and maybe we'll see the carrots rise from the dust.

Yep, I had to add the grass section again, and it's looking decent after the winter. That's all.

A Brand New Garden (Week 13)

The harvest is in full swing! We can't keep up with all the produce. The tomatoes are ripe and ready. There seems to be a new zucchini every day. We have corn coming out of our ears, and boy are they tasty.

A Brand New Garden (Week 9)

The corn is now taller than me (6 ft) and the tassles are in full bloom. This corn is making me look like I know how to grow a garden.

The Zucchini is out of control. We ended up sending 6 zucchini's through the food processor for zucchini bread. Now we have several bags of it in our freezer. 

The tomato plants themselves are growing super well, but the tomatoes haven't really taken off yet. I would assume they grow really well in the next few weeks. The broccoli and cauliflower haven't done anything yet. Similar to the tomatoes the plants are huge, but haven't given any produce yet. 

The sod is still somewhat green. The area closest to the shed door is not getting enough water, needing more hand watering.