Update

So I've been avoiding you. And I'm sorry. Oh well though "you" is a general term for the people that don't even read my blog in the first place so really its no big deal.
So I picked green beans today and there were enough for the father and I to have some, along with peas from the garden and the CSA, and a single carrot. The outside was very purple, the inside not so much. Basically just the peel was orange and the inside was yellow. But I'm not too worried about it. I think next year I'll grow orange though as they're supposed to taste better. And I think I'll plant more because they're doing really well and don't have problems with pests really. I'll also plant more beans. I estimate that I've only gotten about 3/4 of a pound so far, but they're still producing so I'm not considered about that number. And I didn't even plant that many. The ones in the earthbox definitely grew faster though, but they sort of are covering up the carrots. I think if i plant beans again in the box ill just do 2 rows because 8 carrots is pretty measly and the beans are sort of smothering them anyway.

The potatoes are basically failing and I don't know why. I've used organic bug spray and serenade on them and they stopped their spiral downward but still look pretty much like shit. The tomatoes are doing well but I planted them too close together. And Isis Candy grew like a maniac but has one baby cherry as far as I can see. And its flopping all over the place. One of them has a very manageable habit but I don't know which yet because the 'maters are still green. Cream sausage has done very well, and I think I'll plant more determinate types next year because it has loads of them and its not to big. Some dumb animal ate like 3 of the green ones though. Asshole. The cucumbers are doing well too but the stupid deer keep eating they're leaves off. They've grown up to the top already and the deer can't reach that far so its okay now. The lettuce is all flowery and happy, but so far only the yugoslavian red has any opened ones. I plan to pollinate and save some before the Forellenschuss opens up. Hopefully that one will just self pollinate.

The peas did well except they had a bunch of caterpillars so I'll have to keep an eye on that for next year. And Japanese beetles are freaking all over the place I'm going to look for some organic killer but if I can't find any I'll probably get some anyway. I'm sick of them.

Prom!

Well today is my senior prom which is all rather exciting, but I'm not such a fan of dances. It'll still be a blast though and if you're lucky I might post a picture of myself and the date.

In gardening news, the peas have sprouted and look rather weird. I've never grown peas before so this is interesting. The first planting of lettuces are approaching leaf lettuce size and I might be robbing a few leaves for my tacos that I'm having for lunch. Mmmm that sounds really delicious does it not? I'm not sure if its allowed to steal from head lettuce or romaine, but oh well I plan on doing it anyway.

I hilled the first set of potatoes that basically just shot up out of the ground like nobody's business. The carrots have finally sprouted and I can see that I was a little bit disorganized in my planting. There will be like 5 inches of no carrot and then suddenly three on top of one another. I guess I'll have to thin those out which makes me sad. Also, the cucumber seeds I started have sprouted and I just can't wait to get my hands on some fresh cucumbers for cucumber salad and homemade pickles. I like using Mrs. Wage's (I think) kosher dill mix. I just pour it over top and refrigerate and the pickles are absolutely delicious. I'm also very excited for one of my favorite recipes that I'll get to enjoy 100% homegrown in 1.5-2 months. It goes like this:

New potatoes with the skins on, halved or quartered
Fresh rosemary
Fresh peas, shelled or sugar snap
Butter

Now that I think about it the butter will not be homegrown. But all of the vegetables are in the ground so assuming no catastrophe occurs we'll get to enjoy that soon (ish). Hey I think I'll post up my essay about hydrogen power. For all of you people that dream of clean energy, this paper is a tantalizing story of a new technology from an up-and-coming firm from Silicon Valley. I think I'll go put that up in a second post after lunch.

Peace!

Catching Up

Since I decided to do this after we had already built the garden and gotten stuff ready I'm just going to write a summary of what's been done in our first year of a garden.

We (meaning mostly I, and some input from the family) decided to plant 5 types of tomatoes, 4 types of peppers, two types of basil, chives, peas, green beans, potatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and strawberries. Me and my dad built the raised bed frame, which is about 30' x 3.5'. My friend and I used her truck to take a trip down to the solid waste agency and have it filled with (free!) compost three times. It took all day and was hard work, but it was a blast. We then went to Earl May and got straw for mulch, marigolds to do their magic thing that tomatoes apparently like, and strawberry plants. Unfortunately we only get six strawberry plants and our planter takes nine, so our six are just waiting to be planted. We then made some rows in the mulch to plant lettuce, for which I am VERY excited because I've never had anything but supermarket iceberg, with the occasional romaine thrown in. I chose Yugoslavian Red Butterhead and Forellenschuss as our lettuces because they both had some nice seed catalog prose. Also, a few weekends before my friend and I planted the basil, dill, moss rose flowers, and some tomatoes in a seed starting setup.

Most of the lettuce seeds have now sprouted and I'm am impatiently waiting for them to grow some leaves so I can thin them out while sampling my choices. I also planted the potatoes, but having so many different types of plants in a relatively small garden means that I only have a total of about 7 feet of potatoes, plus our two Potato Grow Bags from Gardener's Supply Co. That probably won't end up being very much potatoes but we also have our CSA, for which I am also VERY excited because we will have so many fresh local vegetables and I will be able to feel all good and happy about inside while I stuff my face.

As I write this I should really probably be working on my research paper that I haven't really started yet, or doing my calculus, but oh well.

Just in case any of you wanted to know what types of each plant I'm growing, I'll give you a list of all the fancy-sounding heirlooms because the other plants just have lame generic names anyway. If I end up having fantastic harvests of peas or something, you can just ask me where I got them later on down the road.
Tomatoes: Yellow Sausage, Isis Candy (sounds sooo good), Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Gold Medal
Peppers: Fish, Tolli's Sweet Italian, Buran, and something else (we ordered plants from Seed Saver's so long ago)
Basil: Thai and Purple

Alright that paper is really calling... peace.