Sunday, April 12, 2015

SPRING HAS SPRING EVERYTHING IS GROWING

Dahlias around young Red Bud tree

Zinnias, Tea Roses
I just LOVE watching everything come back to life in the Spring!  With the April Showers everything seems to grow so fast, changing from day to day.  The dahlia bulbs I planted have all bloomed and are really beautiful.  Can't wait to plant more.
Dahlias

Zucchini

Cucumbers

onions

Potatoes
Same goes for the Zinnias planted from seed.  They will never disappoint, so please give them a try.
Sunflowers and Cucumbers

Bush Beans
I put a few squash and zucchini seeds in a few large pots, they've sprouted and I'm hoping this experiment proves success.  They take up so much room in the beds that I thought to give this a try.  Will keep you posted on their progress.
Cucumbers

Eggplant

White Onions bulbing
Radishes
Everything else is flourishing and healthy, blooms and fruit on just about all plants.  I am going to harvest the potatoes as I believe they are ready and will post pictures soon.

Enjoy the rest of the photos and Happy Gardening.
Mary

Pole Beans

Spinach

Peppers and tomatoes

Brandywine Tomato

Meyer Lemon and Key lime

Sunday, March 29, 2015

VIDEO BLOG - GARDEN UPDATE - MARCH 28TH 2015


MARCH 28TH GARDEN UPDATE

Green Onions
 Lots going on in the garden this weekend!  I transplanted the herbs and moved the sunflowers away from the potatoes.  I also planted more seeds; Purple Carrots, Sunflowers in pots, Squash and Zucchini in large pots and planted some purple tomato seeds.  It's funny, I thought I was pretty much done last weekend! :)  As it turns out, I'm always adding more, whether it's a new raised bed, pots or anything that
Pansies
 gives me an excuse for being out in the yard or garden.  This by far, is my favorite time of year!  When I first started my garden, I used soaker hoses on timers but traded them in for hand watering because after a long day at work, the perfect way to decompress is spending time with my plants, hand watering.
Bush Beans and Raidishes
 Easter is next weekend, a day for counting our blessings, renewal and rebirth.  I hope you enjoy your day rejoicing and spending quality time with your families.

Happy Palm Sunday and Have a happy Weekend.

Mary - The Ambitious Gardner
Asparagus

Cucumbers

Squash and Zuchini i pots

Raised Beds

Trellised Kentucky Pole Beans


Lettuce

Potatoes and Onions

Sunflower pots wild potato plants

Zinnias

Key Lime


Lots of Potatoes



Saturday, March 28, 2015

VIDEO UPDATE - GARDENBLOG MARCH 22,2015


MARCH 22 - GARDEN UPDATE 2015

POTATOES

ONIONS RADISHES LETTUCE
Usually the first few weeks of the growing season are slow going.  Not this year!  The potatoes, onions, Garlic and lettuce are booming.  I planted some Kentucky wonder pole beans around the garden and added some bush beans in a few spots also.  I found them to be good companion plants for cucumbers along with radishes..
EGGPLANT

SUGAR SNAP PEAS

SPINACH
All of the seedlings from the green house have done very well transplanted so far.  I can see evident growth on the eggplants and tomatoes already.  The only bug damage I see so far is on a few of the potato plants and saw Caterpillar on the sugar snap peas and I've treated with BT. 

More to come soon as I'm a bit behind in posting.  Thanks for your patience.

Happy Spring Gardening!

Mary- The Ambitious Gardener
CELERY

COWHORN PEPPERS AND TOMATOES

POTTED TOMATOES

HERBS


CUCUMBERS

EGGPLANT AND ASPARAGUS

POTATOES AND CUCUMBERS

MEYER LEMON AND KEY LIME

Sunday, February 22, 2015

GARDEN VIDEO BLOG - FEBRUARY 21, 2015


FIRST GARDEN UPDATE OF 2015

Last harvest of fall carrots
Happy New Year!!!  It's been relatively quite in the garden since my last post in October 2014.  My fall plantings of carrots, kale, lettuce, spinach and onions was very prolific.  To the left was my last harvest of carrots. I'm having a bit of an issue with the soil turning grey and hard about 3 inches down so a lot of the carrots seemed stunted in growth.  I will have to research this problem because I am having to replace whole squares with new soil.  This should not be, as the beauty of the Square Foot Garden is only having to replace small portions with new compost, not the whole square.
I finally harvested the Kale and made a nice soup using the carrots and onions from the garden also.  It was really good but I'm not too crazy about Kale and will probably not grow it again.  For anyone who does like it, it is an extremely easy plant to grow so give it a try.
A few weeks ago I set up the greenhouse and started some seedlings of tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, various flowers and green onions.  They have all sprouted with the exception of the black beauty eggplant and I have reseeded them.
Two types of potatoes are now in large containers and I am hoping to see sprouts very soon.  We've had some really cold weeks here in North Florida so we'll see if it has affected my spuds.

I am also trying asparagus for the first time this year.  I have designated a permanent spot for these Delicious spears, as they will hopefully produce
for many years to come.  I will need to be patient though, these baby's need a few years before you can reap any harvest. I will keep you posted. 
Artichokes are another beauty I will be trying once again this year.  I am going to plant a few seeds in large pots and keep my fingers crossed.  :)
Other than the above, there's been a lot of needed clean up, mixing batches of soil containing various composts, peat moss and vermiculite (Mel's Mix), it's a winner!  I also added a new raised bed - 2 x 6' and will use for the Cow horn peppers, tomatoes and some herbs.   I'm thinking about adding one more 4' x 4' this year also to use just for squash and zucchini as they take up the most room of any other veggie.
Almost forgot to mention, the Brussel sprouts planted last fall are just now producing sprouts.  I'm sure there's a reason for this.  I don't know how long the sprouts take to develop and when to harvest but I am babying them now, again praying they continue to thrive and I can harvest yummy sprouts!
Wishing you all a very successful spring season.  Happy Gardening!.
Video coming soon.

Mary





New raised bed


Potatoes



Celery

Brussel Sprouts



Aspargus bed