Garden Update 5-9-12

May 9, 2012 By 6 Comments

Our garden is really growing. All of the corn, zucchini, butternut squash, and onions came up, but only about half of the green beans are up. I will give them a few more days before I start replanting. I did have to replant the cucumber seeds, but they were old seeds to begin with so I wasn’t surprised.

One thing that I am dealing with is birds snipping off some of my tomato plants. I am going to have to buy at least 3 more plants. I need to figure something out so they don’t kill all of my plants. My mom is using netting over her tomato cages, so I will have to look into getting something like that I think.

My mom came over today and helped me weed the garden. Joseph had a ball pushing this antique tiller around. However, he wasn’t too happy when we started putting down some black weed control fabric. I may have to ask my husband to till a small spot just for the kids so they can use their garden tools. I think they would love that because even though they enjoy helping me, having their own spot would be more fun, especially for Joseph.

This will be the first year we have ever tried putting weed control fabric down in the garden. We will get some more and put it in between the rest of the rows tomorrow. If it works we are going to be so happy. It has to be better than last year’s straw fiasco. We had worked so hard putting down newspaper and straw only to have the straw sprout which caused us to have grass everywhere.

Here’s a close up view of my onions. All 48 have sprouted nicely. If you are wondering how we were able to have our already established plants surrounded by the black fabric, it is because my mom cut x’s in it to allow us to place it right over the plants and poke them through.

Here is the back garden spot where all of the white potatoes are starting to sprout up. I think we will put the weed control fabric down in this garden spot as well.

Isn’t it amazing how a few tiny seeds and some old potatoes can produce so much wonderful food for us? I am looking forward to the blessings that a garden can bring. They are quite a bit of work, but definitely worth the effort. How is your garden growing?
Filed Under: Gardening & Canning
  • Rachel E.

    Your garden looks good so far.  Is it dry in your region?  The soil looks dry.  Where do you live?  I think I knew at one point, but forgot.  Regardless, your garden plot looks great and I hope you can keep those weeds under control.

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      Thanks, Rachel! I hope I can keep the weeds under control, too. We have had some rain lately, but things are starting to dry out. Our soil is mostly clay so it dries out extremely quickly. We are in the Midwest.

  • Melody

    My garden is looking wonderful so far…I am so excited to get some tomatoes!! My patch is smaller than yours but I have alot in it! We are using the square foot gardening method but using it in my existing patch! We have had rain, rain, and more rain so I am hoping for some sunshine today! Your garden looks great, I bet that weed block will be so nice! Good luck!!

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      That’s great, Melody. I have been intrigued by the square foot gardening method. However, I know how much some plants like to spread out, so I have never tried it.  I hope you get some sunshine. I hope the weed block works, too. Thanks!

  • Bethanyhaid

    You are my garden inspiration!  We currently live in a subdivision and lack adequate garden space. We have 6 tomato plants that were bought, and two that volunteered from last year.  We also have several butternut squash that came up from our composting, and a pumpkin we thought had rotted and couldn’t sprout seeds, but hurray! Tiny pumpkin plants!!

    • http://www.blessingsoverflowing.com/ Jackie

      Thanks, Bethany! Are your tomato plants in containers or in the ground? I wonder if you could try square foot gardening sometime. It seems to be pretty popular. It sounds like you will be blessed with some produce that you didn’t expect, too. That will be cool. :)