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Monday, March 19, 2012

Garden Update: Better Late Than Never

I finished planting my spring/summer vegetable garden on Saturday, almost a month late. I could have gone to the nursery and bought seedlings to catch up, but I had the seeds already, and I’m not one to spend extra money on basics when I’ve got “good enough” on hand. (Obviously this does not apply to fun items like shoes, books, and fabric – I’m more than willing to spend money on those!)

In spite of the help from these two, I managed to put in five types of squash, two pepper varieties, a couple of herbs, and okra. The okra is the only thing that grows effortlessly here, and it grows so tall and so quickly that I now plant it everywhere to shade the other plants.

The day after I finished the seeding, it started raining, and kept going for almost 24 hours! What a perfect benediction for the seeds.
Soon, though, the season of endless watering and weeding will begin. The only real nuisance weed here is the Bermuda grass, which comes up again and again, sometimes within a day of my pulling it out by the roots. When we moved to this house 14 years ago, the entire yard was covered with green lawns of Bermuda, which had probably been there since the mid-70s. We made several efforts to remove the grass before building the vegetable planters, but Bermuda is persistent. Even when you think you’ve finally got it beat, it always comes back.

I planted around the herbs which were still going strong from last year.

It was exhausting work. This is the scene later that afternoon.

I know we've all had a fairly mild winter this year. Have you started on your spring gardening?

Katrina

5 comments:

  1. Unfortunately, I don't garden, unless you count outdoor pots planted annually with already-blooming flowers. (I'm all about instant gratification)! But I just had to chime in to tell you how much I love your furry gardening assistants. :)

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  2. The garden looks great! I was wondering if Arizona was getting any of this rain.

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  3. The warm weather here is giving me tidy up the garden thoughts.
    About time to sow my tomato seeds too.

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  4. It's always garden time here in Florida! I do love your place, and your two eager assistants are adorable.

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  5. I have Spring clean up to do outside, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I am most likely going to stick to container gardening this year, so I won't start them until April, with seedlings from the garden center. I look forward to having a real garden again someday, though!
    Your space is lovely, and your helpers are adorable!

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