Early April garden update

Well, this year has been crazy in terms of weather.  Such a mild winter has led to some late-season chillyness and (finally!) a little rain here and there.  I guess many people have lost some of their early plantings due to the frost/freezing temperatures.  <---At least that is what the guy at the nursery told me last weekend.

**Apparently it is a rule-of-thumb that the last frost/freeze of the year is on or before March 15**

We replaced the cucumbers with some watermelon seedlings last weekend.  I am hoping they do better than the cucs did, and there is no reason they shouldn't do well.  I will make a note of the exact variety as soon as I think to check. 

Our bibb lettuce is ready to be early harvested, it is crazy how fast it grew!  I am planning on trying it in a dinner this week. 

Peppers and tomatoes and onions are growing well.  The one snap-pea plant and eggplant are growing slower, but doing just fine.  The squash and zucchini and beets look to be hanging on, but not yet thriving. 

The carrots are starting to sprout. 

I did take some photos on the 7th and will be adding them as soon as I get them ready. 

Since we have been having intermittant rain, I have been giving a heavy soak every third day or so - more time if it has rained.

Cucumber's Down

Well, about two weeks in and the cucumbers seem to be gone.  It was either way to early to plant them, or the cold temperatures last week got to them.  (Which also points to it being way to early to plant!)

Unfortunately the zucchini plants are looking pretty bad as well.  I am willing to replant in a few weeks if they keep going downhill. 

On the upside:

• ALL of the lettuce and strawberries look fabulous. 
• The peppers have new growth - all but one plant look really healthy.
• The beets seem to be holding strong.
• All other plants are looking ok as well.

Watering is about every third day, every other day if it hits 70 degrees.  We are looking at some rain this week, so I am hoping it doesn't flood the beds.  Rain is supposed to be good for this stuff, right?!?  :-)

Garden Diagrams

So, I do have real photos as well, but here is my little diagram of what we planted in our two raised-bed garden boxes. 

I have read so much about the need to keep a detailed journal about our garden so I know what to do and not do next year.  Hopefully this diagram will help me remember exactly what we planted this year.
 
So far, I think we have too much. My plan is to thin out the plants as they grow. I will keep the stronger plants and if many are strong I might transplant them. We planted these last weekend, and already the cucumbers look to be a little frail. We did have one evening this week that was pretty close to freezing. I was pretty nervous about all we had just planted, but the rest of the week the temperature was better and most of the other plants still look pretty healthy.

I had no idea how much to buy and planning out ahead of time was tough because I didn't know the best method, there just seemed to be too many factors...

• Plant spacing
• Companion planting
• Size of grown plants
• How many plants came in a container
• What would we try to plant from seeds
• What all we wanted to have in our garden
• What would do well in our climate and though the hot summer
• What would the store have in stock, or was it too early to try to plant that variety

So, I just went with what looked healthiest at the nursery, a decent variety, and what sounded good.