ok well i tried to keep things current with this journal but i got a little distracted..sometimes the work i put into the garden makes me too tired to journal and then i forget :>
planted my seeds around 4/13 and chucked some leftover potatoes in one of the planters (those are taking off wonderfully). i wanted to try and do the square foot planting method so i tried to follow a guide and plant as many things as i could in a square foot with some exceptions. in total i planted:
all of these seeds sprouted. i was absolutely thrilled. however, when i transplanted in the beginning of may i think either they died from the shock of transplanting OR birds came and plucked them out of the ground. leeks and green onions should have been planted directly and not 'started,' this should have been the case with the carrots as well i think, and the cauliflower and broccoli disappeared as well. i made sure to tie some reflective strips to the posts around the garden to deter any birds in the future if that's really what happened...
the peas and green beans took off wonderfully and are still going strong to this day. the brussel sprouts...i think one or two of them survived transplanting. i think one of the cauliflower also hung in there. last weekend the 24th or 25th i went to the hardware store with my partner and bought some additional starters to supplement the garden as i still had some empty spaces and wanted to fill out the rest of the area. i bought 6 more watermelon starts, a tomato start, a big strawberry plant, 6 shallots, and a zucchini! as it was the end of may there were pretty slim pickings, i think if i would have went to a home depot i would have had more of a selection this late in the season but it is what it is, i'm happy with my purchases. when i planted the bigger tomato with the tomatoes i started myself i was concerned with the size of them, they looked pretty shrimpy. when i went out this afternoon and had a look they had absolutely exploded and grew about 3 inches in the past week, which is fantastic.
i have been keeping a pile of grass and lawn trimmings on the sidewalk in the backyard to dry out in the hot hot sun and i put it over the dirt to mulch! it worked wonderfully for the potatoes and the sunflowers, i'm excited to go out and mulch the rest. last weekend i weeded the garden and roses in the back yard, they were very crowded and it looks so much better, and a lot of these weeds i set out to dry also. mom and i bought a lawn mower i believe the second or third week of may and it has a mulching option on it? i'm not exactly sure what that means but in my head i want to set the scraps and weeds back onto the grass and run the lawnmower over them a couple times to get them into smaller pieces. i also wanted to set up the soaker hoses in the beds as well but i'm not sure how to connect the hoses without excess water dripping from them...i definitely have to wait until the sun starts to set, though. today is the first 100+ degree (F) day of the year and i opened the door and my whole body felt like it was compressed by the thick, hot air. it is a crazy feeling.