Photos Galore

We seem to be out of the mega rain we've had for the last few weeks, ending in a big way with confirmed tornadoes in our area.  The neighbors will be finding a new place to live since a tree fell directly in their living room - thankfully everyone (including the cats & dog) is OK.  We were very fortunate, no damage to any of our stuff.  Shawn had made tomato cages the night before the mega-storm hit on Thursday so we did not have a single veggie casualty.  The plants have really enjoyed all of the rain and have flourished.  It's amazing to me to see how much the garden has grown since my last post - we even have some micro cucumbers out there!

The mini pumpkin patch.  Audrey III is in the center.

The left half of the garden:
Onions, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, and some lettuce.

The right side:
Pepper field (19 plants, 4 varieties), cucumbers, cabbage, and beans.

Cucumber flower

One of many micro cukes

The herbs:
Cilantro, basil, dill, parsley, chives, and catnip.

Look, ma, I'm gardening!

We are no longer dirt farmers!  The patch out back looked more like a garden as soon as Shawn put the fence up.  Saturday I evicted the plants from their cardboard homes and put them in the garden - suddenly the tub-o-plants doesn't seem so crazy!

6/7 cukes are adjusting to life outside.
One is looking EXTREMELY sad (not pictured).

The onions have been outside for several weeks - doing quite well.

Supersteak hybrids & summer salsa - nom nom.

3/4 of the pepper "field"

The Herbs

Feed me, Seymour!

I really am so glad that spring is here, and the crocuses are equally delighted.  The plants indoors are also doing quite well.  I am attempting to grow our garden from scratch this year, which ought to be interesting.   I started a number of plants in a Burpee kit as well as some in a Jiffy kit.  The Burpee kit is well worth the extra money, I had less than 5 cells out of 72 that did not sprout....  the Jiffy kit only sprouted in 2/3 of the cells.  Even more interesting, after I transplanted everything out of the Burpee kit - 3 more seeds sprouted!  Of course the plants couldn't spend their entire lives on the counter so they got moved...

Directly into the bathtub.  But it is a garden tub so it seems appropriate.  I know, I'm kind of a hillbilly but I tell you what it makes a fine greenhouse, and the styrofoam cups make marvelous planters!  There are currently 16 pepper plants (4 varieties), 6 tomato plants (2 varieties), a LOT of pansies, butterfly weed, daisies, snapdragons and bachelor's buttons, 7 cucumbers, some chives, catnip, basil, dill, cilantro, parsley, 2 pumpkins and two BIG MAX pumpkins.  That would be what the monster plant in the lower right is.  Audrey III, if you will.

Close up of the fangs:

Seriously that thing grows at an alarming rate.  One morning it will be a scene out of Little Shop of Horrors.  I am thrilled to see it grow so much even if it is a little creepy, and I hope that it lives up to the Big Max name.  Seems like Audrey III is on the right path to producing a 100 pound pumpkin!  

The regular pumpkins are trying to catch up:

So are the cucumbers:

Meanwhile, on the other side of the tub, peppers work on their second set of leaves:

While the neighboring tomatoes just go crazy.  

In the background are salsa tomatoes, with the Supersteak Hybrid up front.  

Most fruits off these bad boys weigh in at 2 lbs.  Now that's a tomato!  I've started watering the seedlings via spray bottle on a daily basis.  It's really working out quite well, I think the plants like it better than the occasional blast from a watering can.  Also it makes for some neat water droplet-y pictures.

Hopefully with all of these tomatoes and peppers I'll be able to make some super fresh pico de gallo, especially since I've got some cilantro growing.

Hopefully I will be able to contain everything in the bathroom until it's time to plant stuff outdoors!