teddebayer's Blog

Its all done!
May 29, 2007 | 9:57 AM PST

Well, the planting's all done...I think. I finished the fairy garden this morning, after going to My Achin' Back (a local garden center) to pick up some alyssum and some other new yellow flower that's small, as I wanted some bright yellow and they were small flowers. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out! Now all I need is some mulch or something for the two flowerbeds.

On the veggie front, I'm terribly excited! We've got TONS of sprouts coming up. So far there's cucumbers, string beans and pumpkins, but I think I've seen a few cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower coming up too. It amazes me how many new ones we see each day. Guess its time to thin them out. The seed packet said to thin them out when they get several inches tall. As I've never done this before, I've been trying to follow the directions. I just hate to pull any out. Geo (the hubby) found my corn seeds over the weekend, so I'm still debating having him till a bit more and puttin them in, as well as the other packet of string beans he found. Is it too late for that?

I also have a question about watering. I tend to water in the evening, after the sun goes down a bit, to keep the sun from burning off all the water before it has a chance for the plants to actually drink it, but that's always been for flower gardens and its always worked great. Geo found a website that says you shouldn't water your garden (I'm assuming meaning veggie garden, tho it could be garden in general) in the evening. You should water it in the morinng, so the leaves have a chance to dry off to help keep disease away. Now, I've always done the gardening at our house and did a lot when I lived at home with mum, before I got married. Geo has done no gardening that I'm aware of. But it cracks me up that he's tilled the veggie garden, picked out a few seed packets and found a website and now he thinks he's the garden guru. Anyway, any watering tips would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and we live in zone 6 in southeastern Pa, aobut an hour west of Philly, just to give ya an idea of what kind of weather we get.

Once the plants get established I'll take a post some pics.

Yours till the Veggies Ripen, Lori

teddebayer's first garden picnic is Saturday
May 24, 2007 | 5:00 AM PST

I've invited mum over for a cookout Saturay nite. Last week, we had the inlaws (hubby's parents and sis and hubby) over for steaks on the grill, but it was too chilly out to eat outside or even sit in the sunroom. So it looks like my first garden picnic will be Saturday. I'm hoping to have all my planting done by then, so I can show mum. She's a bit of a gardener too, so she's anxious to see what I've put in. We're gonna have marinated steak again, Geo found a yummo steak marinade last weekend. And I'll probably make packet potatoes for the grill again. I'm hoping to get tired of grilled food this summer...if that's possible. I'm looking forward to enjoying our backyard and sunroom before it starts to get too hot to sit out there. I do have to admit that I often hibernate in the ac in the summer. Guess I'll have to get used to the heat so I can pay more attention to my gardens.

divaqs, hadn't really thought about making sauce, but we'll see. I had actually planned to share tomatoes with family. I'm the only one growing veggies this year, as the hubby's grandparents didn't put in their garden this year. I figure, if the veggies do well, on harvest days, I'd go around and give bags to several family members who live nearby. Most of them enjoy the veggies we're trying. I do hope I'm not overwhelmed...tee hee.

Buttercup, you can read about the fairy garden above, in my response to divaqs. I'll get pics as soon as its done.

Sabeleme, in addition to the already-started tomato plants, I've planted cherry tomatoes, cukes, string beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and pumpkins. Those are all from seeds, which I've never done before, so we'll see how successful we are. *crosses her fingers* The hubby, Geo, has really gotten into the garden this year. He tilled it, and did a pretty good job, tho I'm not sure he tilled deep enough. But we went to Lowes for seeds and plants afterwards and he was picking out all kinds of veggies, even ones he doesnt' eat I found it amusing! I'll make sure and take some pics of everything this weekend. I'm hoping to have all the planting done by then.

Here's hoping ya'll have a lovely day!

Yours till the Veggies Ripen, Lori

Waiting to see
May 23, 2007 | 8:44 AM PST

Well I've just planted the last of my veggie garden, which I started on Monday.  The hubby tilled the area Sunday. We went, that evening, to Lowes and picked up a bunch of seeds to try. I put them in Monday morning. I hope I did it right. I've never planted seeds before, so we'll see what happens. Then, yesterday, I bought a bunch of already-started tomato plants and put them in this morning. I'm not sure how well they're gonna do. The first several I put in went in pretty well. But the last row, I felt like I was hitting an awful lot of rocks and stones. I still planted them, so we'll see how they do too. I'm think, next year, I'll either make it a raised garden, or move the boundaries up a bit, away from the stone.

I'm anxious to see how they do, but I'm not quite as enthusiastic as I was yesterday.

After planting the tomatoes, I started to work on my pots out back. I planted red geraniums in two big pots on Monday. Then I put red petunias in the window boxes on our shed and in my pot genie next to the shed. I plan to put some red petunias in the chair pot on the other side of the shed. I have several other types of red flowers, but decided to put only petunias out back, around the shed. I think it'll look a bit more cottage-y. But I'm putting the other red flowers, and what's left of the petunias, out in the front flowerbed. This afternoon, I'm hoping to finish around the shed, then weed the back flowerbed. I'm still looking for a teeny azalea bush for out there. That's where I'm putting my fairy garden. I plan to take some pics, once the flowers are well-established, and then I'll post them.

Wish me luck with the garden!

Yours till the Veggies Ripen, Lori