~A stroll in the garden~

Every morning, I head out of the house and stroll through the garden.  I listen to the birds chirping and the squirrels scurrying and I feel peace.  The garden is such a lovely way to start the morning.  Here’s what I have been seeing on my strolls.

~The Good~

~A baby yellow squash~

 

~A dirty baby yellow pear tomato given to me by a friend.  It’s dirty because I was adding soil to this box.  My daughter who helped plant these tomatoes was quite upset that I was getting the tomatoes all dirty. ~

 ~Lettuce and nastartiums aplenty~

 

~Green beans climbing up the trellis~

~The last broccoli plant went to seed.  This was my first year to grow it and I really enjoyed it.  I look forward to growing more for a fall crop.  In its place, I have planted zipper cream peas which I believe are also called crowder peas.~

~The Not So Good~

 ~ I love the beauty of a row of cabbage but I was not prepared for the cabbage looper worms and I did not put up a good fight.  So I pulled my whole row of purple cabbage.  It was hard to do but the infestation was too bad.  Jami told me that she uses row covers and I plan on doing a second planting in the fall…using row covers. :)~

~Here’s a picture of the worst green cabbage.  My son said that he feels like I did a good job feeding the cabbage worms. :)  I’ve not pulled this row yet but probably will soon to start planting tomatoes or peppers.~

~The Surprises~

 ~I’m not sure but I think this is a watermelon growing amongst the onions.  I have no idea how it got there. ~

~Finding these made me smile. :) ~

 ~The Bad~

~Poison ivy on both legs and both arms, my chest, and my belly(?).  It was not from the vegetable garden but probably from the flower beds in the front.  It seems to be getting better.~

~And some questions~

 ~I’ve never grown onions before and I’m not sure how to tell when they are ready.  The tops are falling but the onions are not very big yet.  I’m thinking that the soil is too heavy and keeping the onions small (in addition to the radishes and carrots). My soil has a lot of clay content so I’ve been adding humus, peat moss humus (I think that’s what it is called), and composted manure as I prepare areas for a second planting.  I’m hoping that the humus will help lighten the soil and make it more loamy.

So my questions are~ how do I know if the onions are ready? What can I add to make my soil “lighter”?

Soon I’ll be posting about some of the harvests that we’ve been enjoying from our garden!

To visit other blogs sharing their gardens, please visit~