Holy Garden!

Remember that time I got in way over my head with this whole garden thing?  Yeah, I'm pretty sure I haven't a clue as to how much I'm in over my head.  Just wait til I have to harvest all this stuff.  Which by the way, I have NO idea how to harvest anything.  I think my spinach is ready to harvest, but I don't know whether I'm supposed to go pull it out of the ground entirely, or just cut off some leaves so it will keep growing back?  And then, once it is harvested, I have do use it up.  But my brain is so exhausted from all this garden research I'm doing that I don't want to think about the best way to use up my fresh new crop.  I'll probably just end up munching on it like a rabbit zombie in front of the TV because I'm too tired to think about it.

Does it seem like I'm overwhelmed?

Oh yeah, I totally am.  For starters, I don't think I even planted my seeds correctly.  Why do I have any business planting a garden when I am not even sure how to plant a seed correctly?  Do I throw the whole pack in?   If the packet says to space them apart 12" does that mean space the seeds 12" or thin 12"?  And once I have that figured out, am I supposed to put 10 seeds in each 12" spot, or only 1 seed in each spot?  Where's a person supposed to learn all this?  Why didn't I take a horticulture class in high school or college??

Okay, garden freak-out is over.  But now you understand why I have been blogging a little less lately.  Considering I don't know what the hell I am doing, I am happy to report that stuff is growing!  Here are some pics for you to see for yourselves.

Alexa was here last weekend and I took her to the farm to pick out what she wanted to plant.  She chose strawberries, watermelon, pumpkin, cantaloupe, cherry tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, and corn.

She's learning to pose :)

   Lexi was pretty excited about the process.  She got a little bored with the planting, but I think it will be a fun project to keep her busy this summer.  I think it will be great for her to appreciate where her food comes from and what it takes to make it. 

Here's a sign that things are moving right along.  This is the same bed, with celery, arugula, cabbage, and eggplant.  This pic is from May 14.

And here is the same bed on May 28th.  I've added cilantro, lemon grass, dill, chives, and a marigold plant to the bed as well. 

I am also composting all my fruit and veggie scraps.  Lexi thinks this is fun, that the worms are working on making us soil, but she's a little disappointed that the results aren't overnight.  Thanks to a gardening facebook group I'm a part of, I got this compost bin off Craigslist for $25!

We have several rhododendron bushes along our backyard.  I love rhodies.  These ones are a little sad and have been neglected over the years.  They've also been overtaken by blackberry vines.  I hope to revive them later this summer and set them free. 

These are potatoes planted in recycle bins.  It was suggested that I plant potatoes in a bin that when I want to harvest them I just dump them out on the ground.  I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Hopefully the city doesn't come looking for their old recycle bins...

One last rhodie pic before I sign off for the night.