Raised-Bed Gardens Update

(April, 2010)

Hey, we got plants! The first thing I planted was a bulb of garlic that Wendy handed to me. "This is sprouting. You should plant it." "Ok!" It grew.

Then we had some green onions delivered. After chopping off the green parts, she held up the bulbs and said "I wonder if these will grow. You should plant them." "Ok!" They grew, too.

We took a road trip about 5 years ago. One of the things we picked up was a "grow a sunflower kit" that came with a big pile of sunflower seeds. We tried growing some a couple years ago, but they were all spindly and didn't last long. The soil where we planted them was very shallow, and they dried out. The girls and I went out a couple of weeks ago and planted a few. I wasn't sure if they'd germinate, but some did.

When I spread the remnants of the compost heap under the grapefruit tree in the backyard, there were evidently some uncomposted seeds of some sort in there. They sprouted. So I transplanted a couple of the larger ones. I think they're pumpkins. The seeds on the smaller ones looked like pumpkin seeds, but I could be wrong.

Then last weekend, I figured I'd better get on the ball and plant something, so that it'd have a chance to grow before the summer got really hot. The girls and I went out and bought a bunch of stuff.

The results of all this?

Tomatos in the middle. Clockwise, starting from 12: Sunflowers, pumpkins, cucumbers, and a whole mess of cantaloupes. I like cantaloupes. There's not a lot of room in the bed for cantaloupe vines. I'll just let them stretch out across the lawn.

Again, tomatos in the middle. Clockwise, starting from 12: Sunflowers, pumpkins, bell peppers, garlic, cucumbers, onions.

And best of all, we found someone that needed a whole pile of dirt. I spent all day shoveling dirt into a wheelbarrow and rolling it down the street. Now I can start work on the back fence.