So far, I have kept a loose diary of the events and put it a word document. Here are the contents:
March 3rd - Sowed all of my seeds. Tomatos, Squash, Zucchini, Cucumber, Peppers, Cilantro, Basil, Tarragon, Parsley, Thyme, Sage, Chives
March 7th – Squash, Zucchini, and Cucumber sprouted. I left the Jiffy pots in the closet in the office and spritzed with water every other day or so.
March 10th – Almost all of the seeds had germinated except for the peppers. The Squash, Zucchini, and Cucumber were very tall and leggy because they had been left without light. I started leaving the trays out in the sun on the ironing board.
March 17th – The peppers still had not germinated. I put them on top of the cable box to give them some heat. All of the other plants were looking good except for the rosemary which only one had germinated. I repotted the squash, zucchini, and cucumbers to Styrofoam cups because the roots were growing outside of the jiffy pods.
March 24th – The peppers just began germinating. I left them on the DVD until the rest of the seeds germinated. I repotted the tomatos. I probably should have used some better potting mix because the top soil I used caused them to turn some of the yellow and some of them to turn purple.
March 31st – I put my squash, zucchini, and cucumber in the ground because they were just taking up to much room. I began hardening off my trays.
April 6th – My plants were doing well except for my tomato’s were starting to look a little sickly. I bought some fertilizer and put it on the top and watered them. I repotted my peppers and basil in cups with miracle grow potting soil. I wanted to put my plants in the ground but we had a cold snap so I had to bring my plants in and cover my Squash and Cucumbers. I forgot or didn’t know any better and left them covered during the day and wilted/parboiled them all. Oh well, I’ll just plant more when the temperature is right.
April 10th – I sowed my carrots, onions, bush beans, and beets.
April 12th – I planted my Parsley and Chives.
April 15th - I transplanted my Rosemary.
April 17th – I transplanted my Thyme and Tarragon and sowed some radishes.
April 21st – My onions, bush beans, and beets had sprouted. I transplanted all of my tomatos, peppers, and eggplant.
April 26th – We had a big storm come through and I protected my plants with a covered wagon style setup. Everything survived great. All of my seeds that I have sowed sprouted and were doing well. I plan on transplanting the basil this weekend. I took all of the rest of my plants in to work and gave them away. I also sowed my other cucumber, squash, zucchini, pole beans, and cantaloupe.
May 1st – My carrots have sprouted and everything has been thinned out. The new cucumber, squash, and zucchini have sprouted as well. Everything is doing well. My pole beans are beginning to break the ground.
May 7th – The cantaloupes have sprouted and the pole beans are getting tall and about to start putting off runners. The radishes aren’t close to being ready to eat.
May 14th – The garden is thriving. Everything is getting bigger and I am even beginning to see a couple of buds on all of my pepper plants except for the Karma. The trellises are up and the pole beans are sending off runners. I pulled a radish and it was kind of small but I ate it anyway. The thyme is not growing at all and the chives planted in the newspaper pots aren’t doing very good.
May 21st- The Squash bed is looking great. You can see little flowers on the summer squash. The bush beans are starting to grow beans. JalapeƱo’s are forming. Anaheim’s are flowering. Radishes are getting ready to eat. Some are still far behind but coming on. The carrots are finally starting to get some growth to them. The onions don’t seem to be doing much, but I hope they will start coming on. I made a batch of pesto with my basil and parsley. Natalie said it was the best yet! The tomatos are beginning to enter the trellis and I am trying to keep the suckers pruned. The pole beans have reached about 5 feet high on the trellis and are almost as tall on the ladder. I tied the cucumbers to the ladder and they are developing vines now. The tarragon is just now getting some good growth and is about 8” tall.
May 23rd – I brewed up a batch of compost tea with some of the mushroom compost I had left. I let it steep for about 18 hours in the shed and poured it on the roots this morning. I tried to dilute it about 50/50 with water but towards the end it was pretty dark. I will have to stir it next time so I can get a better blend.
May 24th – I pulled some suckers today from my tomato plants. Some of them were fairly large. I also discovered that two of my plants had begun to split into two branches. I’m not sure what I will do but I need to cut them to make them a single stem. I also pulled off the lower branches off of the plant. I tied one of the cucumbers to the ladder so his tendril would let go of the pole beans. I plan on cutting two of the cucumbers off at ground level because I just don’t have the room for them. That will leave four cucumber plants on the ladder.