Happy weekend my friends! I hope your skies are as sunny and warm as they are here in Atlanta. My Saturday routine has been able to stay mostly intact, so as usual this morning I got up, meditated, went to pick up my pre-ordered veggies at the "market", and then made it out for a nice run around the neighborhood. While the first load of laundry for the day is in the wash, I am taking the time to share my garden update for the month. Though of course I couldn't help but share a few gratuitous market haul shots to show what my farmers have growing right now, too!
While our own garden is slowly growing, my farmers are killing it as always with their amazing offerings to keep us fed in the meantime. Even with currently having to go online ahead of time and order ahead for contact-free pickup, I still manage to buy way too much. Though, as ever, we will eat every single bite and try not to let any go to waste. One of my favorite farms was back this week after over a month of not having enough to offer locally in their neighborhood and down here near mine. They were doing a flat fee for a veggie box, so it was kind of fun to wait and see what they would pick to include. I ended up doubling up on a few things between them and other farmers, but it's easy enough to use up some extra radishes and strawberries. Especially organic ones that are absolutely delicious!
I was really excited to see the snow peas pop up as one of the offerings. It means the other spring veggies aren't too far behind. I'm waiting impatiently for the first tomatoes of the season, but once they start everyone will have some to share! I got collards for the first time in the box, as well, which for some reason I have been avoiding as I did not grow up eating them. No time like the present to start thinking about how I'm going to use them and everything else I snagged this week!
Our own garden is coming along, slowly but surely. There's not a whole lot of difference from last month, just more seedlings being transplanted into beds and some other projects the BF is working on for once the plants really kick it into gear.
I did pull off my first tiny little strawberry from our plant after watching them start to pop out all over the last few weeks. However, we have learned we are fighting a battle with the slugs to grab them first (any natural tips appreciated). I don't mind sharing some, but we're starting to look up ways to try to keep them from devouring all of our crop. We do have a few more that seem to be safe that might just make for a little bite this afternoon...
Our tomato and cucumber seedlings are looking pretty good on the homemade seed table. 😉
Though the tomatoes in the bed are taking their sweet time growing. Can't rush Mother Nature sometimes, but we can always continue to do our research to see if we need to adjust anything to promote stronger growth naturally. The hose is connected to our rain barrel. Luckily we've had plenty of rain so far this year to keep it full for easy watering of the garden. We had one month last year where it did actually run dry, but thank goodness that doesn't happen often. If we keep expanding our garden we may need to add another barrel to collect more soon, but we don't seem to be having any issues for now.
The cherry tomato plant we got from 
In one of the other long beds, the mixed bean plants are still growing quite well, though it's about time to start mixing up some hot pepper spray to deter the pests as some leaves are getting nibbled. We have some ridiculously spicy pickled hot peppers that should do the trick. They're so hot I won't eat them, haha! The BF also decided to make is own contraption out of fallen branches to provide a base for the climbing plants. Gotta love his no-waste spirit, so we'll see how they work out.
We've also finally got some squash seedlings in one of the beds. I'm not sure if these are either the patty pan squash or the Georgia Candy Roaster. Knowing Dave, it could actually be some of each. He seems to like to be surprised by what he plants in different spots throughout the garden.
We've got some tiny peppers seedlings popping up, plenty of herbs that are growing large and lush, and hopefully some turmeric getting happy under the earth. I believe he's outside while I type this up working on a bed to maybe finally grow some potatoes, too! I've been wanting to try that for a while since I am a huge spud lover. Again, he has some old wood to use, so most of our mish mash of a garden is held together by found items. Doesn't get much cheaper than that! I do spend some money on seeds as I find it a joyful experience to peruse the seed catalog, but we save many from our own crops and what I get from local farmers, as well.
Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has growing at the moment! Check out the challenge post from 
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