Hello fellow Hive and Agricultural Mindset Community! Over the last week I have been busy planting in the new vegetable garden and keeping an eye on things. Dud some weeding and maintenance to keep any grass from the field from spreading into the beds. So far theres been nothing aggressive creeping in. Itbalso rained gently during one of the days. Rain always gives gardens a great boost granted they're not flooding everything. These rains were perfect. Nice n light so that the new plantings didnt get battered but all day long so the beds got a thorough soaking.
In addition to getting the new plants I talked about in the previous post, I've also successfully germinated and sprouted seeds that will get planted in the garden in a few weeks as soon as they're big enough.
First order of business is to show you guys how the plants from the first post are doing. They're doing really well. None of them went into shock or had delayed growth. They all sprung right into action. I take it that their roots are really enjoying the loamy soil. To be honest I'm really happy with how the soil turned out. Its got a good blend between the various elements and components. The plants seem to show a lot of vigour.
Here are the two cultivars of tomato. The first one is the Sweet 100 Cherry. I did some research and apparently they're called that because they are sweet cherry tomatoes that grow up to 100 at a time in a bundle on each branch. They're huge yielders.
Here are the Better Boy tomatoes coming along. They have very short internodes and dense growth right how. Im expecting them to explode in growth sometime next week.
All the bell peppers/capsicum are showing a few new sets of leaves each. Not explosive growth but steady.
The Swiss Chard weren't doing much for the first few days. I figure they were just getting used to their new environment in full sun and different soil. But last few days they've gotten perky and throwing out new leaves. So theyre happy and doing their thing.
This Swiss Chard turned out to be two in one. Kinda spreading out a bit.
Mr. Jalapeno has doubled in size. He's showing a lot of potential. Jalapenos always are an easy grow though from my experience. I expect this one to be looking like a short bush in a month. Might top it to encourage lateral growth.
The cucumber has gotten a lot less flimsy looking and is showing signs of its first true leaves besides the cotyledons it already had. To be truthful I was worried about the cucumber the first half of the week. Had a lifeless look to it. But it is happy now and in the swing of things.
Last week I had forgotten to include a picture of the cantaloupe I had planted in the corner of the furthest bed. Its a cultivar called ambrosia. Its coming along.
Now on to the new additions. Next to the cucumber I planted four zuccini plants. They doubled in size almost immediately. When they went in they just had cotyledons. In two days each popped out two sets of true leaves which you can notice get bigger in the afternoon then just a few hours earlier in the morning. The growth difference is noticeable. I expect these to become monsters so ill have to keep an eye on them and make sure they behave.
I dedicated one of the beds to broccoli and cabbage.
The broccoli is a cultivar called Southern Comet. Its perky growing. I planted eight of them. My parents could live off broccoli if you let them.
Some happy looking cabbage. I don't know why but i always though cabbage plants were cute looking.
Loving Mexican cuisine I made sure we got a pair of cilantro/coriander. They looked pretty wilty and limp when i put them in. But after two days they are doing much better.
My mom always likes to cook with basil. I think fresh basil is superior to dried basil. So i got an Italian basil. It came with three good shoots on it and is already ten inches tall. He too will become fairly bushy.
I think the plant im most happy about getting this last week is the San Marzano Tomato. The flagship of Italian tomato cultivars, they look like bigger meatier Roma tomatoes. They have a much tastier flavor profile too.
I plan n taking cuttings of this guy as soon as its big enough and propagating them so that i can grow the number of San Marzano we have. They're excellent sliced into salads and make superior sauces. Most high end pasta sauce is made from San Marzano fruit.
When I got it it was the only one of its kind at the nursery and a bit lanky. It sorta flopped around for thev first few days trying to right its self with the sun. Its finally sorted its self out and I expect this week to be a big one for it.
Seperated from the garden for now, I've started to germinate carrot, radish, a mix of fancy lettuces and another cultivar of a different Sweet Cherry hybrid tomato. I germinated all the seeds in the same soil from the beds. This way from the get go they are adapted to the soul they will be growing in and that there is not shock when i eventually transplant them into the beds.
So far only the radishes and lettuce blend seeds have sprouted. But its only been two days and i expect the carrot and tomatoes might take a few days longer.
Its fairly humid here so I only need to mist the seedlings every other day. Its also 80F/27C degrees. So nice warm germinating conditions. I have them outside in the shade of a tree and sheltered next to the house.
Here's the radish sprouting.
And the fancy lettuce blend. Despite using the soil from the planter beds it looks like I have a very high germination rate with everything so far.
And the rest of the seedlings I'm trying to get sprouted. Ive germinated only half the available seeds so that I can stagger the second batch so that there are two harvests a few weeks apart. All the carrots, lettuces and radishes will go in the same bed as the Swiss Chard.
So thats this week for the vegetable garden. The neighbors kids come down around noon most days and look at everything. It will be fun to let them harvest some of the plants when its time.
Were expecting possibly a thunderstorm over the weekend. I hope its not too rough on the plants or knock them around too much. Luckily its only getting to about 53F/12C at night so thats not so bad.
You can find my prior post in this series below:
@hidave/victory-garden-post-one
I'll do another post following the development of the garden next week.
Hope everyone is having success with their gardens, and I wish you all health and safety.
Best,
-hidave