It's ALIVE!!!!!

No, that's no zombie. That's my lovely, dirty hands showing off all of the hard work they have just done-mixing together potting soil, potting mix, bat poop, worm poop, and mushroom compost-to create the perfect environment for this year's garden. James and I started our container garden from seeds this year and it has been an educational and sometimes tenuous process. We had some initial frustration with the dampening off of several of our first little seedlings, disagreement over the use of hydrogen peroxide, and the struggle to get up early enough to bottom-water two flats every morning, but now, as we see our little guys thriving, we know that our hard work is about to pay off big time.

A couple of weeks ago, we potted some of our heartier plants and herbs that looked like they really needed to get outside. As you can see, our front porch is lines with small pots and filled with gardening paraphernalia of all sorts. Had I turned around and taken a picture of our neighbor's side of the porch, you would see a neat little sitting area with a couple of nice chairs and a table...hmm...it is a symbiotic relationship.
As you can probably tell from the broader photo above, one plant has really taken off. Our Parisian Pickling cucumbers are growing fast and making little cucumbers faster than I can count them. We have three more little seedlings that are just about ready to be planted...the only problem is where to put them! I planted two separate vines in this pot and they seem to be thriving together, but it could be a little cumbersome to have to build two more trellises just for these guys. I am toying with the idea of putting most of the rest of our climbing plants in a raised flower bed on the side of the house and just building one very large trellis for all of them, but it's still up in the air. That area gets a lot of late day sun, so it might not be the best environment for tender little cukes.
We actually got three kinds of cucumbers this year...the afore mentioned Parisians, dome standard K-mart pickling cucumbers, and another interesting variety called the Mexican Sour Gherkin. Allegedly, these cucumbers have a lightly acidic sourish flavor that makes them taste as if they have already been pickled. We have about three more of these in the works, too.

Another plant that I am particularly interested in is my Blacktail Mountain Watermelon. I really wanted to try to grow a watermelon this year, but my decision is meeting up with mixed reviews. Some people say that it is easy to grow watermelons in a pot, some say that it is nearly impossible...or at least impossible to grow one that produces an edible melon. And everyone agrees: It is impossible to tell for sure when they are pie. I guess we'll see about that. I am a little nervous about how big these guys will get. Now that it's getting hotter, this one has more than doubled in size in about a week. This picture doesn't really show of his full majesty..he is starting to grow tendrils and looking for things to climb and even sprouting some little flower buds. He need a bigger pot ASAP. The watermelons are the primary reason for considering the huge trellis...I am so excited about them that I want to make sure that they have every opportunity to be delicious. I want to make watermelon iced cream and pickled rinds...not to eat at the same time, of course! That's just one of my dreams for these guys.

I also decided to buy a couple of little strawberry plants this year. I have a ground cherry plant, too, but it's still inside and didn't feel like having it's picture taken today. The strawberry pants are small and I don't know much about how big they will get or how much fruit they will produce, but it makes me happy to have them there. I planted them in a little decorative area out in the parking lot. I had to dig up all of the dirt and fill it in with nice potting soil, but I think it looks nice there. It will also be easier to keep out the weeds because it's in an isolated location and I also like it because it looks like something was meant to be planted there...and my little strawberry plants fit the bill! I had considered buying another set of three so that I could be sure to have enough to bake a pie this summer, but changed my mind when I realized how many plants we already have that need attention. Maybe a strawberry and ground cherry pie..that sounds delicious....

Of course, the pride and joy of this year's garden is going to be our tomato plants. We have 8 varieties of heirloom tomatoes from the Seed Saver's Exchange online catalogue and some from a local grower and we have been completely pleased with them. Once we got the seed starting process down, the seeds have shot up and have been hearty and healthy even in their current cramped quarters in the windowsill. Over the weekend, James and I build this simple raised bed that is going to be perfect for our our little guys and we put one of each variety in the box. We now have about 30 more individual tomato plants looking for homes...hmmm....I hope to plant at least 2 more of each variety, but we are just not sure about the spacing issues...I mean, 24 tomato plants are gonna take up some space. Last year we had 5! In reality, we may have to settle for one more of each with maybe 2 more of the ones we are especially interested in. But, man...i cannot wait to have those delicious tomatoes straight from our garden. We were not wanting for any tomatoes last year, but we did have to scrounge them up on occasion and not eat any to make sure that we had enough for salads and this year, I want to be able to eat them without a second thought. I. Can't. Wait.

Finally, we have our biggest experiment so far this year...potatoes. Holy crap. Purple Peruvian Potatoes and some variety of red, I think. We are growing them in trash cans, and allegedly they can also be grown inside old tires...or planted in rows in a garden, of course. They are really growing fast, too. They say that you put dirt over them every couple of weeks and once the plants start to flower, you could begin to harvest them, then once the flowers fall off, you can harvest all of them. A lady we met at our seed starting class said that she bought one vine at the farmer's market last year and it produced nearly 40 lbs of potatoes. Woot! I'm really excited to see how these guys turn out. I have a feeling that we are going to end up with a lot more potatoes than we can possibly eat, but I bet that my family will be happy to have our left overs.

Yes, our little above-ground garden is thriving and each warm day makes me even more excited to indulge in the sumptuous bounty that awaits us. I almost can't believe that a couple of short months ago all we had were a bunch of envelopes full of seeds and now, we are bursting at the seams with more plants than we know what to do with. We have put a lot of work into our garden this year and it is going to be really great once we finally get to enjoy the fruits of our labor...so to speak.