veggies in the garden

i've been keeping a keen eye on the first fruits to ripen in the garden.

of the row of healthy, happy beet starts that i transplanted, one in particular plant has withstood adversity and is getting close to harvest time. something (birds?) repeatedly snapped stems and ravaged leaves of my poor little row of beets, but this one plant has hung in there. every so often i wriggle my fingers into the soil to feel how big it is underneath. right now it's about two inches across. i don't know how much longer i'll wait before i use it. luckily, i've sown two more rows of beets since that first planting.

i watched our tomato plants, and watched them, and watched them some more. they started blossoming pretty quickly after planting, but it took what seemed like eternity for the first fruits to emerge. 

 

i watched this first little one for days, and now all of a sudden there are nearly a dozen popping out here and there.

 

 

 the squash plants have had a weird time of it. i transplanted four starts that had a good run indoors before being moved to the garden. only two of them made it (i suspect foul play from birds/critters), and one took about a week longer to really gather its bearings and start getting bigger. a little while later, i seeded three more little squash hills, hoping they would fill out the area with their growth. one sprouted right away, and another got mysteriously scooted about three feet away and sprouted right next to a lemon basil seedling, very close to a tomato plant and the two more mature squash plants.

 

long story short, all the squash plants are very different ages, and so it took awhile for there to be enough blooms for them to pollinate each other. but finally three of the plants are blooming, and the first few squash are well on their way. one, in fact, needs to be harvested right now! now i just have to figure out what to do with it.

 

 

the 'stuff to post about' list:

-herb harvesting/infusions/use of fresh, wild herbs/tinctures

-making pants/making clothing

-growing herbs in the garden

-growing veggies, garden details

-my work vs. hogwarts

-burn salve

-scarification

-the view from laundry day

-awesome natural builder blogs

-the search for land/money/building credit

-dental health/sustainable toothcare

-sustainable clothes washing

-sustainable home/dishes/cleaning

-shampoo/deodorant/wipes/etc
-embroidering project (jeans)