My last post started with this view from my window of the garden and I thought it captured the growth really well.  Don't worry I am not going to spend the rest of the summer taking the same picture and posting it here over and over again.  I did however want to provide this update before my brother and I begin what he has named KLVN (pronounced Kelvin) otherwise known as Keely's Leave Vegas Now.  He will graduate from the class he has been taking there for the last 6 months next weekend.  That will be followed directly by our epic journey across the country back to our respective homes with several stops along the way to visit friends and family.  I will update as much as possible hopefully with lots of pictures for a little change of pace.  

For now here's the update on the garden.  I've learned there are somethings I am good at (or the soil in the garden) and some that I am not.  We'll start with the worst....

green pepper...should not be miniature 

another casualty of the bamboo that was growing below it

Here's the good stuff...

mint

garlic

cantaloupe

sweet potatoes

potatoes

Here's the best....

tomatoes

it's outgrowing it's trellis!

squash and zucchini 

my favorite view

Two more updates before I wrap this up.  First I have move into week three of the Couch to 5K and it is serious business and pretty painful.  If there is anyone who has completed it and has any inspiration please let me know.  Second the reason I did not post this weekend is because I joined some co-workers for Relay for Life.  Great time but I learned I am waaay to old to stay up all night.  It took me all weekend to recover.  Here is a picture of some of our team.

I'm the one in the shadow with the glowstick headband :)

Let it Rain

There was a lot of rain last week.  I don't mean it rained a couple of hours.   It rained inches and there was hail.  Luckily none of my plants were terrible damaged (perhaps traumatized ).  The picture below is from my bedroom window and I was trying to capture the rivers that were flowing in, through and around my garden. For those of you that are wondering, I am not keeping trash in the garden, it has potting soil in it.

The other excitement this week is that some creature has discovered my lettuce.  It is delicious so I understand.  Next year or this fall I will need to protect it better and also learn to thin it out.  My philosophy this year was survival of the fittest but I 'm not sure that applies in this situation. 

The two newest editions to the beds near the house are dill and basil.  I didn't grow these from seed myself.  I have learned that lesson.  Allow the professionals to start them for me.

Th rest of these pictures are just updates on progress. Speaking of progress, I have moved into week two of the Couch to 5k program and I'm still alive.  Sorry no pictures of that, it's still really scary looking.

Squash and Zucchini 

Tomatoes 

Green Bean

Sweet Potato

Lemon Cucumber 

Cantaloupe

Ready, Set, Go!

Yippee!

Not that you can tell from the pictures above but the garden is planted.  The only thing not in the ground are the watermelon and acorn squash.  Not for any particular reason other than the urban farmer ran out of steam on Sunday afternoon and life has gotten in the way since then.  

then there were two

They will be planted by the end of the week. 

One of the things that has gotten in the way is that I've decided as part of my plan to get healthy (hence the home grown vegetables) I am also going to attempt Couch to 5K.  I'm not sure that I will actually register for an event but I enjoy the goal based aspect of the program.  I will keep you all updated, I've only survived one day so far, we'll see how it goes.

I digress....Here are some more photos of the progress.  Hopefully the torrential rainfall we received this week didn't wash all of my seeds away.

don't miss the bamboo creeping in the background

I don't claim to be creative enough to come up with this.  Credit goes to another  urban farmer/blogger

Last but not least, the progress on the things that have already been planted.

carrot

Potatoes (wow!)

You win some you lose some

I'm sure some of you think that I have already given up.  Why hasn't she planted her garden yet you ask?  Well I am going to trust the sage advice of those that have gone before me and not plant before Mother's Day.  I think this is mostly to avoid frost but part of this journey is to rely on the integrity of other farmers (urban or otherwise) .  As most of you know Mother's day  is a week from tomorrow (depending on when you read this) and to ensure I plant on time, Burpee has sent my first plants.    It looked like a package from the future.

This is what was inside.

There are specific instructions to water and allow the plants to rest for at least 48 hours and that they will survive up to 10 days.  

Good thing as this brings me to the loses part of this post.  I don't have the heart to post pictures but there have been some minor setbacks.  First, I have mold on eggplant and green peppers seedlings (which are no where near as large as the ones from Burpee?).    I have tried all the internet suggestions to no avail.  Hopefully they will survive until next week.  Secondly there have been two fatalities in the last week or so....the onions and the cauliflower.  I'm not too upset about the cauliflower but the onions were important.  Perhaps I will take the loss and buy an onion set from another farmer.    Finally the garden soil is still not ready.  This is not for lack of trying.  Dad and I have spent many hours out there but it seems every time we get going either Mother Nature in the form of weather stops us or the infernal bamboo.   If anyone has any suggestions (other than setting it all on fire) I would be open to them.  Next spring it will be action item number one......

Potato Phun

Once upon a time there was a potato.....just kidding I was trying to come up with a witty title for my post this week and Googled Potato puns.   There was too much to include here but if you bored it's worth a few minutes or hours, funny jokes stories etc.  

Back to the point of my post...POTATOES!!!!  It's easy to get excited because they are the only things that I have in the ground so far but above is a picture of my potato plants.  I discovered these lovies when I came home from a particular stressful day at work this week. I was on the phone with a co-worker decompressing or complaining however you want to look at it and when I pulled up at the house I noticed the hint of green from the far corner of the garden. I ran through the mud pile that is the garden to have a closer look.  Keep in mind I am still on the phone but instead of talking to my co-worker I am ranting about potatoes in the garden.  She of course now has proof that I am crazy, hoping she doesn't use it against me.   It is amazing how much joy can be found in small green leaves.  All the other issues of the day disappeared as I tracked mud into the house to find the camera so I could document the event.   

The plan from here is to get the garden tilled this weekend (Thanks Dad!) Hopefully put some some sort of fence up to keep the critters out and plant the carrots so that maybe I can harvest them before the ground freezes this fall! If time/weather allows I may even plant some other things too.

So it goes

Not much to report this week specifically to the garden. In a holding pattern for the Rototiller and to ensure we are really done with winter aka frost.  I do have some pics of the seedlings...

Cauliflower 

I hope that the UVA bag in the background will not deter any of my VA Tech readers,  it is a long story for another time.

They're GIANTS!

I had the opportunity to have a wonderful meal with friends on Saturday that culminated in fireside chats (my favorite!).  The reason I bring this up is that our conversation reminded me of another reason that I want this gardening project to be successful and that is my desire to eat things that are not only healthy for my body but also grown locally.  The inspiration for our conversation (that is my private women's college education being put to good use there) came from a couple of sources.  For me was a book that I just started called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle  and for my friends it was a couple of movies Forks over Knives and Fat Sick and Nearly Dead and the diets that go along with it.  I mention this not as pointless plugs but so that anyone who is reading this can see some of the motivation behind this project.

I also forgot to mention that mother nature has done a number on me too.  I suffered endlessly from allergies as a child: doctors, shots the whole nine.  As an adult I have been able to treat with over the counters meds without much incident until now.  I'm sure it's the lack of rain and the pollen tumbleweeds.  Anyone who has not experienced this thinks I jest. (see below)  I have been cutting the grass with a mask (sorry no pictures, I am still single) and still feel like I've been hit with a truck.  Hopefully today's rain will get things under control.    The goal is for next weeks post to include some more planting!!

It looked a lot more threatening before being soaked by the rain.

Potato Party

Saturday with the help of two lovely ladies I actually planted something.  It was not casual nor was it easy but there are potatoes in the ground.  After all the time, effort and money invested in the bamboo removal guess what we had to do before we could plant.  yep you got it, dig up more bamboo.  I hope this picture captures the epic battle...

After 45 minutes or so of digging out bamboo roots an hurling rocks, the potatoes went into the ground.  For those of you who don't know (I certainly didn't) when you want to grow potatoes, you just put potatoes in the ground.  Amazing huh?

The planting for the day was also to include Kaleidoscope Carrots from our friends at Burpee but because mother nature decided she would make an attempt at spring with overnight freeze warnings decided to delay a little longer.  

Also because of this weather update and the need to till the garden before planting any seeds my assistants and I transplanted the eggplant and green peppers to make room in the seed starter the cauliflower. 

I hope they survive!

I knew going into this that I was going to encounter some nature, that's the point right?  Little did I know it would not be in the garden but up on the patio while letting the dog out.  Now, I did find him dead on the ground and moved him (with gloves on of course) for the full effect of the photo.  

I didn't want to end there for those of you that are now deeply disturbed and will comment and email me about the nightmares I have caused so here is a highlight.

Friday after work I stopped at the grocery store on the way home for my typical frozen pizza and adult beverages to celebrate the week's end.  It seems that New Belgium Brewing and I are on the same page.