Garden Progress

Our garden is s...l...o...w...l...y progressing. Last week, Ethan and Caleb went out to the farm, and Ethan plowed up the rest of the garden spot while Caleb watched. The ground was still quite wet, and it has to dry out quite a bit before we can do any more work. With all of the rain that we have been getting (many areas and cities around us are flooding worse than they have in over 10-15 years), it might be awhile!

The plants that I started are desperately wanting to get into the garden. Their growth had halted in their planting pots. Yesterday I dug out all of the old pots that I have been storing (I was keeping them knowing we would eventually move out of this parsonage, and I wanted to be able to take my flowers with me), and I planted my garden starts in them. If I can get my hands on some more pots, I will try to start our pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons in them - with hopes that I can transplant them.

I also am going to see if I can encourage my starts along with milk jug greenhouses. Since tomatoes do most of their growing at night, from what I understand, the greenhouses help keep them warm and moist throughout the night so they can grow better. Just in case it is too warm for milk jug greenhouses now, I don't have all of them covered. Plus . . . I ran out of milk jugs. :)

So although it's not much progress, it is a tiny step ahead towards a garden. My hopes for the gardening year are to get enough tomatoes and peppers to can enough spaghetti sauce, salsa, and just plain tomatoes to get us to next summer. Also, I am banking on being able to plant a nice crop of fall beans to fill the cupboards with (one of the few vegetables Ethan likes) since last year my fall beans were the nicest. Anything else, I will just take as a bonus during this year of transition.