Seeds and Squash

Yesterday I managed to be fairly productive in the garden, planting carrots, lettuce, squash, and doing a little garden maintenance.

In my vegetable garden I planted eight 36" rows of carrots , Carnival Blend from Botanical Interests, alternating with Renee's Garden Asian Baby Leaf mesclun. Row spacing was 3" with seed spacing of 3" as well.

Next door to that patch I planted seven 36" rows of carrots (six more rows of the Carnival Blend and three of Little Finger - also Botanical Interests) alternating with Renee's Garden Cut and Come Again baby mesclun. Again, 3" spacing all around.

Between these two patches there was maybe a 3" gap where I transplanted two Butternut Squash seedlings. One of the transplants has two vines while the other has four. I think I will thin that second one down to only two vines once it has settled and I can decide which two are the strongest. The spacing between these two transplants was 15" with five radish seeds planted evenly between them.

Tranplants

Butternut Squash in the Ground

At the end of the second patch I transplanted two zucchini seedlings. Again, with 15" spacing and 5 radish seeds between them. Both these transplants already have flower buds on them, which I left because I'm not particularly fond of zucchini, but I do enjoy squash blossoms. Perhaps within a week or two we'll have our first taste!

Zucchini Squash

Zucchini with buds

At the L corner, just next to the rhubarb plants, I planted my Wyatt's Wonder (giant pumpkin) plant. It has two somewhat sickly looking vines (somewhat yellowed and dry) but there are some new green leaves emerging so hopefully it can recover. I also planted an Acorn squash transplant at the southwestern corner of the strawberry/flower bed. This is a bush type squash, so I'm hoping it won't grow all over the place.

I planted borage seeds as well yesterday. One on each end of my tomato bed, one at the Western corner of my vegetable bed near the chainlink fence and one (or two...I think I lost one) at the corner of the L between my rhubarb and Wyatt's Wonder. Borage is a fantastic bee attractant and has pretty little blue flowers that look lovely floating in punch bowls or as a garnish for appetizers or salads.

Rhubarb
I also planted three Durango marigolds, one at each end of my tomato bed and one in the very center. Armstrong was having a 2-day sale (79 cents/4inch marigold) so bought those and eight more that will find their way into the vegetable bed. Marigold roots excrete a pesticide that supposedly lasts for a couple years in the soil even after the marigold is gone. They are the go-to plant for companion planting....and they're pretty too!



Tomato Bed
Lastly, I watered down all the beds and pots with fish tank water, since our fish tank was badly in need of a water change. The nitrate rich water is a great, low dose fertilizer and with a 160+ gallon tank, there is plenty of it. Finally, I set up more bird netting over the vegetable bed so that the dogs (and other lesser pests) will hopefully stay out of it.




Fava Beans looking tall!