Garden Planted

This would be the year to have a great garden.  It became my HOME entry for my current semi-annual initiatives, one that I maintained.  The Aerogarden semi-flourishes though basil grow too high and coriander did not germinate at all.  but I've used the basil and tarragon, will use the thyme, though the dill seems more suitable for a garnish than a culinary herb.  Chia pots have been repetitive failures except for basil, which eventually outgrows the sponge and withers.  It has great leaves, though, much bigger than the Aerogarden basil which I think is the same seed.  Tried to grow tomatoes and peppers from seed indoors.  They sprouted.  Tomatoes failed on transplant.  Peppers transplanted yesterday.

Outdoor container plants have begun to sprout.  I bought spearmint and have uncontrollable peppermint from last year.  Made the largest pot into a multitasker:  dill, parsley, basil, thyme.  Germination has begun on all but the basil.  Made pots of chives and coriander, no activity yet.  Some flowers have germinated.  Sage and Rosemary from seed likely to fail in the outdoor pots.  Planted sage from seed in the main garden and bought rosemary from Richardson's Garden Center so I know I will have some.

For the backyard, I have two 4x4 blocks devoted to Square Foot Gardening.  After many years, I made the effort to enrich the soil.  Tomatoes and rosemary as plants, all else from seed.  One for herbs + two tomatoes, the other for vegetables.  So it's Dill, Sage, Rosemary, Oregano, Chives, Marjoram, Parsley, Basil, Thyme, and Cilantro.  For the vegetables:  Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, Beans, Bok Choi, Swiss Chard, Cucumbers, and Arugula.  Some watering on schedule, maybe even fix hose reel to do it better.  Then some patience.  Hopefully with weed blocking fabric beneath and layers of nutrients above, weeding will not be too much of a chore.  And this year I need to do better with pests, something I usually neglect, and perhaps enriching nutrients along the way.

But mostly scheduling chores and patience now that the hard elements of enhancing the garden beds and sowing the seeds are behind me.