Family Garden: Bethany & the Beanstalk

The garden is still going! In fact, the beanstalk is now much taller than me! It's almost to the top of the trellis, which is somewhere around 8 feet tall. I harvested one zucchini this week and have my first baby bell pepper! I've never been able to grow a pepper from transplants, let alone from seeds, so if this little pepper becomes a big edible pepper, I will be quite thrilled! The pepper plant also has three more flowers and several more buds on it, so hopefully we'll get many peppers (I love to snack on raw bell peppers...yum!).

We've also got onions, bush beans, broccoli, melon plants, tomatoes and additional bell pepper seedlings all growing, which is fun. The caterpillars have abandoned my broccoli, so that's happy news. Damage has been done there, but there are new leaves coming, so hopefully we'll still get some broccoli out of it. I've got four squares vacant right now and I'm thinking of planting some basil as I've recently come across a really good pesto recipe that LittleBear and I both really enjoyed.

Our zucchini is still growing, but it's having a hard time. Between the bugs eating the inside of the stalk and the really hot afternoons we've been having, I don't think it will be around much longer. I think I've gotten rid of the bugs eating the stem with my homemade pesticide, but the damage has already been done. It looks wiped by the end of the day, but perks up overnight. I'm not sure how long this will go on. I am planning on planting two zucchini plants for the fall.

My routine right now is watering first thing in the morning and then giving the plants a sprinkle in the afternoon with the sprinkler for about 30 minutes. So far, this has been working really well for us and our water bill hasn't had too big a spike. Here's what we have:

Box #1:
Box #2:
Box #3:

Here are a few snapshots of what we have as of 10 minutes ago...

Honeydew plants:
Bell pepper plant:
Baby Pepper:
Tomato seedling!
Cantaloupe:
Super Tall Beanstalk:
Broccoli:
Onions with Bush Beans behind:
One last view from the other side:

This garden has really been a great learning experience. Prior to this, I would have called my thumb black because I had not been able to grow anything successfully. But I'm really excited with the way things are turning out! If you've ever thought about trying to grow herbs, veggies or even flowers, give it a try! Even if it's a one pot container garden, learn all you can about it and go for it! Personally, I've always loved this idea :)