Time For Photos

I finally have the time and energy to give that update with the photos that I promised. So be prepared for lots of photos and lots of info!



I'll start with my railing box, it's on the railing on the back porch. I planted a row of radishes, and a mix of lettuces (Heatwave Blend: a mix of 6 varieties). Here's a photo of the box:



Aren't my labels adorable? As you can see, some the radishes have already germinated, and are doing quite nicely. The little bits of green scattered around the box is the lettuce. Close-ups to follow. But some info first:

The radishes are Cherry Belle variety.
Planted: 8 June
Estimated Germination: 12-14 June
Estimated Harvest: 30 June

The Heatwave Lettuce Blend.
Planted: 8 June
Est. G.: 18-22 June
Est. H: 23 July

Here are my first two radishes to germinate close up:

Here is the row of radishes. Looks like only four had germinated at this point:

Now here is close-up of my baby lettuce. They're really tiny...and sooo adorable!



Even closer:



While I was taking photos, on my way to the rest of the plants, I passed my the flowers my Mom planted. They're quite pretty, so I decided I might as well put them up here. So here is me pimping my Mom's flowers:

The first one is a window box attached to the front railing (there is one on each side). This one includes: marigolds, geraniums, salvia, and I think there are a couple of petunias.


Here is the other one. You can see the bird feeders in the background. Hmmm...looks like they need to be filled. I swear....those birds eat like horses! So...in this box: marigolds, salvias, and petunias. There are two really pretty colors. The light purple one with the darker lines, and the dark purple one. You can't see the colors too well in this photo. I'll see if I can take a better one.



She's also planted two hanging baskets (more are in the works, including an idea I have to plant cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket). The one on the right has nicotiana, and the one on the left has petunias. Can you tell we like petunias?



On to the crops!!! I'll start with the tomatoes. So far, there are two in the garden, both bought as baby plants. This one (actually got it second....lol) is a hybrid variety that we got at the Reston farmer's market. Can't remember the exact name of the variety. I've got a tag somewhere. When I find it, I'll post it here. Both tomato plants were transplanted around the first weekend of June. This bad boy is an indeterminate, so we'll probably stake/trellis it at some point. If you look really close, you can see that there are a bunch of flowers on it, and two have already made it to fruit.



Here is a close up of the two baby tomatoes. I tried several times, couldn't make the photo less blurry, but you can still see the two baby tomatoes and one flower.



This is the other tomato. We got this one from Meadow's Farms sometime in May. It was much smaller then. On the day I took photos, I noticed that it finally started flowering. Can't really see them in this photo, as they're mostly on the other side and hiding a little bit. This one is patio bush variety, determinate.



Here is a close-up shot of the flowers. You can also see some buds, if you look really close. Even though I didn't start this guy from seeds, I'm still proud of him, since he was just a baby when we got him. So look at the flowers!




On to the seeds I planted on the 8th of June. As you can see from the labels in this shot, this container has beets and carrots. I don't have the packets near me at the moment, I'll have to put the variety of each one up later. But here's some info:

The beets:
Planted: 8 June
Est. G: 22-29 June
Est. H: 6 Aug

The Carrot:
Planted: 8 June
Est. G.: 22-29 June
Est. H: 17 Aug




Next, we have some muskmelons that I started from seed and transplanted on the 5th of June. There are 3 Watermelons (again I'll have to get the varieties next time), and 1 Cantaloupe (same regarding variety). Now for the info:

The Watermelons:
Planted: 16 May
Est. H: 2 Sept

The Cantaloupe:
Planted: 16 May
Est. H: 27 Aug

One of the watermelons looks a bit dead. It's actually from an earlier batch of seeds I planted, and it just germinated realllly late. It doesn't look like it'll last very long...




The cantaloupe in this shot, looks suspiciously like a cucumber... I guess I'll find out when it blooms and sets fruit.



Here are the back two watermelons. The one on the right is doing pretty good. The icky-looking leaves are the first leaves. They got a bit stuck in the seed shell, and they're a bit shriveled. Doesn't matter much, the first leaves will fall off soon anyway.



Now, on to the plants that are still waiting to get a bit older to get transplanted. These first two (the ones on the left actually), are bell peppers. The one in the foreground has its first set of real leaves, and it's looking pretty good!

Here are my cucumbers. Cucumbers are the plants I seem to have the most success with. The variety I'm planting are a space master bush type. They're more compact than regular cucumbers, and are wonderfully suited for container gardening.

I only had one of the two seeds I planted germinate. So a few weeks after the first one had sprouted its first leaves, I planted another seed, as you can see, this one germinated. The first true leaves have not come out yet, but if you look really closely, you can see that they will come out soon. These two will get transplanted pretty soon.





So that's my plants so far. Still have a few seeds to plant. Better late than never!

UPDATE: Seeing as I took these photos on Monday, there have been a few changes. Something I noticed today....my beets have germinated!!!! A whole 4 days before the estimated germination date! I'll see if I can take some photos this weekend, and post the updates.