Monday Morning Garden Blogging

I've decided to add what I hope to be a weekly feature on my blog of the progress of my garden. I live in an apartment building and they have plots in the back of our complex that we can plant our gardens in. It is a challenge to say the least. The soil is depleted of all its nutrients and is acidic because of the pine trees surrounding the plots. Last year was a dud as far as my gardening went, a couple of cucumbers, a few tomatoes and a bumper crop of beans. This year I did raised beds of miracle grow soil and placed plastic around some of the crops to keep the water in and the weeds out. I amended the soil with lyme in the late spring and am using a fertilizer that is low in nitrogen. I also fertilize sparingly to protect the environment.

My Garden Plot, my sanctuary, my comfort and my joy.

The tomato plants I started from seeds. I have a plastic milk carton irrigation system but I haven't had to use it because we've been blessed with so much rain. We don't use hoses in our plots, just a sprinkling can and lots of walking back and forth to the spigot.

This is the store bought tomato plant. Most of my tomatoes are grown from seeds but I wanted fresh tomato plants 10 minutes ago yesterday, so I bought a plant with blooms already on it.

Welcome to the world little tomato, I am so glad you are here!!! Can't wait to eat you, yum yum!


Here's the cucumber plants. Last year the cucumbers got a fungus that ruined the crop. Hopefully with special care and a watchful eye I can prevent the same problem this year.


A little pepper plant growing protected by black mulch. This is my first year using a wooden chip mulch in the vegetable garden. When I owned a house I used my grass clippings for mulch in the vegetable garden, however living in an apartment complex that uses way too much chemical in its grass, I am changing my ways.



Here's the bean plants, they don't appear to be doing too well. I have not put mulch around them yet. Wondering if I should put down the plastic or the black wood chips?



Here's the lettuce and the gladiolas. I ran out of lettuce seeds mid planting and a parishioner of mine gave me some bulbs so I decided to plant them in the same plot. Perhaps I'll get some sort of creepy flowering salad hybrid.


My garden blog is not complete without a picture of my cat. She likes to think she is the queen of absolutely everything.