Productive Saturdays

I got up and out to the garden super early and I've gotten so much work done already! And it's not even noon yet.

My basil never sprouted, but my friend had a bunch of sweet basil she had started so being the uber awesome friend that she is, she split some with me :)

I thought she had given me just 4 plants or so but when I split them up I ended up having a whole row of 12 or so basil plants :D

It looked so nice having herbs in the bed (My cilantro and parsley are currently in pots) I decided to expand and transplanted 2 rows worth of cilantro :)

I think this bed is pretty much full now. Maybe I can plant one more row of herbs and fill up the dead space by the peas with some brassicas or sumthin.

Seedling Heating Mats

I want a heating mat to speed up the germination process. I plant seeds and I swear it takes weeks for them to germinate even in this hot hot weather (70 is quite hot here in Renton). I've been looking around but heating mats specifically made for seedlings are just not in my budget. So I'm looking into ways to make my own. I hope I can put together something efficient in less than 10 bucks :)

I want CHICKENS :D

It's supposed to be in the 70's for the next couple of days :D That should do my garden some good!

Lately all that's been on my mind are chickens. I want chickens. I've wanted chickens since forever. I asked around and my friend whose dad owns chickens in the middle of Seattle said they can go find me some if I wanted. YAY!!

Now that my chicken source is confirmed, where to house them.

I have this gigantic shed in the middle of my backyard that's barely being used. I was thinking of converting it into a chicken coop but I don't know how well it would work. The walls are all made of wooden lattice so it would be cool in the summer but I'm sure it won't be the most comfortable in the wintertime.

After doing research online, all chicken coops

seem to need a "chicken run" where the chickens have a little door to a caged spot outside to run around and receive sun. Will this shed not provide sufficient lighting? Maybe I'll add on to the side of it so they can come out and play.

And how about flooring? I think the shed is currently lined with crates. Should I keep that as is and cover it with bedding? or should I pour down some concrete? Concrete would be my favorable choice but I don't know how into it my boyfriend would be since he will do most of the work :(

Plant Recoveries

left: corn

right: tomatoes

My corn, despite planting them on a super hot sunny day are looking fabulous. They've grown a bit and is loving their new sunny location.

Most of my tomato plants look like they're getting their color back after their dry-out scare. I still see no pepper or eggplant recoveries :(. My cucumbers are looking good though and I might still be able to use two of the okra seedlings.

I feel bad for my veggie babies. They've got such an amateur momma. It sucks that I leave town a lot for work too. But I'm not giving up on my goal to a bountiful harvest in the summer! I hope this week's hot and sunny forecast does my garden good :)

Berryful Delight

I see flowers on my berry plants! There's always a pleasant surprise waiting for me in the vegetable garden :)

left: blueberries

right: strawberries

My berries are all placed right by my house where they receive a lot of full sun. It seems to be doing them pretty good. My blueberries are doing really well despite the worm attack it received pretty early on. A lot of the old leaves are eaten up but the new leaves stay untouched. I hope the beetles are eating up whatever attacked my blueberries!

My strawberries are perky and grew twice the size since I transplanted them from the pots I bought them in. I'm surprised the slugs and snails aren't attacking them since I always see them the most around my strawberry plant. Strange....

My raspberries seems to just LOVE the sun it's getting. The plant was less than a foot in height when I got it in April but now it stands about 3 feet tall! I see a couple buds on it now. I hope I see more real soon!

I can't wait to have fresh berries in the summer. I hear birds every morning around my garden though. Maybe I should put some netting around my plants?

Little Duckling Visitors

The other day we took our bikes out and found a momma duck with baby ducklings following behind! Too cute. They were pretty far from the lake but as we followed them around, we noticed they were actually heading right for it! Animals always amaze me :D

Dried Up Seedlings ;____;

I was gone for work for two days... two very hot days. Sadly my boyfriend didn't water my seedlings enough and I came home to dying/dead sprouts in dried up dirt ;____;. Sadness rains in my sunny garden today...

top left: eggplant

top right: okra

bottom left: green pepper

bottom right: tomato

The tomato doesn't look too bad in the photo but all the leaves that were lush bright green on Saturday are now looking frail and yellow.

The pepper and eggplants don't look like there's much hope for revival which is so sad since it took FOREVER for the peppers to sprout, and I don't have any more seeds left :( The eggplant on the other hand I planted a new batch last week so I am so grateful for that.

I'm most saddened by my okras :( One looks weak but might recover.... The other sprouts don't look so good. The whole reason I started a garden was because I wanted to grow and eat my own okras. Everything else started out being the "extras". So I reaaaally hope they do okay!!!

The one thing that did survive okay despite being in such dry soil were my cucumbers. I was surprised, but I'm guessing it was because they're pretty big and strong at this point compared to the others that were still just sprouting.

They are still a bit frail compared to how I left them so I'm hoping a good soak will help them regain their strength :)

I hope my boyfriend will consistently keep my sprouts watered from now on... Coming home to a dying garden is a bit depressing......