Garden Update

I never photographed the tomato seedlings before they went in the ground Memorial Day weekend. You'll have to trust me when I tell you that they grew big and strong.  We had 24 plants, three varieties- a friend's heirloom, Black Cherry, and Brandywine- and we found homes (read: forced them on family members) for all but six.  We planted two of each variety, plus 7 more- Brandywine Sudduth, Big Boy, Gold Medal, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Rosso Siciliano, and Mexican Midget.

They haven't been growing too fast because it's been rainy and cool, but here's one we grew from seed that's doing pretty well.  We're supposed to have a heat wave this week, so I expect they'll be doing a lot more growing soon.

See the new bed Matt dug for us? 

It's closer to the house and in a spot that gets full sun.  That's the "upper garden," and we're still utilizing the "lower garden," where the garlic and peas are nearing harvest time.

That's the garlic patch, and we picked some scapes for dinner.

The scapes need to be removed or the garlic bulbs won't grow as big.  They're good sauteed with olive oil and tossed with spaghetti.  The garlic will stay in the ground for about another month.

The peas (snow peas and a variety of English peas called Sutton's Harbinger), planted mid-April, have been flowering and developing pods for a few days now, right on schedule.  I expect we'll start picking some by the end of the week. 

This is our first year growing peas, and I'm actually amazed that it worked.  I haven't done much at all to them since we put the seeds in the ground, and here they are.  I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch, I suppose.  They will not benefit from the heat wave as much as the tomatoes, but they do get some shade, and we'll keep them well watered.  Fingers crossed!