The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on My Garden!

Well folks it KEEPS RAINING here in Allentown!! I know places like TX really need the rain and I am willing to share! I need to buy a couple rain barrels. That is one of my goals this summer. I took some updated photos of my garden and backyard yesterday. There is still a great deal of work to be done but I am proud that it is getting there. FYI In-between the rows or wherever there was room are Marigolds as I read that they help keep critters out of your garden. I also added some coffee grinds for the same reason. At Starbucks they give you their used grinds for free!

So below are updated pictures of my garden:

Left Raised Planter

Row 1
tomatoes – sweet one million
coriander – vietnamese
garlic chives

Row 2
tomatoes – heirloom striped german
rosemary – arp
garlic bulb
parsley – curled leaf

Row 3
tomatoes – jet star
mint – chocolate (blue balsam)
mint
basil – perpetual pesto

Right Raised Planter

Row 1
tomatoes – early girl
garlic bulb
sage – gray
green peppers – sweet california wonder

Row 2
coriander – mexican
basil – large leaf
garlic bulb

Row 3
lemon grass – asian
watermelon – sweet crimson
garlic bulb
spearmint – mentha spiceta

Row 4
cucumber – slicing
eggplant – old world italian (gitano)
garlic bulb

Because I am so happy with how things have been growing I even took close-ups (it hasn’t even been 3 weeks since we first built & planted).

Here are the CU’s:

That tall thing in the middle is GARLIC! It has only been growing for like a week!

That LEAFY BASIL in the front is delish – I have already used it to make pesto! Above the basil is the MEXICAN CORIANDER (CU next to it) which tastes like CILANTRO since duh, they are from the same family. I believe coriander is technically the seeds after the cilantro grows flowers and seeds. But this mexican variety I have found is stronger in flavor than your typical cilantro – I love it! It has tripled, I say tripled, in size since I planted it. It looks so cool! Further behind and to the right of the coriander is the SWEET WATERMELON and LEMONGRASS. I already have lemongrass growing in a pot but I decided to try this one in the garden for fun to see which grows better.

Another GARLIC BULB sprouting. This makes me so happy to see!

In the front are the GARLIC CHIVES. If you haven’t eaten these you must try them. Right out of the garden you can munch away and it really has this garlicky-oniony taste. FAB!! Behind it is the VIETNAMESE CORIANDER. I actually added some of this and the choc mint to my pesto and it added some depth to it. In the picture on the right you can see the PERPETUAL PESTO and the CHOCOLATE MINT (behind). The SPEARMINT you can hardly see – some critter has enjoyed eating this one.

There are 2 tomatoes on this JET STAR plant! Looking good! I never mentioned the tomatoes in the back rows really since not too much has happened yet. I think they will take another month or 2 for some action.

The CURLY PARSLEY is ready to be used. I might make some chicken bean stew tonight with it! Behind it is the ROSEMARY. On the right pic we have the EGGPLANT and CUCUMBER in the back along with the SPEARMINT in the front.This guy was literally all dried out and I thought he wasn’t going to make it because I had waited so long to plant (bought him before the others in April) but I mean he has had a complete transformation!!

Finally we have the SAGE growing tall in the middle left. Gonna dry those and make some smudge sticks. Below it are the GREEN PEPPERS.

Here are 2 final pics of my helper, Tootie: