In The Garden today

 All of my garden plants have been started from heirloom seeds this year. I am very excited about that because it means I can save the seeds and plant them again next year! It will save me a lot of money and I will know they are high quality.

This picture on the left is Paris White Cos Lettuce.









The lettuce on the right came from seeds my Dad gave me from his garden last year. It is called Black Seeded Simpson. I am letting these plants go to seed right now so that I can gather them for next year.
We are eating leaves off of these plants too. MMmm. Delicious.

Next to the Lettuce is some Kale.

 My friend that I went with to the Garden of Eaton gave this petunia plant to me. I am going to enjoy having it in my garden.

 My 10 year old son took a picture of me today while I was getting a bed ready to plant spinach and swiss chard.

 Not everything is going well in my garden this year. I had a hard time getting my carrot seeds to germinate, so wherever they did not come up I transplanted some strawberry plants.

I will be trying again to get carrots to come up. I have a plan of action that I think will work. I am going to pup burlap bags down over the bed and keep them wet until the seedlings germinate. The wind here in Cheyenne dries out the top layer of the soil and I think that is why my first carrots did not do well.

 The potatoes are peeking up. Some of my plants should have been put in sooner, but I did not have the beds build early enough. That's o.k. These will still do well even if we get hail this year.

 When I was at the Garden Of Eaton they had some free Brussels sprouts plants. I put them in yesterday, so they look a little wilty here. they will be looking better by tomorrow if I keep them moist.

I found the first flower of the season on my peas today! I look forward very anxiously to that moment every year. To me it means my garden is a success.

The onions are doing well. Some strong winds the other day blew them towards the North a bit, but they are coming out of it. 

Every day I put the sprinkler on the beds that have seeds germinating. About 5 to 10 minutes in each spot does the trick. When the plants are up and have good roots I water less often but longer at each watering.

I have had these cantaloupe outside of the greenhouse the last few days getting used to outside weather before I put them in their permanent home. Now they are in their tire and we will see how they do. Just to be safe, I planted some seeds in the tire too just in case these plants don't make it. Whenever I transplant something I make sure the soil they are going into is very moist, not a swimming hole, but moist. then I put the plant where it goes, tamp some soil around it, and water it with a transplanting solution. Today I used Miracle Gro. I had some leftover from last year that I want to use up. This year I am trying to follow the guidelines of the Mittleider method using fertilizer that my Dad and I mixed up. I do not use pesticides or chemicals, but I do make a mix that contains all of the micro and macro nutrients that the plants need to survive. Our soils are so depleted that it is necessary to add nutrients. The mix I am using of peat moss and sand needs a weekly feed. Some of the micro nutrients will be had for the plants once their roots penetrate the top soil under the mix.


So, that is what is happening in my garden. Living in Cheyenne puts me behind many places in the USA, but I have been taught to bloom where I am planted.

Happy Healthy,
Elisa