March Growth

The month of March 2015 was very warm and my garden plants are thriving. The temperatures got too high for the sweet peas so I removed them after a few more peas harvested. The cilantro was going to seed and no longer producing the broad-leaf cilantro I had enjoyed and shared so much throughout the winter, so I dug them out as well. My girls and I planted some sunflowers (the tall variety) and some snapdragons and wild flower mixes in a small section of the garden for fun. Our friend James gave me 4 small sweet potatoes that were sprouting and I planted them today where the cilantro had been. I also planted some zucchini on a mound where I had composted for a while, but nothing has sprouted.

The tomato plants are producing and growing wonderfully. Nothing in the garden makes me quite as happy as my recovered frozen tomato plants, especially the one that seemed the most hopeless at the beginning of February which is now back to it's pre-frozen size and producing cherry tomatoes once again.

These photos were taken on March 17, 2015.

Complete recovery after freeze in January, cherry tomato.

Before removing the sweet pea vines and seeding cilantro.

I had been keeping my eye on a cabbage head that had been growing for a while. When I finally picked it, I was sad to discover that it had started rotting. After removing many of the outer layers, I was able to use the remaining inside small head. That may be the only cabbage I get from the many large plants. The low production could be due to the plants being over-crowded. 

Garden in February 2015

I'm so pleased with the growth on my surviving tomato plants as well as how much lettuce, cilantro and sweet peas we are constantly enjoying and sharing from our garden. Within the past weeks, I also planted more carrots near the base of the flourishing sweet pea vines, more lettuce and spinach and a few green onion roots from onions purchased from the store (that are growing!) I also planted a few small pieces (bite size) of red potatoes after allowing them to dry out over night on my counter and pieces of the small unripened potatoes pulled out after the freeze just to see what happens. I also planted about 6 tomato starts from James for this upcoming season. I'm hoping for a great tomato harvest (for once!).

My cherry tomato plant. Feb 4

Tomato that ripened on the vine after the freeze.

New growth! Cherry tomato plant.

Green onions, both from seed and from planting store bought onion roots.

The New Year's Freeze 2015

So late December and surrounding the start of 2015, we had a dip in temperatures. A few garden plants suffered mild freezing the night before the official "freeze warning", but I covered the tender plants during each night of the freeze (air temps below 35-ish). Here's how my garden fared:

Plants that were not damaged:
Lettuces
Cilantro
Sweet Peas
Carrots
Cabbage
Spinach
Green onions

Plants that were damaged but salvageable:
Tomato plants
Marigold flowers

Plants that were killed:
Zucchini
Younger tomato plants
Green Bean
Potato (an experimental planting)

I picked a decent harvest of zucchini before the plants dying off. Tomato plants had not provided many ripened tomatoes, but the cherry tomato had hundreds of green tomatoes. I used them as an experiment and my results were very interesting. The tomatoes continued to ripen off the bush and also a few that were on a low live stem on the bush after trimming away almost all of the plant. New growth is filling the bush in and I still have hope for the plant for this season.

All the fallen green tomatoes off the frozen cherry tomato plant Jan 9, 2015

The same cherry tomatoes several weeks later, many ripened and taste great. Jan 30, 2015

A fraction of a very abundant and enjoyed Sweet Pea harvest

I chose a few plump pods to try drying the peas for planting next year.

The cherry tomato plant after the freeze, Jan 17

The zucchini plants post freeze

The cherry tomato plant after I groomed away all the frozen leaves and branches. Just a glimmer of hope in it living. Jan 17.

Not Enough Time

I haven't had the time set apart for blogging and my gardening journal has suffered. In an effort to catch up, I will post photos I have taken along with their dates and simple descriptions. I love my garden and many things have changed since my last October posting!

DECEMBER 23rd 2014, before the freeze! Everything was planted from seeds except for the huge cherry tomato plant in the center of the garden (starter purchased).