Planting a spring garden

Spring is really here! It feels so good to spend time in the garden. To clear off mulch, sometimes large prunings and to find that the soil is so alive and healthy. One raised bed had about 6 inches of mulch covering more than off the bed and the other half had about 2 inches of mulch. The difference in the soil between the two halves of the bed was very evident. So it tells me that I need to mulch mulch mulch!!!

I have my eggplant bed planted with four starters, two Japanese long and two Rosa Bianca. There is also a catnip plant on one side of this bed.

My pepper bed is mostly planted. I have 5 green bells and 5 Anaheim peppers. I have one Ancho, one Jalapeno, one Habanaro and still have little paprika peppers to plant. I will probably squeeze in a couple basil plants too. I just can't get enough basil. We use it fresh in salads and cooking. I also dry it for later in the year when we don't have the fresh.

I planted half of the onion bed two months ago. Today, I planted out some Torpedo Red 1 lb. purple-red starts and California Red 4" late season slow to bolt onions.

The zucchini is doing well. Really growing fast, I could probably see it grow if I could sit there long enough. Who has time for that? Also planted in this bed is a row of sugar snap peas (in the light shade of the Elder tree), a broccoli raab and two Chinese cabbage plants. And a nastrutium and one basil. All doing well except the Chinese cabbages are very little - we will see on that one.

My paste tomato bed is doing well. They are all in flower. This year I planted 5 Roma paste tomatoes. Last year I tried Amish paste and they didn't do that well - but then again it was a bad year for tomatoes with two weeks of heat above 100 and up to 114 degree weather. Tomatoes won't set fruit above about 90 degrees. I also have basil planted amongst the tomatoes. They always do well together.


The rest of the tomatoes are planted in individual pots:

Stupice (heirloom indeterminate)-60-75 days potato leaf/good yielder with great flavor (tall, spindly 4’, 2-4oz.deep red, yellow on shoulder/dries well) -one of earliest tomatoes known/from Czechoslovakia

Cherokee Purple Tomato (heirloom indeterminate) 80 days, good producer & disease resistance (10-14 oz. maroon with green shoulders, excellent flavor)
-said to have originated with the Cherokee Nation


Jaune Flamme Tomato (French heirloom indeterminate) very productive, tangy flavor (2-3 oz. deep orange, apricot shaped fruit, great for drying) 75 days to maturity


More about tomatoes planted in my next post.
Also, my ideas for the rest of the spring planting.
Bush and pole beans, etc.



'Every one of us can do something to protect and care for our planet.We should live in a way that makes a future possible.'- Thich Nhat Hanh