Spring Progresses--and So Does the Garden!

Well, after much impatient foot-tapping, and wondering if I was going to have to start all over with the eggplants, they have finally decided to sprout!  It only took about three times longer than it said on the package--what's up with that?!?

Next, the radishes do us proud!  They are doing the best of anything we've planted from seed:

The corn is doing nicely, though still slow, and not all of the seeds have sprouted:

The tomatoes and bell pepper are doing really well; however they were not from seeds, but starter-size plants from the nursery:

The tomatoes, above left, have about tripled their size, and the bell pepper, above right, is nearly doubled.

The green onions, on the other hand, have still not shown themselves.  They are way past the germination "deadline" given on the seed packet.  I am very disappointed in them.

I've not taken new photos of the parsely and basil in their pots, as they have not grown a lot from their nursery-pack size.  I may have put them into too large of a pot.  Did you know that when you transplant something, it really should only go into the next pot size up?  If you put it into something huge, the plant will send all its energy to root production, working to fill that space before increasing the size of the actual plant.

Here is our lemon tree, in its pot:

There must be at least 20 blossoms/miniature lemon buds on each branch!  We will have to prop up the branches so they don't break!  In point of fact, what will probably have to happen is to cull several of these budding lemons, in order to send the plant's energy to the largest, and not over-tax the plant trying to produce so much fruit.  Besides, if we let them all be, some probably would not make it, and the rest would likely end up as miniatures.

And now, for the newest addition.  I call it our "surprise garden."  Hubby was out pulling weeds at the other end of the yard today, and one that was hidden amongst others, turned out to be a walnut seedling.  We have no walnut trees, have planted no walnuts, nor have we eaten any outdoors, so none could have been dropped that way.  It was most likely dropped by a crow--and those we do have in fair numbers.

We've put it in this pot for now, so we can keep an eye on it, and be sure it stays watered, until we decide where to plant it.  We already have some ancient almond trees that came with the property, but we don't bother to harvest them, as we don't really know how to 'process' the almonds.  Those, we leave to the squirrels and birds.

The final entries in the "surprise garden" category are not edibles, but volunteers, found in the same way as the walnut:  a pair of oak trees.  So, we planted those out in the "back 40," one near the fence, and the other about 10 feet away behind the shed where we store our molds.

And that, friends, is the garden journal for today.

Cheers!