Bed layout and Planting



Little by little, I'm getting this garden into shape. At this point, all of the beds are filled and the irrigation is installed on each. Now it's time for planting.

The complication: I'm trying not to spend lots of $$$ on new seed or live plants. I wanted SOME young plants to transplant, so I got a few, but I didn't get seeds started early enough; right now the only seeds that have successfully been prestarted are eight varieties of tomatoes and one small eggplant. I'm working off of older seeds (some as old as 6 years since packing), so while I expect some germination, I don't expect every single seed to sprout. We'll see how it works out.

In the meantime, allow me to show you what's in the ground so far, and lay out a rough idea of some of the plants I'm direct-sowing..,


Redbor kale is so pretty, isn't it? Little curly purple leaves!


For that matter, Prism kale is also very pretty; a beautiful pale green with those same curly leaves. I almost planted some Russian red kale as well, but opted to wait.


Swiss chard, the "Bright Lights" variety. I really love the cacophony of color that Bright Lights brings to a garden -- reds and pinks and yellows and orange and green, all chaotically mixed together.


And, since I have a couple of trellises, I tossed some Blue Lake pole beans in the front of the upper section on this bed. They're quite happy already!

Between the chard and the kales, I direct seeded some bok choy, the Toy Choy variety, this morning. And in the front portion of that bed, I've planted some Blue Lake bush beans, some Royal Burgundy bush beans, and some Tendergreen bush beans. There's still a quarter of the front bed left to plant, but I haven't decided what's going in next to my bean crop yet; probably a young eggplant, once it's hardened off and ready to go into the ground.

I've also planted some peas, even though it's a smidge late in the season to plant them -- Taiwan sugar snap peas, to be specific. I plan on putting some lettuces in next to those in a little while; I bought a few live plants, but I have some other varieties that also are going to end up in that bed with the peas.

Meanwhile, my tomato seedlings are happily growing; I'm probably going to mound the soil for them over the irrigation hoses and get those in the ground once they're a little more hardened off. 

So things are happening! But in the meantime, I really love the beautiful infusion of color that some kales and chard have brought to the first bed.


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