Lemon Basil, Opal Basil, & Genovese Basil

I was excited when I got the mail today, because we received our free basil seeds from www.tomatoheirlooms.com. So I sowed some Lemon Basil, Opal Basil and Genovese Basil. I also transplanted a few more of our tomatoes into small pots.

Blueberry & Sweet Alyssum

I sowed some Sweet Alyssum seeds around my blueberries, to act as a living mulch, and attract bees. I am excited, I found out that the Rabbit-Eye Blueberry plant I have is actually native to the area.

Blueberries

This weekend we purchased and potted two blueberry plants. One is a Tiftblue and the other is a Rabbit-Eye Blueberry. I am excited, as Antonio and I love eating blueberries, and I love their little white flowers, and the spectacular red leaves in the fall.

Snap Pea Flowers

We noticed that our Snap Peas flowers are starting to bloom, so that hopefully means that we'll be having some snap peas soon.

Cooking with Cuban Oregano

I was curious how people typically cook with Cuban Oregano, so I did some research on it, and this is what I have found:

Can be used (fresh or dried) in tomato based sauces (for use on any type of meat), or if ground fine - use in egg, macaroni, potato salads, fresh cut leaves can also be used (if cut fine) in tossed salads.

Harvesting Radish & Lettuce

This past weekend we had are first (small) harvest from the garden. We ate two of our radishes, and harvested some of our lettuce. The lettuce was not enough to eat by itself, but we were able to mix it in with the store bought lettuce. Both tasted really good, much better than store bought. The lettuce is the one that really blew us away. We never realized how bland store bought lettuce is, being that is all we have really known until now.

Summer Squash, Cucumbers & Melons

On Sunday night we sowed some Zephyr summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, Delicata squash, Kabacha squash, and Moon & Stars watermelon. I also threw in there a few more basil, dill, and thyme seeds.

Phoenix Gardens

Today we went to a plant sale that a local farm was having here. The farm is Phoenix Gardens. It was really nice meeting the owners, and touring their farm. We bought a Cuban Oregano, Orange Bell Pepper, Bullhorn Pepper and Garden Salsa Pepper. We had a great time at the farm, Antonio really liked seeing the chickens, and walking around on the tour.

Alfalfa Sprouts

Today I harvested the alfalfa sprouts that I had been growing. It was 4.5 oz out of a tablespoon of seeds. I had some today on my burger, and they were really tasty. I started my second batch of sprouts today as well.

What to do with these Onions?

Back in February we had some onions that had started growing on us in our pantry, so Julia gave them to me to try planting in the garden. Antonio has been very proud of their progress. My question is, what do we do with them? What can we expect from them? Since I just planted two store bought complete onions in the ground, are we going to have new bulbs down there, do I need to separate the stalks and so be dividing the bulbs? If anyone out there knows, or has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

Seed Starting Setup

This Saturday I also finished purchasing and putting together my seed starting setup (it is no longer an ad-hoc setup on top of the fridge made of glass blocks and phone books). I know it may be a bit late to really get a jump start on this years plants, but I am happy that I now have it set up for future use. Ideally, I wish I had been able to go with slightly longer shelves, but due to space limitations in our townhouse, that was not an option for now (so the shop lights stick out on each side a bit). Please ignore the clothes hanging in the background, as you may guess, the only available space we had was in my walk-in closet, so now I get to squeeze by our seedlings every morning as I get ready for work. The nice thing is that the setup did not cost much at all. The shelf was $29 from Ikea (Gorm shelf) and the 4' shop lights were from Lowes, and were $9 each, and the bulbs were slightly under $7 a pair. 

Transplanting Tomatoes, Rosemary & Greek Oregano

This Saturday Antonio and I transplanted two of our seedling tomatoes into small temporary pots, and then a rosemary and greek oregano plant into ceramic pots for our patio. Antonio really helped me out. I would hold the plant in place in the pot, and he would carefully put the potting soil into the pot, taking care not to damage the little plant.  I didn't have to move any soil myself. I hadn't realized until Julia came outside to take some pictures and watch us, how serious we both look while concentrating as we transplant the plants.

Garden Update

Here is a update of the overall view of the Jardin de Stell.

Nasturtiums growing along the Meyer Lemon have grown giant leaves now.

The Peas and lettuce look promising.

The pot with radishes and spinach that was sown on March 15th is looking good too. The radishes have us anxiously waiting to be able to start harvesting some of them.

Thinning out of Seedlings

Saturday I thinned out the seedlings. It felt weird knowingly destroying perfectly good plants. Hopefully the ones I chose were the better of the two seedlings.

Lavender & Black Eyed Susans

Today I sowed indoors some Lavender and Black Eyed Susans. I also transplanted into temporary pots two tomato plants from my seedling tray.

Alfalfa Sprouts

Today is day one for growing Alfalfa Sprouts. I started out with 1 tablespoon of organic alfalfa sprouts and am reusing Atlas Mason jar from Classico Spaghetti Sauce. I am hoping of having a steady supply of healthy and good tasting vegetables regardless of what is going on outside. Speaking of which, we had a few thunderstorms and were under a tornado warning for a while this evening.

Snap Pea, Lolla Rosa Lettuce, and Sparkling White Tip Radish

I did one last sowing of Snap Peas directly into the garden, and sowed Lolla Rosa Lettuce and some more Sparkling White Tip Radishes along with it. Hopefully it is not already too warm for the peas. Hopefully they still have enough time to produce some tasty peas. I also went ahead and sowed indoors 4 cilantro, to try to get them started.