Homegrown Poinsettias

Last year I decided I was going to try to regrow our poinsettias from Christmas. So here's what they look like this year. Now I know that I should probably have isolated them from light little sooner in hopes of getting them to change little more profusely. 

Poinsettia

Last Christmas I decided I was going to try to keep out poinsettias alive to have the following Christmas. I got the idea from this garden blog I follow: http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2011/12/the-poinsettia-has-a-future/

I have three in the basement sheltered from all light, so they only get a few hours of light a day on a timer and then are in complete darkness for the rest of the time. One is starting to take color. 

Tonight's harvest

Martín was very excited that our green beans have started coming in. 

Tomato Harvest

We had another tomato harvest from yesterday. The tomatoes are really in full swing now. 

Tomato Harvest

Our tomatoes are now finally in full swing. The Porter tomato has been producing for a while now, but the others finally started catching up. 

Heirloom Tomatoes

We've started to harvest some of our heirloom tomatoes. They've been slow to grow this year, at least it feels that, but they are extra tasty.

Last July Harvest

Picture of our last harvest for July. Tonight we also started our broccoli seeds and hope to have a fall harvest of them. The kids had a lot of fun helping, being careful to place the seeds in the holes we made. 

First Commissioned Raised Bed

Last weekend I put together my first commissioned raised bed. It was a custom L-shaped design, using 2x8 and 2x6 Douglas Fir. I ended up deciding to pocket hole all the screws with my kreg-jig, so there are no visible connections. Although it was very hot and humid, I enjoyed putting it together with my dad who happened to be in town visiting.

First Cucumbers from the Kid's Garden

Our first July harvest

This was part of yesterday's harvest. 

This is today's harvest. 

Custom Raised Bed

"L" Shaped Raised Bed

If anyone is interested in one, and lives nearby, I can make this for $140. I will follow-up with pictures of the finished raised bed, once it is installed.

Strawberry Plants for the Garden Gate

For Father's Day Julia and the kids bought me four everbearing strawberry plants for me to plant in our new Garden Gate that I built recently.

Harvesting Sugar Snap Peas

During the halftine of the Italy vs. England World Cup game the kids and I went outside to pick sugar snap peas for our Italian themed dinner. 

The Garden in Early June

Our garden is coming along in early June. The cucumber and butternut squash is starting to climb the new trellis I built this year.

Radishes

This past Sunday we harvested our first bunch of radishes. The kids were very excited to pull them up, hopefully Ignacio doesn't start pulling other things that should not be pulled up yet.

Custom Raised Beds Built to Size

Custom Raised Beds Built to Size
$140 for 15” tall 4’x8’ raised garden bed made out of 2”x8” Douglas Fir (as seen in first photo). 
$190 for 15” tall 4’x8’ raised garden bed made out of 1”x8” Cedar.

$55 for Trellis along 8’ length.

Will precut and predrill pieces and assemble in desired location. Soil mix is not included. Willing to do custom sizes, but prices will vary depending on if it is less or more wood.

I am located in Drexel Hill, but willing to deliver the raised bed, as long as its within the area.

Douglas Fir Raised bed

Custom Sized Douglas Fir Raised Bed

Garden Gate

Finally enclosed the only part of our yard that didn't have a fence, the driveway. Our youngest is definitely a runner, so this gate will be very useful in keeping him in the yard. My plan is to finish off the gate as vertical garden panels. With strawberries and lettuce growing on them.

Arugula Harvest

We harvested the arugula from the raised bed this past weekend, and a few broccoli leaves that were shading the tomatoes and cucumbers.

Refinished Table & Trellis

I finally got around to refinishing our outdoor dinning table. I sanded it down and applied a few coats of tung oil. Hopefully now with a few coats a year, it will last us a long time.

I finished the second trellis, minus the netting. The kid did a good job of holding it up while I attached it the raised bed.

Martín planting his cucumber

Martín decided to grow cucumber in his raised bed this year. So this evening he and I got outside to starting the seeds. He was so excited to grow his "pepinos".

May Progress

Dill and Flowers

Last night I started some dill down in the basement to get established before going out into a pot in the deck. I also am making another try at growing some hardy hibiscus for Julia. I had started some when we were living in Georgia still, but they all died I the move to Pennsylvania. I am also going to try to grow some Black-eyed Susan for the front yard. The rest of the plants that were started a few weeks ago have started making they move to their permanent locations outside, but their are still some zucchini, yellow squash, and all the basil and pepper plants waiting to go. 

Tomatoes & Okra

Yesterday started transplanting our tomatoes and okra into the raised beds. I think we may have finally gotten past all the colder nights where it drops into the low 40's.