Seeding Saturday - Fence and Planting

First off, let me start with a bit of a confession.

I am not a fan of the Knockout roses. No fragrance for one thing. My little 'Don Juan' on the front gate arch is so wonderful. But not this one.

However, it is giving its best show ever this year. It is loaded with roses. And pulling up in front of the house and seeing this mound of roses makes my heart happy. So I am forgiving it for not being fragrant.

Anyway...

There is finally 'movement' in the veggie garden. Despite my back killing me over the past week. 

Prior to my back getting in the way of progress, I did manage to pull the plastic mesh fencing out of the overgrown grasses and weeds. I took down the floppy arches and secured them to t-posts and stakes to make up one side of my garden fence. I still need to make a 'gate' for it on this side. I will probably use a bit of the plastic mesh fencing and a couple of poles to make a gate.

Along the fence line I slid cardboard underneath. My hope is the cardboard will suppress the weeds or at least make the grow out where I can get them with a lawn mower. Since I had a lot of grass clippings, I laid a thick layer of clipping on the garden side of the cardboard.

The t-posts alternate with wooden stakes. There are approximately 4 feet between all the supports. At the t-posts I transplanted my Sibley Squash and my Red Kuri Squash, hoping to train them up the hog wire fencing, keeping them off the ground. Only time will tell if I am successful. 

I am hoping to try more of the winter squashes because most of the ones I picked are supposed to be 'sweet' in flavor and compared to sweet potatoes, which I like. I need to have more vegetables in my life!

Then in the only bed I've planted so far...

At the far end are my peppers. I have some 'baby' bell peppers - a Candy Cane Chocolate Cherry Sweet Pepper which is variegated and Jimmy Nardello Sweet Peppers. I hope to not only use the fresh in cooking, but also to dry and grind for my own paprika. I am trying to grow, dry and save my own herbs and 'stuff' this year. 

Included in the line-up is my Megatron Jalapeño Pepper and three Shishito Pepper plants. There are also a couple of 'hot pepper' plants in the mix also. I would love to do some stuffed jalapeño peppers and then can a few to top off nachos with. And want to try Shishito peppers roasted with a meal. 

Then there is a Jewel Amethyst Eggplant  which is supposed to produce 3-4 inch eggplants. I am not really a fan of eggplant. But then I have only eaten it a couple of times. So I am wanting to experiment with including these in my meals. Another one will be added as soon as I locate it in the greenhouse!

There are 3 Pantheon Zucchini Squash at the end of the bed. As I said, I want to add more squash to my veggies. And I would like to try some stuff or battered squash flowers this year. 

At the very end of the row I planted my Hokus Gherkin Cucumbers. They are a small cucumber and I hope to have enough to make Sweet Gherkin cucumbers. They are being trained up a trellis I salvaged from someone who was moving. 

In a mound in the garden area I planted Rouge Vif D' Etampes Pumpkin Squash, mainly to see if I could grow a pumpkin. I have some 'Casper' Pumpkins to transplant and a couple of watermelons too. I have a large open area I haven't done anything with, so will grow these on the ground. As the vines grown out, I will lay cardboard and straw down for them to grow onto. My goal, besides having pumpkins and watermelons, is to get that area covered in cardboard to stop weeds and grasses. 

I have managed to get 1 tomato into the tomato bed, a Yellow Brandywine, and I stuck in one of my nasturtiums in front of it. 

In between all the plants in the bed I laid down cardboard as a 'weed shield' (fingers crossed) and covered with some Pennington Wheat Straw. In the past I have just bought a bale of straw to mulch my plants. And I feel that is one reason my garden is FILLED with weeds. This is 'chopped' up and hopefully is more free of weed seeds. Several of my YouTube favorites use this on their veggie gardens (maybe not Pennington, but something similar) and I like the look of it better. So time will tell if it is worth the additional cost. 

But the rest of the weekend is supposed to be rainy. Which is ok, as I need the rain. I'll get back out in the garden early next week and march forward getting first the tomatoes in the ground and then planting beans and field peas. 

Let there be squash, peppers and pumpkins in my future!