Jennie's Garden ~ 11/04/10

Welcome back! We are now into the month of November, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner! I have decided to do my updates every 15 days now, instead of every 10. I felt there would be a larger change to see this way. These pictures were all taken yesterday, Nov. 4th, exactly 15 days after the last pictures.

Things are doing well. I'm still a little concerned about my beets and spinach, as they seem to be growing at an extremely slow rate. According to the spinach harvest dates, they should be ready to harvest, however they are nowhere near ready. I have planted a second row of everything except my cauliflower, so I will be able to see the difference. I still believe that the heat wave we had last month may have stunted the spinach and beets.

I planted a couple other things since the last update; Long White Onions and Rutabagas. Hopefully by the next update they will have germinated! Now time for the pictures! Again these pictures were taken yesterday (Nov. 4th) and everything was planted on 09/15/10 unless otherwise noted.



Romaine Lettuce
10/20/10



Romaine Lettuce
11/04/10

My lettuce is still doing well. You can see that they just keep getting larger and producing more leaves. The plants are thicker and thicker every update!

Instead of planting a second row of Romaine, I planted a row of Salad Bowl Lettuce seeds I got for free at a garden sale. They have not germinated yet, but hopefully by the next update!








Spinach
10/20/10



Spinach
11/04/10



 You can see that this spinach plant has gotten larger and produced another set of leaves, however this is unfortunately the largest spinach plant in my garden bed and really the only one that is continually growing. I will most likely pull the others up and replant some seeds.



Cauliflower
10/20/10



Cauliflower
11/04/10


Cauliflower is doing well. The leaves are much larger, and you can see the differences between the varieties. The green and white varieties have scalloped leaves, and the purple variety has a purple stem and smooth leaves. Can't wait for the heads to form! 









Broccoli
10/20/10



Broccoli
11/04/10

My broccoli is doing very well. The leaves are so large now they are barely standing straight up. The largest leaves are around 2 inches long and the stems are starting to really thicken up. The small leaf you see starting to sprout in the middle of the picture on the left is the large leaf you see in the middle in the picture on the right! There is also a very ruffled leaf starting to sprout from the center, that you can't see in the picture.



Carrots
10/20/10



Carrots
11/04/10





My carrots are growing like crazy now! They were a little slow to start, but they are twice as tall as they were in my last update. You can really see the growth between the two pictures.

Beets
10/20/10

Beets
11/04/10

Several of the beets are still growing, just veeeery slowly. Like I had mentioned in my last update, the beets that I planted in some old cinder blocks, about 2.5 weeks after these are 3 times bigger! These may have been stunted by the heat wave. I planted another row a few days ago, so we will have to compare the growth to these.



Peas
11/04/10



Peas
10/20/10



Just look at how tall my peas are! They have grown over a FOOT in the last two weeks! They are now past the 4th step on my trellis. These were planted around Sept. 25h. Hopefully in about a 4 or 5 weeks we'll have some peas!



Peppers
10/20/10



Peppers
11/04/10

You can see the 3rd pepper has really grown. There is a 4th pepper behind these that is growing as well! The weather has cooled down significantly, but these guys are still growing! We'll see what happens, keep your fingers cross we can get at least one!






Shallots
10/20/10



Shallots
11/04/10

 All my shallots have sprouted! Boy, they really took a long time! They were all planted around Sept. 25th and the last ones just emerged a few days ago. It's actually good that it worked out that way, now I can harvest them at different times! These babies grow extremely fast. The green tops are so tall now, they can't stand up!

Garlic
11/04/10

My garlic finally emerged! They just poked through the soil this morning. Took about 3 weeks, but they're here! Very excited for my garlic, since I LOVE it. I will plant a couple more cloves this week.

My seedlings are slightly larger. I didn't use the best starting soil for them so I don't think they are growing at the rate they should be. Trial and error right? I decided not to use them when I planted the second row of everything a few days ago. Once everything germinates I will have to compare their growth rate with the plants I have now, to see if the heat wave really did have an effect.

I have also planted more herbs in some unused cinder blocks; Oregano, Basil, Parsley and Garlic Chives. I have them planted in my window sill, but I thought I could always use more! Until next time, happy gardening!