Garden Peeking

I finally got the whole garden (except some flowers) planted.  Those would be finished, too except we've had daily rain.  So I decided to share some before/after shots with you.
The only seeds I plant directly into the garden are carrots, radishes, beets, turnips, peas and beans.  And potatoes, of course--seed potatoes.  Everything else gets a big head start in the greenhouse since I am so late getting into the garden:

This is what the whole garden looked like.  Notice the weeds are growing where veggies ought to be.

 First the onions.  They got a haircut to about 3-4" long.  In front of them are Lemon Gem tagetes marigolds and blue violas.

Next, the cucumber bed:  at the top, are 2 rows of beets and 2 rows of carrots--the carrots interplanted with radishes--no maggots in radishes when planted with carrots, and the radishes will be harvested within a month, leaving lots of room for the carrots.  The center row has snapdragons (see the color?) and dill interplanted with Lemon Gem marigolds which do a great job of keeping the aphids away from the dill.

 Bone meal in the holes which have already been watered 3 times and the soil allowed to drain away (roots follow moisture).

 And a smidge of Epsom salts for magnesium.

Then cover the plants with dry soil so the sun can't wick the moisture out of the ground.

And voilà!  an instant cucumber garden.  More snapdragons at the foot of the bed.

Check back in a couple of days, so I can go out and photograph the rest of the garden.
 I even managed to weed some flower beds in the rain, since kneeling on the grass only got my knees wet, not muddy.

See ya later!

the Good, the Bad and the Ugly (and the Very Beautiful)

The Good
The three garden tools that I couldn't do without (besides the common rake, my clippers, and potato-hilling hoe). With the long-handled stirrup hoe I can do the entire garden in about 1 hour, once the garden has been cleaned for the first time.
The little stirrup hoe is for between the plants and the rows. My rows are very close together.
The littlest yellow"Garden Bandit" is for flower beds and flower pots and anywhere I need to precisely get close to plants.
Some More Good

Can't wait to get some of the kale. I have the best Kale soup recipe with Sweet potatoes. Will share later, when I make it.

Remember a previous post with lettuce between the tomato plants? The picture above is the same lettuce, and the same tomato plants.
Great tomatoes (we've eaten lots already) above and below.
The Bad and the Ugly
Notice the quackgrass and clover and lawn grass grown in. This bed can't be round-upped because there are special plants there that deserve to live. They come from special people and have such a survival instinct, I WILL tend to them (after the garden and the sewing and the greenhouse/nursery work).

I can't identify this spot, but it is UGLY. I think it's the raspberries. They're ready. Get the gauntlets out!
Nasty strawberry bed. It was totally clean 3 weeks ago. No word of a lie!
Actually, this is an older -before flowers were planted-picture of the flower patch. Since this picture, it has been dug over, filled with blue petunias and white alyssums, and the weeds look exactly the same.

Another I-don't-know--either a flower bed or the raspberry patch. :0(


Ta-daaaa. And now some Beautiful!!
I think this one is "Gran Cru"
Lollypop

Iceberg

Can't remember.
Samir