I had no idea if we’d even get a veggie garden in this year.  I had no plan like I did last year. I never started the seeds I purchased. When there is a new baby in the house, any spare time is devoted to washing bottles, washing laundry, and just maybe catching a nap every now and again!

One day, when Anderson was four weeks old, we went outside to weed a little and the temperature was just right for lettuce and beets.

After that, it just seemed to be too chilly to take him out.  Things were really a mess.

Loads of empty pots…

Mounds of weeds where seedlings should be…
Overgrown herbs, also buried in weeds…

Tons of seeds just waiting and begging to be planted.

Things were really in sad shape. So…I called in the troops: mom and dad.

My mom watched Anderson.  You can tell it was such a HUGE favor.

My dad and I set out to get the veggies in.  He worked the beds.  They were loaded with tree roots.  It was hard work.

I moved the herbs to an unconventional bed that used to be a box that housed our outdoor chairs at our old apartment.  It made a nice extra place to grow stuff.  Don’t mind the dirty deck and random pile of bricks.  That was low on the priority totem pole.
 The herbs were separated and they were in a state of transplanting shock, but they are all going to make it.

We also worked dirt and manure into the soil, as they were all nutritionally drained after four years of veggie gardens. We also added lime.

Here they are.  Blank slates, waiting for some delicious grub to grow in them.
We put up the cucumber trellises and the bean trellis.  You can see how to grow the cucumber trellis here and the bean trellis here.

We also worked on refreshing the pots for sunflower seeds, nasturtium, love-lies-bleeding, zinnias, and basil seeds.

Oh and those seeds I never started?  Reason # 586 to love my dad.  He started some for me.  Four different kinds of tomatoes and sweet peppers too.

After the beds were prepped, we planted:
-cucumbers (Marketmore)
-dill
-onions (sweet and storing–also given to me by my dad)
-mesclun and butterhead lettuce
-spinach
-yellow squash (for babyfood!)
-winter squash
-carrots (rainbow)
-string beans (fortex)
-corn (more for decoration near the bird bath)

The pepper and tomato seedlings weren’t hardened off yet.

There was no plan this time and we kept it simple.  I didn’t try to grow kohlrabi or broccoli or celeriac (celery root).  I just stuck to the basics that we love and of course adding some treats for Anderson’s first purees.

They have already started sprouting.

Happy Sunday!  We are off to visit with family in Maine.

beets

cucumber