Big Weekend For GARDENING!

Mother's Day weekend is traditionally when we try to get our seeds in the ground so the past two weekends the whole fam has been out pulling weeds and getting the ground ready.  This year is going to be particularly purposeful because as soon as I get through my half-marathon, I am going to be doing a 21-day Ultimate Reset.  This is going to be a huge challenge for me as it is a total VEGAN diet -- this is really going to be hard!  But I have seen and witnessed some ABSOLUTELY AMAZING transformations in some of my friends and fellow coaches who have done the Reset, so I'm willing to take the plunge.

My understanding from what I have heard and seen of the Reset so far is that there are lots and LOTS of green, leafy veggies on the menu:  kale and spinach I have specifically heard are prominently featured.  One of my friends who did her shopping for the Reset at Whole Foods spent $163 for all of the first week's produce and all of the ingredients she needed for the recipes (oils, condiments, etc.).  Although she felt this was not unreasonable -- as she only chose all-organic products and she bought ALL of the ingredients for the whole 21 days -- my intention is that by the beginning of June, if I get my garden planted this weekend, that I should be able to harvest much of what I need for fresh produce for the Reset -- and it doesn't get any more organic than growing it in your own backyard!

So far I've planted a couple of rows of radishes just for the kids, for fun, and we've got quite a bit of spinach that has come back from last year already. 

Spinach up at the top :)

I also started some more scallions, two rows of leaf lettuce and a quick row of beets just to get those going for early greens, and today more spinach, kale, arugula and Boston Bibb lettuce was sown, which should yield me plenty in the next three to four weeks to have the greens I need for the Reset.  Most of these plants will be in the beds, and I will have a planting bag by the door where I am going to try, once again, to grow lettuce closer to the kitchen door so that it's quicker and easier to harvest, and in a more shady location to postpone bolting for as long as possible.

The "big" garden will have a long row of carrots and radishes combined -- this is so the quick-producing radishes mark the slower growing carrot row, loosen up the soil and make room for the carrots to grow down after the radishes are picked.  I've done this in years past and find it works extremely well.  I've already got some volunteer snow peas along the fence and am late in planting these, but Jeff wants to dig up the ivy and transplant it to the back of the yard.  In fact, we are hoping to replace the current-chicken-wire-fence with a more organic material that, hopefully, the snow peas will like to climb on more.  I have come to the conclusion that ivy and snow peas don't like chicken wire, because both refuse to climb it . . .

The "Big" Garden (notice ivy on ground...)

I've decided to go back to bush beans in the main garden since the pole beans become unruly, take over the corn that I plant with them, and become so dense that the kids won't forage into the foliage to pick the beans . . .

Corn Row

 we're going to give potatoes another go-'round this year but in rows, not in bags.  The bags did not work well for us last year.  The eggplant I put in a barrel last year will get its own row in the big garden and over by the asparagus will be okra, edamame, and black-eyed peas like last year, along with Baby Girl's sunflowers :)

I've decided to go back to one mound of summer squash and one zucchini in the big garden this year as that space will only also have Roma tomatoes, and Anaheim peppers.  I love turnip greens but have decided they are just too dang much work and water to get washed well enough to eat.  I'll probably change my mind about that and end up putting a small row over in the beds with the rest of the greens.  (Note since first draft:  Mind changed, there will be some turnips in the beds!)

First picking of strawberries this morning -- SO YUMMY!