what I planted

I began to plan my garden in February. Yes, February. I wanted to be very intentional with what I decided to grow and I wanted to do it from scratch. No pre-manufactured solutions here. I cobbled together a grow station with lights in the garage. I lovingly selected the seeds for things that I would be excited to see grow.

Not everything was a success. Pretty much all the flowers I tried to grow from seed were a failure - except the sunflowers. This was particularly disappointing because I was so excited about them. I had selected a few options from a west coast flower farm called Floret Flowers. Their Instagram will make you feel like you are living in a pastel pollen filled dream. Maybe I'll try again next year.

While my friend Rachael has a beautiful garden book to track her progress, I have a Excel spreadsheet. I picked the varieties then tracked when they were planted and transplanted. I updated the spreadsheet for which seed was in which tray. I was beyond excited when the little bits of green would peek out from the soil. I would look at them each morning getting into my car and then again when I would get home from work. A watched pot never boils, but man is it nice to check on religiously :). The same level of excitement was repeated watching the beans and peas sprout from the ground and leave their shells behind.

So here is what I have actually planted for this year. I grew all of them by seed unless otherwise noted. Growing herbs from seed might have been the least productive. It was like the basil seeds laughed at me as I planted them. 

2 Black Truffle - Tomato
2 Red Zebra - Tomato
2 Tye Dye - Tomato
1 Cherry  - Tomato
1 Garden Peach - Tomato *
1 Cherokee Purple - Tomato *
2 California Multi - Pepper
2 Sweet Yummy - Pepper
1 Golden Cayenne - Pepper ^
1 Jalapeno - Pepper ^
Kale
Romaine ^
Snap Peas
Beans
Red Onions
Yellow Onions
Sweet & Yummy Carrots
Boothby Blonde - Cucumber *
Mexican Gherkin - Cucumber
Mint **
Basil **
Sage **
Rosemary **
Thyme **
Parsley #
Since I'm not trying to actual become a tomato farm, I didn't plant everything I grew. Instead I gave them away to friends and family. These little gifts have spawned a friendly battle that is now called "First to Fruit".  The marigolds are supposed to keep the bad bugs away from the garden which is why I've tried to build a fortress of them. This week, I noticed the first little flower on one of the Tye Dye tomatoes and yesterday I saw 3 flowers on the Garden Peach tomato. So let the games begin. 
* from Holly Hill Farm
^ from Lowes
** from Whole Foods
# from Trader Joes

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