Up and Comers

I went to Decatur on Saturday and had the chance to peek at the garden.  A big hearty thanks goes out to Mom & Dad for keeping on top of the weeds!  I think we've got about 70% of what was originally planted sprouting and looking good right now.  We're still waiting for any sign from our tomatoes and tomatillos.  (Ahem, tomatoes...that's your cue.)  Mom and I decided to give out some superlative awards this week for our high-achievers.  Gold stars this week go to:

Green Beans

 Romaine Lettuce

 Onions

 Red Potatoes

 Turnips

Now, does anyone have a good recipe using turnips?
-m

(As always, all photo credits go to our official Dun-Good photographer, Karen Dunlap.)

It's Alive!

Last Sunday the Dunlaps spent some quality time telling some weeds that they weren't exactly welcome in Dun-Good Garden.  Eddie says that Karen turned into a professional photographer when they were finished, not afraid to get a little dirty for the sake of a good shot.  We're glad, because she captured some great pictures of our seedlings.  Almost everything is up and looking great!

Pictured: butternut squash, green beans, lettuce, red potatoes, spinach and sugar snap peas

A Tiny Bit of Green...

How appropriate. With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, the seedlings decided to get a head start on showing their true color. As we walked among the rows, we were delighted to find some small spurts of green beginning to push through the dirt. (We were even more excited that the first sprouts were not weeds...).

Welcome Tomatoes!

The early girl tomato (shown above)* had several friends that also saw the world for the first time:

• broccoli
• garlic
• romaine
• snow peas
• sugar snap peas
• turnips
• onions

*Oops!  What was first reported as "tomatoes" turned out to be "mystery weeds."  But aren't they lovely?

And So It Begins...

Saturday, March 5, 2011. Day two. The whole team got together to erect a fence around the garden. We put up fence posts and attached some very attractive chain-link, then fashioned a doorway. The door is a work in progress. Probably.

Eddie, Andrew and Mandy (with a little "help" from Rory) grabbed some tools and made twenty rows in the dirt. Karen and Rory helped stomp the ground to make paths around our quadrants. Jack ate some dirt.

Karen, Andrew and Mandy finished putting seeds and bulbs in the ground just before sundown (and just before a delicious steak dinner.) We're crossing fingers, because if all goes well, our crop will include:

Purple Tomatillos (Go Frogs! Or, "We're suckers for anything purple!")

Roma Tomatoes

Early Girl Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes

Jalepeno Peppers

Sweet Pepper Mix (Bell Peppers)

Banana Peppers

Garlic

White Onions

Fennel

Basil

Dill

Rosemary

Thyme

Spinach

Lettuce, Romaine and Green

Green Beans

Potatoes, Red, White and Russet

Carrots

Turnips

Cucumbers

Snow Peas

Sugar Snap Peas

Butternut Squash

Broccoli

In April, we'll plant:

Okra

Zucchini

Yellow Squash

The plan is to take pictures every Sunday afternoon.  Here we go!

Day One

The Dunlap half of our operation got the garden area ready on March 4, 2011. They rented a tractor, leveled the ground, moved some dirt around and tilled the land with a Cub Cadet rear tine tiller from the good people at Lowe's. Prep work is always the hardest part.