What should I plant next??

Hi All!  I have been busy with work and my family these past few weeks and have fallen behind with my blog posts.  We were lucky enough to take a short family vacation to Southern Maine a few weekends ago.  This what just what we needed to recharge our batteries and get much needed family relaxation time.  I have been after my husband for some time to put together my green house.  It looks like it will finally be going up next week.  Last fall we got a 6 x 8 greenhouse on a super discount.  It is very simple.  I wanted a way to extend my growing season and also be able to start my seeds earlier in the spring time.  The crazy snow we had this year set me back and my crops suffered.  Here is a stock picture of my greenhouse.  Not quite sure why the woman is bringing what looks like a Poinsettia into an empty greenhouse but you get the idea!!

I've been doing some research and have reserved a few books from my local library in hopes of quickly mastering this and creating the best crops during the fall and winter time.
Things I'm looking into:

-What exactly is a cold frame and will I need to put them inside my garden to really magnify the heat?
-What will be the best veggies to grow?
-What should I consider when choosing a spot for my greenhouse- light/direct sunlight?
-Will they grow all winter or go dormant for a short period of time when sunlight is at a minimum?

**Would love to know your successes or past failures!!

Garden's first colors

Purple, White, and Red-

                    Last week some volunteer radish appeared much to my surprise.  I didn't even have radish in the garden last year!  Today was a sunny 80 degrees.  Once I arrived home from work I rushed to my garden to see how all of my plant babies grew in this beautiful weather.  I was very surprised to see that one of the largest cabbage now has a purple tint on the tiny head.  One of the tallest sugar snap peas had a beautiful flower.  One whole row of pole beans shot up through the dark dirt!  I also harvested some of my salad bowl lettuce for dinner tonight.  Nothing hits the spot quite like tuna salad rolls with fresh lettuce.

Pole Beans

Sugar Snap Pea Flower

I also have many flowers on my tomato plants.  Last year I was told by a friend to cut off the early flowers until the plant is much larger.  I decided to let the flowers be and to only trim certain stems.  The next few weeks will keep me very busy.  Tomorrow I need to tend to my cucumbers. 

My poor tomatoes of year's past

Last year my tomatoes suffered crop failure.  By the middle of July all of my tomatoes looked like palm trees( instead of treating the tomatoes I waited too long to treat my plants and I only cut off the leaves as they became infected)

This pictures is the start of Early Blight

I found an interesting article here about the treatment and prevention of Early Blight
Early Blight of Tomatoes . There are millions of websites that will provide you with information but I liked that from the University of Maine because it is very straightforward and also gives simple steps for prevention.

This year we had planned on redoing our raised beds because we thought the soil was the cause of my crop failure.  We ultimately chose to keep the beds in the same location this year, use containers for my tomatoes and then next year we will assess and possibly create new raised beds.  Instead of starting my seeds inside this year I bought small plants.  This winter was very long and we had snow covering our beds until April (I live in New England).  I started my plants at the middle of May and many people on my local gardening sites actually thought it was too soon. Being in the second week of June I can't believe how cold the weather has been on some nights. 

Here is a picture from May 16th.  My basil ultimately didn't make it through the first few cold nights so I have since replanted( I have 7 plants so hopefully I will be rockin' the pesto this summer!).  As I spoke about earlier the weather has been so up and down.  We have had very few sunny days and more cloudy, overcast and cold days.  Today was actually a beautiful day in the low 80s and I was able to spend a good amount of time weeding.

I took this picture tonight after I finished watering.  We went out for ice cream so I didn't have a chance to water during daylight hours.  I strapped on my headlamp and headed into the mosquito filled night  to water my plant babies!  I have always watered my plant babies at night but I have recently read a few gardeners thoughts on watering in the morning.  My thinking has always been that at night the water is able to sink into the soil so the roots can absorb the water.  I would love to read your comments?  Morning or night watering??!!

Wow, Three Years

Well three years has passed since I last wrote on my blog.  It seems like time is moving in fast forward.  In June 2013 I had my daughter and it was very tough for me to stay up on my garden never mind my blog.  I hope to have a very active blog and share some of my knowledge of gardening and of course learn as much as I can from my friends!!

Breaking ground

Breaking ground- This is where my garden was last year.  Our yard is a little uneven so my husband had to use his John Deer tractor to make it nice and even.  Luckily, we were both off this past Wednesday so I was able to help him.

My father-in-law gave us all the lumber we needed to build the beds. We worked together for hours banging the stakes into the dirt, placing the boards on the ground, nailing pieces together. 

The final beds are 16'x 5' and 16'x6'.  The bottom of the photo is where where our deck begins.  We are going to put crushed stone down around the beds.  I will be able to easily drive a tractor around the beds which will help me with pulling weeds!  We had garden ready loam delivered this week. Since I am off this weekend I am hoping for nice weather to plant my seeds.  If all goes well I will have another posting on Saturday!

Recap of last year

I started this blog as a way to chronicle my journey and possibly connect with people who are also working on their green thumb!  A little bit about myself.  Last year I was promoted with my company and with that came a much shorter commute to work.  I needed a hobby. With all my free time I decided I would start a little garden in my back yard.  I went to the Home Depot and bought a little seed starter set.

Every night I would come home from work to find another little sprout had popped through the soil or that a little plant had grown another inch.  The soil wasn't ideal for the vegetables due to the many rocks and high clay content so my husband tried his best to make it better by adding in some manure and other such items. Also, over the course of the summer we redid our backyard and cut down quite a few trees so that allowed my little veggies to get a lot more hours of sunlight! I would definitely say that last year was a success.  I spent about $15 on seeds and plants and about $10 on soil.  In the garden I planted cucumbers, squash, zucchini, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, peppers, eggplant and carrots. I had much success with the cucumbers, squash and beans.

 A bumble bee pollinating from a cucumber flower.

Besides being able to save money there simply isn't anything like having a fresh veggie from my garden.  Fresh veggies just taste so pure and delicious.








This year we decided to create two raised beds.  It has definitely been quite the undertaking and I thank my husband for being so helpful!  My next post will be an update on the beds