The top portion of the carrots (the green leaves) are doing very well. They seem to be growing larger and taller every day. I'm wondering how fast the actual carrot is growing underneath the soil! I guess I'll have to wait to find out.
Unfortunately for us, this corn plant probably won't get any taller. We didn't realize that corn needs to cross-pollinate, and it'll be unsuccessful unless there are several stalks planted next to each other. Oh well. Another gardening lesson learned.Another view of the same SFG square:
Next to the corn and carrots, we planted squash seedlings. Out of all the squash we're growing, it seems to be doing the best. It's not growing as fast as I'd like, but it is slowly getting taller and its leaves are getting wider. It will probably be a while before I see any inkling of baby squash.
In SFG Box # 2, we have a squash plant that doesn't seem to be doing that well. It's still pretty small, and some of its leaves are yellowing. I'm not sure why it's so tiny. Perhaps it's getting more sunlight than it really needs. The squash (above) might be doing better because it's shaded a bit by the foliage of the concord grapes.
Finally, here is another squash plant that we planted a while ago. This is its baby picture. We've planted 5-6 squares with squash. They are all growing at a slow, but steady pace.
To get the seedlings, we planted the squash seeds in one of those seed starter dome kits. We actually planted a bunch of different vegetable seeds--corn, squash, bell pepper, beans--but the squash and corn were the only seeds that actually worked.
The squash seedlings were planted in the SFG, and I wish they were doing better. But I guess it's just going to take them more time.
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5 comments:
Hi DP, your squash looks good. It needs a lot of heat to grow and a lot of water to proper. The carrots are very slow growers, and need to be thinned to allow for the root development. I would pull the corn out to give the carrots more room. Our weather here is just starting to get really warm. When it is cool, some veggies just kind of sit there, not doing much of anything. We are still learning about the right way to do it and hope for a good harvest for us all.
Frances at Faire Garden
DP,
I was just reading your first posts, being a curios girl, and wanting to know why you decided to use the SF method. The raised beds that Cal built are wonderful and make so much sense in our middle TN soil! So why SFG? Lot size? Philosophy?
I don't grow vegetables, I am certain you know this! But appreciate how much work it takes to keep them happy and thriving!
Gail
Frances beat me to the answer of the veggies need prolonged heat. They will begin taking off-be patient. It is hard to do.
Hi Tina, Frances: thanks for the advice. I will try to be more patient. The summer is just getting started. :-)
Gail,
We decided to use the SFG method because of the size of the lot. Cam's house is in a subdivision, and although his lot is larger than his neighbors, the square foot garden seemed to be the best choice. That, and the soil is full of rocks, and it was hard to use the it. Every time I tried to use the hoe, I'd hit a rock. After a while, I got annoyed and we decided SFG was the best and easiest bet for us.
We had roses in the front vegetable bed, but we didn't know how to really grow and take care of flowers, so we decided to grow vegetables. It seemed much easier to us, but I really am amazed at how beautiful you and many of the other garden blogggers can keep such a beautiful garden with all those gorgeous flowers and grasses!
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