Replaced Cucumbers, Growing Bell Peppers, and Updated SFG Boxes Photos

Thank you to everyone who commented and gave me advice about the cucumber and squash dilemma. Eleutheros mentioned I should wait a week or so to see if the plants continue to grow. I was planning to listen to his advice… until this afternoon.

Cam and I had business lunch near Mt. Juliet, and Cam suggested we visit some of the nurseries afterwards. So we did, and we ended up doing more than just “looking.”

Above photo: We ended up buying way too much, but we couldn't help ourselves! It's so addicting!

We had never been to any of the fabulous nurseries in Mt. Juliet (a suburb of Nashville), and boy was I shocked at the awesome merchandise and healthy plants we found. I’ll go into more detail about all we bought in a post later this week. But for now, I’m going to focus on the cucumbers that we bought.

We found a package of small cucumber plants that were flowering. They looked so much healthier than the cucumbers we had planted, and I highly doubt our old cucumbers would have ever flowered like the new plants.

Below: The new cucumber plants



I am positive that we will have new cucumbers in the coming weeks (or at least healthy plants that don’t look diseased). I followed my father’s advice and planted the roots deeper than I did last time. After watering, the cucumber plants looked perky and happy. Not like last time when they just flopped over… and stayed flopped over until I decided to pull them all out.


Above: A close-up of the new cucumber plants

I'm pleased to announce that the bell peppers in the SFG boxes are still doing well. I was concerned this weekend because it didn't seem like they were perky, but now that the sunshine is back, they look better than ever! I don't think they're a fan of the cloudy and windy weather. They looked just awful yesterday... The flowers were so droopy; the plant looked sad.

But today, the sun was out and the bell peppers were back in the swing of new growth!

Below: the yellow bell pepper is in the beginning stages of fruiting. Look at the teenie baby bell pepper that's forming!


Below: The green and red bell peppers in the back are also in the midst of flowering and giving birth to tiny peppers. It's really pretty to look at the flower blooms.



Over the weekend, I was getting a little concerned about the purple bell pepper. It was starting to change color on me. Notice the dark spots on the green pepper below.


I had never heard of purple bell pepper before, but I know that with the red bell pepper, it becomes a large green bell pepper before it ever ripens and turns red. I was concerned with this purple bell because it's still somewhat small in size. It's not tiny, but not as large as some of the bell peppers you see at the store. But I guess the purple bell grows differently. It still looks healthy, so I'm not going to be too worried yet. I can't wait to see how it looks as it continues to grow in size.


The front bell pepper is still growing strong. I'm disappointed that it's an only child because the plant isn't flowering and has no hope of flowering.

Below: Front bell pepper (variety: red bell)

The pepper is getting so large that it's making the plant tip over, so I straightened it with a little stick. Hopefully that will keep the plant from falling over into the soil. It also makes the plant look more aesthetically pleasing.


On a final note, I thought I'd post individual photos of each square foot garden box in the back. Each box is growing very nicely and filling out. Cam and I are in talks to build 3 more. I know it's getting late in the summer to continue buying and planting new plants, but it's our first time, and we're experimenting!