Garden Update

I haven't written in a while. Things have been a bit crazy. So my garden is not growing the way I'd planned, it too slow this year. But in general I'm satisfied with the results so far. I have bought a lot of new seeds, basically new varieties of what I had. I made 2 new beds which are 4x13, giving me 104 sq feet extra growing space. I had around 210 if growing space before that, so total I have around 314 sq feet of growing space. I sort of follow square foot gardening method and this equals to around 19 beds that are 4x4. I am planning on making another 4x13 bed which would bring 22 4x4 beds (I take into account the odd space here and there), which would bring my growing space to total 364 sq feet. That's not bad I guess. This space doesn't include walking paths and space where my fruit trees are growing along with okra. And I'm also planing on making a separate bed or two (16sq feet each) dedicated to asparagus and artichokes because they are perennial. I have planted a lot of things this year and some are already growing.

These are beets (I guess), these were planted around a week ago.

Kangkong (water spinach), found seeds for it in Ajman plant market. The one I grew from cutting was eaten by the turkeys. It's doing very well, I planted around a week ago and this pic was taken the day before yesterday.

This is bac choy which is doing extremely well. This seeds are by vilmorin, the variety not mentioned, but the packet is the tropicales series. It was planted about 2.5 weeks ago, and is the best performer amongst all the plants.

This is rocket, I bought the seeds from a shop in Khawaneej, and these are doing much better than the packet ones. Planted around 2.5 weeks ago.

Purslane, is doing well. Also planted around 2.5 weeks ago, but some were replanted so some are bigger than others.

This is cress, which was planted around 2.5 weeks ago, it's doing well.

This is lettuce which was also planted 2.5 weeks ago. The brand is l'ortolano, variety

Rossa a foglia riccia da taglio o Biscia rossa.

This is rocket, as you can see I had to replant it cuz germination was not great. Second time around almost all seeds germinated. This is not as great as the one from Khawaneej. Brand fito, from ACE.

Malabar spinach. Seed germination is better when the weather is cool. I got it online last year. Also planted 2.5 weeks ago.

I'm impressed with this lettuce by l'ortolano, variety regina dei ghiacci. It's growing better than other lettuces I have planted. Also planted 2.5 weeks ago.

This is one of the new beds I made. These two are the only beds for which I have access on all sides, my other beds are along the fence so can be accessed from one side only. I made these two beds with very little soil, only around 50 L of soil each bed, mixed in and cow manure, no peat moss or other compost, unlike all my other beds. I was so worried about the salt content preventing the seedling from germinating or growing, so I watered for a long time before adding the soil (I remember the salesman, who sold me parsley and coriander seeds in Khawaneej, told me to water the area for 2 days before planting anything in it, I don't know whether it's to rid the soil of soil or to saturate it, so I hope this helps).

When I didn't see seedlings in the first 5 days is thought that's it, I just wasted my time and seeds. But after one week after planting seedling started showing up. So lets see how this goes. I have hopes for these beds because there's no foundation below them as opposed to the beds that are against the wall, which hit foundation around 1 foot down. And I believe the seedling are slow to germinate because of the cold nights. In warmer days the seeds would come up within 2-4 days.

This is how my other beds are set up. Like I said they are along the fence/wall. They are narrow, 2 feet wide only to make access easier. As you can see I have trees growing in front of the beds in the far back. I know you are not suppose to grow veggies next to trees but this is my only choice so far. The trees were there last year and I still had great harvest so for now this will do.

Now that seedlings are coming up and the beds are greening up I feel better. I felt so bad that I started so late cuz I had wanted to start early, which I did, but the turkeys ate all my seedlings twice.

There's a lot growing in my garden and a few more things to be planted. I'll update as much as I can. Hope this inspires you to try to grow your own as well.

And here's a pic of okras. We have been getting enough okras for one dish weekly. Kids love it, my middle daughter goes out everyday to check on okra and harvests the good sizes one (well she did harvest a few that are too small, but hey who's perfect?, I'm glad they get involved).

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