50. Potatoes, Peas, Garlic

My garden is growing.

Why am I always surprised?

I read The Urban Homestead over Christmas break and swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. One of their suggestions was one I'd read in other gardening books--garden plants cycle (greens come long before tomatoes long before pumpkins, etc) and so you can start with spring things, thick, and then replace them with summer things that take more space as the spring ones tire out. They also suggested this thick planting could, perhaps, be more fruitful if it were random. Instead of having peas here, greens there, beans in a third location, they put forth the idea that all of those could grow together, thinning things out as needed.

Now, I didn't follow this exactly--just with the peas, beans, and greens. My carrots are separate, as this is the first year they've actually sprouted and I wanted to focus on them to see what they do; my potatoes are in pots this year (and ALL OF THEM have sprouted!!!) lining the path back to the compost pile. And of course my garlic grows everywhere, so that I don't even worry about. But the idea of more of a wild garden struck my fancy, at least with these spring plants. I know where the tomatoes' sweet spot is in the garden, and I know that jalapenos can grow anywhere in the yard so they are a low priority for placement (I'm not going to plant them amongst the tomatoes, I mean).

So the back garden is planted. And it is growing, bits of lettuce and little pea plants and tiny beans starting to poke their heads up out of the rich composted raised bed.

I am already more involved in this garden than I have been in 8 years at least. So I'm hopeful.

A few photos:
Wild Osage Garlic growing amongst pernicious viny weeds. I don't plant garlic--it plants itself simply based on the seed heads I fail to remove or the few bulbs that get left behind in the ground. I LOVE THIS. And it doesn't get choked out by the English ivy or the violets. Stands its ground.
Peas. I planted two varieties and let Maeve plant them so who knows what is where? But I'm so happy to have helpers I can't care too much. We'll see how this goes.

And potatoes. They are bigger than this now, ready to be buried again already. I'm ridiculously happy about this. I had great success with potatoes the one year I planted them, but I didn't again because I didn't want to waste the garden space on such a big plant when there were tomatoes to grow. In old pots by the compost pile, though, they're not in the way. And the squirrels didn't go after the seed potatoes (Actually, they were heirloom potatoes from the CSA gone to sprout) so I'm not too worried about varmints.

Stay tuned.