Garden update - Houston, we have sprouting

I'm utterly entranced by the stuff growing in my garden. It's nothing a seasoned gardener hasn't seen but to this former black thumb, now brown thumb a teeny sprout of something is cause for celebration!

So what's changed since the last update? I put in a little makeshift gate so I don't have to embarrass myself by hopping over the chicken wire and I can wheel in the kids' wagon to haul my tools, the baby, plants, etc.



I also put together the compost bin and we are officially composting. Everything from fruit/veggie scraps to shredded junk mail, newspapers, grass clippings and pulled weeds. My oldest finds the concept of the compost bin and worms very fascinating.



Blueberries! Hooray for the sweet blue fruit. I can't wait for blueberry buckle, blueberry crisp and the boys just eat pounds of them straight. I know we won't get pounds from just two bushes but the novelty of having our own is too exciting. I did buy bird netting this weekend to be sure that the blueberries and strawberries are not devoured by the birds.



Mint for my oldest. Mint is right up there with licorice on the flavors I like least. Go figure that my oldest son loves mint anything. Mint chocolate chip ice cream, mint candy and now mint the herb. I bought him this little plant and he almost ate all the leaves before I got a chance to transplant it. Thankfully I've heard it grows like a weed.



Now the strawberries I tried to start from seed. They didn't sprout so I bought one strawberry plant from Lowe's and about 20 bareroot strawberry crowns. I wanted to see which method was more successful. The crowns are hard to see in the dirt but they've just been in one day.





The basil has sprouted and we have two little sprouts actually. I'm kind of anxious because while the basil is out the other herbs in that bed haven't sprouted yet. I planted lavender, calendula, echinacea, thyme, oregano, cilantro, italian parsley and chives. I also planted rosemary but as insurance I bought a rosemary plant and split it into two squares. I'd like to replace some awful pampas grass at the front door with two rosemary bushes that I'll keep pruned.




Zuchinni and green beans - the no fail crop for us. It's wonderful to see how quickly these two veggies sprout and grow. I know the sign says eggplant but that's for the square behind the green beans. The boys have loved seeing how the bean splits open to sprout the seedling.




Finally some canteloupe that I bought as a started plant and some onion sets I planted today. I didn't know until this year that you can buy onion sets (they look like bulbs) or you can start onion from seed (I have some that I planted two weeks ago and is just starting to sprout).



I'm anxiously awaiting for the other crops to start sprouting - plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red bell and cubanelle peppers, carrots (which have just started to peek through) as well as eggplant and lettuce (might have planted this one too late in the season).

Here is my little helper who refuses the sun hat I put on her delicate little noggin.



Then I turned around to see what the boys were doing and saw they were playing another made up fire fighter game.



They were having a blast.