Trouble brewing

Looks like my bean plants are running into trouble, to review here is the shot after they were just planted;

And here is how at least a few of them are looking as of yesterday;

I am not sure what conclusions I should draw from this.  I don't think they are dying of thirst, as the rain we have been getting has been generous.  Could it be just transplant shock that took a few days to show up?  

I admittedly did not harden the seedlings off as much as I should have.  I will try an infusion of organic fertilizer to see if that restores some green.  Fingers crossed.

Finished planting the last of the seedlings.

I cleaned up the existing in-ground beds to plant the remaining vine crops, so the pumpkins and watermelons.      Posting this entry a bit late, as the work was actually accomplished over Memorial day weekend.

For the pumpkins, I dug deeply on either side of the bed and replaced the old soil with new stuff.  The idea being to train the vines to grow towards each other, and perhaps along the side of the house if they really get going and need more room.  

I added a border of marigolds just because.  I also snuck in sunflower seeds in the middle just for fun.

The watermelon vines will grow over and around the remains of the tulips, if they need more space I may throw down some gravel in between the new raised beds and allow the vines to grow along the edges of the wooden structures.  I hope I have more pollinators visit my yard than I did at the old place.

I also had one corn seedling that I couldn't fit in the raised bed so I tossed it here next to the watermelons.  Felt bad about just throwing it away after it managed to germinate.

As always more pictures of the whole project are available on the G+/Picasa album.  If you don't have access to that one and would like it let me know.

Raised Beds - GO!

My father came by and with much sweat and toil we put together the two raised bed kits

Then began the enjoyable and not at all back-breaking process of filling them with soil.  Once that was done however, planting commenced.

Both beds are now full, truthfully they are over populated as more seedlings germinated than I anticipated.  The seeds from SeedsofChange continue to impress.  So we will see what manages to survive the transplant, and the cramped conditions.

Next up I will be clearing out a neglected in-ground bed that is next  to the tulips and planting the pumpkin vines there.  I will also be clearing out a section of the tulip bed and planting the watermelon vines, letting them grow over and around the tulips now that they have finished blooming.

Oh, and Dad generously gifted me a cool apple tree super-hybrid, that has a different variety on each branch.  My plan at the moment is to dig this tree in on one side of the tulip bed and install a more robust trellis to allow it to grow to the length of the bed.

Fingers crossed.

A week to go before planting.

I have taken the final week of May off work to get the planting beds setup, and the seedlings transplanted.  At this point the corn and at least one very eager bean plant are already tall enough to be growing past the light fixtures a bit;

The pumpkin seedlings are getting their first big leaves;

The beans are really taking off, the burgundy species has purple stems making them easy to tell apart from the normal green bean seedlings;

The broccoli may need to stay indoors longer than some of the faster growing veggies, though I may still plant everything all at once and hope for the best.  Mistakes must be made to learn and all that.

And last but certainly not least, there has finally been germination for the bell peppers (which I don't recall having a problem with the last time), the celery, and at least one of the cayenne peppers.  And yes, I know I spelled the plant markers incorrectly.

Will post again as things get underway next weekend.

No sign of the peppers

The cayenne peppers and the celery are supposed to germinate in 10-14 days, so there is still time as it will be 2 weeks since they were planted this Sunday.  Fingers crossed at least some manage to break through.  

Until then will concentrate on cleaning out the garage and getting ready to install the beds.

Don't forget the tulip bed, looking better each day.

Some assembly required.

Raised beds have arrived.