Except for a few small patches, both of my vegetable gardens are planted, as are the 22 raised vegetable beds I help maintain for a local agency. Now it’s “sit and wait” time. I shouldn’t say sit, actually. I’m working and waiting, waiting for 1) crops to grow and 2) pests to arrive—hopefully in that order. While gardeners work and wait, we tend to commiserate with each other, or, in a more positive light, share information about what is working and what isn’t. In that spirit of sharing the good and the bad, let’s discuss the gardens so far, broccoli and all:

Broccoli raab

I was so excited about broccoli raab! I guess it was excited, too, because it started to bolt, or produce its flowers, just a couple weeks after I planted it. For what it’s worth, my broccoli is starting to form heads already, too. We had a wicked span of heat in May that might be the reason. Hopefully the cool June weather will slow this down. You can see from the photo above that the flea beetles have also had their way with my broccoli raab.

Weeds

The heat-treated straw-hay blend mulch I applied very thickly to keep down weeds is itself creating weeds. The heat must not have been not enough to kill the germ of the various seeds within the straw and hay. This weekend calls for a lot of weeding. You can also see a few germinating grasses in the above photo, too.

Protected seedlings

Okay, now for something good: A sprinkling of this straw-hay mulch overtop of just-germinated seeds (kale, beets, radish) has protected the seedlings from being munched on by flea beetles—mostly. They are in good shape and I’m not concerned about their survival—mostly.

Smart Pot containers

The Smart Pot containers I posted about a few weeks ago are working great! They do dry out a bit faster than a raised bed, but that is to be expected. Can’t wait to unearth the potatoes and carrots later this season.

Fertilizer

After just two weekly applications of fertilizer I’m excited to see the plants noticeably thriving. This is especially true for the eggplant—a crop I traditionally have trouble getting bigger than a foot tall.

Raccoons

Raccoons are causing a problem at one of the residences with the raised beds. They’ve been clipping the stems of young green bean plants and completely stole the three melon plants and a zucchini plant. They haven’t touched anything in the tomato family, which also includes peppers, eggplant and potatoes. We’ll have to set up some deterrent as the summer progresses.

It’s been a good start all around and I couldn’t be happier. It’s important to keep in mind that the little things are little things. Gardening isn’t so much about the result as the process of creation. Okay, so maybe it’s a little bit about tomatoes.