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Edibles, Garden

Finally planting the vegetable garden for the first time

June 26, 2018

Raised bed vegetable garden

If you build it, they will come.

Apparently this holds just as true for vegetable gardens as it does for magical baseball diamonds, because they’re coming. “They” would be the neighbors, who have taken a real interest in this massive project we’ve had going for a couple months now. It would be hard for them to miss it as they all drive right past it and since we’re a friendly neighborhood, we’ve had a chance to chat with nearly every neighbor lately. We’ve had lots of encouragement (it’s nice when the neighbors tell you that it’s looking good), and even more questions. And the top two have been:

  1. What’s your plan?
  2. Isn’t it getting a little late to be planting this year?

Raised bed vegetable garden

When I was working on the staining and sealing last weekend I’d say the neighbors were downright panicked about the planting situation.

And here’s my answer: Of course I’m planting this year; I have absolutely nothing to lose. 

Raised bed vegetable garden

Ignore the stool in the middle of the garden; it’s a leftover from when we building the beds.

To be honest, it really isn’t all that late to be planting. Around here, things like tomatoes generally don’t go in the ground until the first week of June. I have, of course, missed the window to plant peas and onions, but I’m forging ahead with everything else I would have planted normally.

And I’m happy to report that everything is now in the ground. Fourteen tomatoes, six cucumbers, two zucchinis, one delicata squash, half a bed of potatoes (late but worth a try), six peppers, beets, Swiss chard and lettuce all started earlier in cells, oodles of parsley, basil and other herbs, lots of annual flowers for the cutting beds, and rows of lettuce, cilantro, arugula (a stretch for this time of year to be sure), kale, and beans with room for additional sowings to come. It was an absolute joy to potter around my long-awaited garden, even if I wasn’t able to savor the moment quite as much as I had envisioned. 

Cucumber plants

Cucumbers waiting for a trellis.

The tomatoes—all but one grown from seed—look positively pathetic. Something happened to my tomatoes this year. All was well until I transplanted them. I couldn’t find a garden center with decent potting mix so I bought a brand I’d never used before (and will never use again). From there nothing grew. Of course it could have been something else, but I’ve never had veggies I’ve grown from seed turn out so pathetic before. The good news is that a couple weeks ago I transplanted to spindly tomatoes to the container outside the back door and both have thickened up, greened up and seem to have caught up to where they should be, so I have hopes that the rest of the tomatoes will do the same.  It was nice to have room to spread them out properly. I’ve been jamming way too many in a small area for several years now.

small tomato plants

Those tiny little plants are pathetic little tomatoes. I feel strongly that they’ll rebound quickly.

I also staggered the beds so that I’ll be able to move everything one bed over every year and not have two crops in the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes) growing in the same bed in two successive years. Rotating my veggies is a luxury I’ve not had before. 

Variegated oregano

I’m growing the variegated oregano in a pot sunk in the soil so it doesn’t run all over the place.

In the flower beds, I’ve crammed way too much, which is basically my mantra for life. Each bed is focused on a single color: pink, orange, blue/purple and white. Each has sweet peas in the center and then annuals either started from seed or directly sown in the beds. My hope is for a beautiful cutting garden that also attracts lots of great pollinators to the garden. 

Cutting flower garden

The small beds are for flowers, each planted with sweet peas in the center.

Amaranth

I’m growing amaranth because I love it in bouquets.

As I was working in the garden I was starting to get just a teeny bit annoyed that my neighbors had so little faith in me that I wouldn’t know when to plant or be able to grow anything. When I mentioned this to Mr. Much More Patient he admitted that their concern may have something to do with the fact that he told almost every neighbor who stopped by to chat while he was building the beds that there would be plenty of vegetables for the whole neighborhood. At least now I know why they were so concerned. 

Want to catch up with how we got to this point? Here are all the posts:

  • The garden plan
  • Part 1: Laying the groundwork
  • Part 2: From the ground up
  • Part 3: Staining and sealing
Temporary deer fence

Since the real fence can’t be constructed until all of the irrigation and gravel is completed, a temporary fence—string between posts—will have to suffice to keep the deer at bay.

planting raised beds vegetable garden vegetables veggie garden
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
18 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

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previous post: Raised bed garden construction part 3: Staining and sealing
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Comments

  1. Karen J. says: June 26, 2018 at 12:59 pm

    Just a random comment…One year I got my potatoes in really late. I never had one potato bug and ended up with the best crop ever! You never know. You might be on to something.

    Reply
  2. Lady Locust says: June 26, 2018 at 3:07 pm

    A big Horrah! Does amaranth become a “weed” for you like it does over here? It’s beautiful, but as soon as I see those little sprouts, I tug them or they take over. Excited for you and your veggies too 🙂

    Reply
  3. Caroline Doran says: June 26, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    Enviable garden! Interested to see your sweet peas…I have a generally green thumb but sweet peas are my nemesis!!! They start strong and wither off to nothing. I’ve vowed to stop trying but for heavens sake, why can’t I get it? What attention do they lack? Watching closely.
    Good luck with the new plants!

    Reply
  4. Lisa at Greenbow says: June 26, 2018 at 7:25 pm

    It looks fabulous. With the crazy weather we have had this year you will probably have a banner year for your veggies. You just never know until the end of the season what happens. Best of luck to you.
    I have had neighbors that never garden stop and try to tell me what I should be doing. Ha… Do as I do and ignore them. That deer deterrent is a hoot. They surely have enough to eat without delving into your garden.

    Reply
  5. Donna Erkel says: June 27, 2018 at 12:17 pm

    Have so enjoyed your posts over the years. I am most interested in your drip irrigation plan. I have recently redone some of mine, using a combination of netafim and shrubblers. Not really loving the inline netafim. Water does not permeate the surrounding soil as I had hoped. I’ll be watching to learn from you.

    Reply
  6. Liz says: June 27, 2018 at 3:36 pm

    My parents plant their storage potatoes quite late (just finished and we are in zone 4) and it works out great…they seem to avoid some of the potato beetles and they till under the first flush of weeds for instant fertilizer before planting. The beds are so pretty! I would love to build some.

    Reply
  7. Robin says: July 1, 2018 at 8:47 am

    BEAUTIFUL!!!
    Brava. I am sure your garden is going to be productive, late or not.

    Reply
  8. Linda from Each Little World says: July 3, 2018 at 7:11 pm

    Can’t believe the neighbors have not noticed your fab garden before. That should be enough to convince them you are a garden guru. I’ll be over for some tomatoes.

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
Get your dahlia engines running. All the dahlia th Get your dahlia engines running. All the dahlia things are happening very soon. I actually started dividing my dahlias last weekend, about two weeks earlier than I usually do because the weather kept me cooped up inside. I’m glad I did it because I had some (not unexpected) losses that I’ll have to adjust some plans for. So stay tuned: we’ll be talking lots about dahlias soon. 😀
Want to give a gift to your future self? This fall Want to give a gift to your future self? This fall plant snowdrops and winter aconites and I guarantee you that it will bring you happiness the next spring. They are tiny blooms of joy.
A favorite groundcover and a favorite reseeder. Fi A favorite groundcover and a favorite reseeder. First off, you should know that I really love groundcovers. I would rather see a plant than bark mulch any time. Ajuga is a favorite because there are several forms (my favorites are ‘Black Scallop’, shown here, and ‘Chocolate Chip’) and because they can handle most conditions from sun to shade. Popping up next to it is Talinum paniculatum ‘Limon’ (Jewels of Opar). It reseeds around the garden and I just move it around where I want the chartreuse, succulent foliage. Tiny flowers in red and pink bobble on with stems, looking a bit like peppercorns. Then they drop their seed and come back the next year.
Make this the year that you grow a plant you know Make this the year that you grow a plant you know very little about. If you love your garden that’s all that matters. BUT I promise you’ll find even more joy it it when you broaden your horizons. I feel like I’m starting to see the same plants in gardens over and over again. By all means appreciate and love those plants, but also add something you have to learn about. There is great reward in getting to know new-to-you plants. 

Here are two good candidates you might consider: Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern) ‘Crested Surf’ and Persicaria (or Bistorta, thanks to the taxonomists) amplexicaulis ‘Golden Arrow’.
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