Big Ol' Butternut

He's So Happy!

Remember that little plant in the foreground of my post a couple of weeks back? Check it out now!! I can't believe how fast things are growing now that the weather has heated up!

I've already been picking leaf lettuce and cilantro. Now I'm keeping an eye out for flowers on my tomatoes. :)

To Weed or Not To Weed

What Is This???

So I suddenly noticed this plant a couple of days ago. Somehow I didn't see it until it was as big as my tomato plant (maybe 15"). I've pondered it for a while and can't imagine it growing any of the vegetables that I planted, so I finally bit the bullet and chopped it down.

I always thought that you were supposed to pull up weeds by the roots, but after reading around the Internet a little bit trying to figure out what this plant was, I read that if they're near plants you want to keep, you're better off cutting it off at ground level a few times until it dies. That prevents damaging the root system of the neighboring plants.

So hopefully this wasn't my sunflowers or my peppers. I haven't seen any sign of those yet. But I really doubt it.

It's ALIIIIVE!!

*Heavenly Choir* Ahhhhh!

Look how beautiful they are! :D Ok, the garden is still pretty ugly, but it's got plants growing in it now! And they're even mostly not weeds!

I'm able to recognize tomatoes, butternut squash, lettuce, corn, cilantro, and some flowers (alyssum) that I planted around the edges that are supposed to deter pests. (Or maybe they attract bugs that eat pests. I can't remember for sure. I just know they're good!) There are lots more tiny sprouts peeking out, too.

I expect some of the plants are going to crowd each other out since they are really close together, but I am pleasantly surprised how well it's going so far for how little work I put into this. I ignored it for about a week while recovering from a nasty bug I caught at work, and it didn't seem to mind. Now I'm going out every couple of days to pull up tufts of grass and clover that keep trying to reassert themselves.

Now I just need to figure out how to tell when I should pick that cilantro and lettuce...