2014 Season Archives - Page 4 of 6 - Eric's Organic Gardening Blog

Finished Weeding Entire Garden and Picked First Zucchini

Sorry I have not written in quite a while but it has been incredibly busy around here. I have spent the entire past week just weeding throughout the entire garden including blueberries and strawberries. Weeds are a constant problem and more nuisance than anything else.

The good news is that after spending each and every day weeding the entire garden area I can now focus on caring for my plants. Although weeding will continue throughout the rest of the season even if we get rain or not. I will just have to make sure not to let the weeds grow wild before removing them or place a thick mulch around the worst areas. (more…)

Complete Weeding of Garden and Last of Tomatoes Planted

The past two days have been quite busy especially with all the weeding I had to do through the entire garden. The bad thing about getting rain is all the weeds that grow real fast around the plants. If you do not keep an eye on your plants these weeds can easily overpower any plant making for a real poor harvest.

Not only was I able to get most of the weeding completed I even had time to finally plant the rest of the tomatoes into the ground. They were part of the later crop, but they should be able to produce enough tomatoes with the time that they should have left in the season. (more…)

Progress of Zucchini and Tomatoes

I wanted to keep you informed on the status of everything that I am growing in the garden which includes all vegetables, fruits, and flowers that I have added into the ground. So far the only two plants that are producing include the zucchini and tomatoes. They just happen to be the first of the season and soon I will have beans, cucumbers, cantaloupes, and many more with flowers.

The blueberries are on their way to harvest time with just some more sun they will soon be ready to be picked. It doesn’t look like I have as much as I did last year, but I still think I will have a descent harvest for 2014. While the blueberries are getting started the strawberries are finally winding down for now. With a little care they will come back during the summer and at the end of the season harvest. (more…)

Zucchini and Some Tomato Flowers Pollinated

This morning there was a quick rain storm that came through and gave my plants just a good soaking that they definitely needed. If there was no rain I would have watered them myself regardless. I happened to check up on the zucchini that I thought might have been pollinated and wanted to see its progress.

Good news! The zucchini is getting larger which means that it was pollinated when the flower first opened a couple of days ago. Now I can look forward to watching this vegetable grow until it reaches the appropriate size that I want. Feeding is what will keep these plants growing for as long as possible producing delicious food. (more…)

Third Strawberry Harvest With Zucchini and Tomatoes Flowering

Another harvest of strawberries was completed this week and this time I was able to get about two and a half pounds of these delicious berries. I think this will be the most that I pick this year unless I have a very exceptional summer or late crop harvest. The good news is that I picked more than last year which is always good news for any garden.

Some more great things are happening with some of my other plants as well. Flowers are beginning to emerge from my zucchini and tomato plants. The zucchini are actually starting to show signs of fruit which may or may not have been pollinated. I always rely on bees and I try to stay away from pollinating plants by hand. The only plant that I pollinate are the corn stalks when they are ready. (more…)

Transplanted Flowers, Herbs, and Some More Tomatoes

Setting flowers into the garden is best done at the same time that you are planting everything else. Usually I tend to plant them once I get all the other vegetables and fruits set into the ground. They will take some time to produce the blooms that you need to attract bees and insects. The summer is where you should see them flowering and continuous blooms will come.

As previously stated I had some tomatoes grown inside after the first batch had begun sprouting or didn’t sprout. I have added them into the garden and now I only have just a couple of more left that will soon go out probably by next week at the latest. I also have a few more flowers that will go into the garden as well. (more…)

Picking Strawberries and Planting Last Section of Corn

The past weekend it was finally time to start picking the first harvest of strawberries of the 2014 season. The best part about gardening is when you begin harvesting all your fruits of your labor because this is when all your hard work pays off. Since these are ever bearing berries I will be harvesting them throughout the year as long as I properly care for them during the season.

I also completed the final section of corn and I can now start thinning out the plants that I don’t need. I will most likely start with the first planting I did and remove what plants I no longer need and then I can give them some plant food. They are heavy nitrogen feeders and I will be giving them exactly what they need during the next couple of weeks. (more…)

Pole Bean and Carrot Sprouting Along With Transplanting Eggplants and Cucumbers

This week has been kind of slow mainly because of the rain we have been receiving which is greatly needed. When July comes along their will usually be none or very little rain. I like to take advantage of this type of weather to take a slow rest because once the sun comes out the weeds will start growing throughout the entire garden.

Before the rain came I wanted to get my eggplants into the ground so that they can easily take advantage of this rain that they need. I actually planted them much later than last year, but last year I did not have any transplants. I had planted them in the garden from seed, which is why I did not get much fruit. (more…)

Garden Update: Peppers, Melon, and Another Row of Corn Planted

A couple days ago during a nice warm day I wanted to get in the garden another row of corn and some transplants that I wanted to get out of the way. So far I have been adding a row of corn every five days and I only have about ten feet of planting space left. Once I am done with the corn and all the seeds have sprouted I can then remove the bird netting that is protecting my seeds.

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Tomatoes, Pumpkins, Zucchini, and Sunflowers Transplanted Into Garden

This has been a very busy memorial weekend especially for garden work that had to be completed this past week. First of all with good weather it was time to begin transplanted the bulk of my plants that were ready to get out of their restricted containers.

I only was able to plant about half of the tomatoes that I grew inside because some of the later seeds that were grown are not ready to be removed from their pots. I like to wait until the roots of the plant actually reaches the bottom of the pot and they wrap around all the soil. This makes it easier for the plant to be removed and it will come out in one piece as you can see below.