Weekend planting

We have had a definite break in the rain. Friday we had grey skies and got a trace of rain. Yesterday was lovely. Today and this week are supposed to be great.

I decided to get some herbs from the Pflaum Family at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market. They have been so helpful with my gardening these last few years. They've answered my questions, and best, most happiest of all, the seedlings they sell are totally reliable and only $2 or 3/$5 for pots that are about 2"x2" with several seedlings in each clump. I've made mistakes in the past, killed something I liked, and was able to go back and get some more.

Yesterday, I grabbed a flat and started shopping. I decided to get 3 different varieties of slicing tomatoes, rosemary, basil, lemon basil, lemon thyme, catnip, Italian parsley, spinach, salad mix, pole beans, sweet peas and probably something I'm missing.

I planted everything I bought plus tomatoes, peppers, and some squash. The garden is really filling out. The seedlings help me visualize how the garden will look over time. I can't quite tell if things are too close together. I'm planting double wide rows of peppers and they seem a bit dense. I've staggered the tomatoes into two rows  with some closer and some further from the arbor. I plan on putting twine woven on the arbor uprights to  support the tomatoes.

I bought pole beans. I really like fresh green beans and I really like to watch them grow. They climb so fast. They are next to cucumbers and zucchini. I've set them on the east side of the arbor about a foot from the base. I'm going to run twine from the plants to the top of the arbor.

I'm going to move the last of the seedlings to the greenhouse or maybe outside because the greenhouse is getting really hot during the day. When I was moving things around yesterday, I noticed the spinach seedlings in my apartment were bolting. They're only 2" tall! I'm going to take them outside and shade all of the spinach with a tight weave nylon window screen so they are mostly shaded. I should have put them in sooner. I didn't get any spinach last year - it bolted right away. My book says this is caused by days that are too sunny too long. Wish me luck.

I'm going to try to spend all day outside reading and planting the last of the seedlings and a few more seeds. Everything should be done. All I'll need to do after is water, weed, and maybe thin. Oh, and eat too. The peas should be producing pretty quick.