Hilary's Garden is an Excellent Garden!

I finally got my vegetable garden planted and by the weekend everything, including the last of the seedlings, should be in place. In true Hilary-fashion, I went a little overboard... oopsies! I spent way too much at Home Depot, where I meant to buy mostly flowers, but instead came back with seedlings galore. Ironically, I came home to a sign on the corner of my street that said "Plant Sale" with a big arrow. Right down my street my neighbor had a plant sale of seedlings she grew from her greenhouse. Live and learn! Next year I buy from her!

Here is a run down of my vegetable/fruit garden:

• 17 tomato plants, including a yellow pear, better boy, heirloom and Rutgers. One of my tomatoes is in a Topsy Turvey, you know, the upside planters As Seen On TV! It is pretty cool actually! I also might have more to add to the tomato count. I have a pot of some seeds I planted early on that has about fifteen sprouts... I am pretty sure they are tomatoes as well. Oops!
• 11 peppers, including cayenne, bell peppers in both yellow and green, and hot peppers
• 100+ sugar snap peas, all started from seeds. They are doing really well!
• a lot of lettuce... I sorta threw an entire seed pack of lettuce into a huge planter and now I cannot count it all... I am think I need to do a transplant because they are not spaced out at all
• 15 or so pumpkins, which also need to be transplanted asap. They are pumpkin pie pumpkins, I think. I should have labeled them better as well!
• a rhubarb patch
• a raspberry patch
• Rosemary and Italian Oregano
• 1 melon (the rest drowned)
• 20-30 onions

I am currently germinating seeds for kohlrabi, purple onions, yellow tomatoes and summer squash. The summer squash is doing the best. The other ones probably won't harvest, but I will see what I can do.

What I have learned: 1. I need to spread out my plants better, 2. I need to plan my plants before I buy because then I end up with 17 tomato seedlings, 3. I need to start germinating earlier, 4. I need a bigger place for my vegetables!

I am worried because one of my peppers is very much dying and some of my tomatoes are getting yellow around the leaves... I don't know if it is because it was so hot and windy or if is because the soil (Miracle Gro brand) had too much fertilizer? I will have to look it up.

My next project after getting the vegetables all planted and growing is to figure out all my perennials. I find new ones every day. So far in the walking garden I have: hostas of many types, a bleeding heart, Lillie's of the valley and lilacs. Those are the only ones I can really name. I borrowed a book from Nick's mom and will hopefully by able to label the rest soon!