I know I am not doing right by my peppers

Look at how crowded they are! I wanted to put them up front but last year I had potatoes up there and you're not supposed to follow them with peppers. So I put them here but still haven't had the heart to pull up all the beets.

This bull's blood beet doesn't have much of a root but this variety is largely grown for its tops. I do have more in back that I can let mature.

I just love that red! I actually pruned a few leaves of this to let in a little light for my peppers. I know that's feeble but it's early yet.

My overplanting does reduce any weed's chance.

Bean Seedlings and Catnip

I kept putting off sowing my beans. Last week I finally got around to it. These seedlings are flageolet beans, the frenchie gourmet beans. I've never had them before. The description sounded nice. I actually got these seeds a year ago. I am trying to use up my old seeds. In this case I only used a handful. Hmm. Will they still be good next year? These are by the way, bush beans.

Next we have scarlet runner beans. These I've sowed beneath my water meter. I will have to keep the window visible. The last couple years all I grew were these but they really got out of hand. I think these could grow to the sky which is why some call them magic beans. I have to sow some in back too, but where? Scarlet runner beans are pole beans but I consider them their own thing beyond that. They have been cultivated for thousands of years.

I keep trying to get rid of all these seed trays but something makes me acquire more as I use up others. My uncertainty made me sow some royal purple pod beans, a bush bean, in a seedling pod. This is not really recommended but my indecision forced me to rather than putting off sowing them. To the right of them below are my remaining leeks. I think in this small pod that there could be 50 leeks. I will try to plant them ALL. I do overplant but I have found that it's not necessarily a bad thing. I just harvest things as they get too crowded. Leeks are perfect for that.

The 4 photo increments made me post this photo here rather than a new post. I think I could post a 100 photos at once but that would make this more of a boring slide show.

This catnip would be chewed to the ground if it wasn't caged.

I almost forgot to mention. When planting beans it is a good idea to mix a little bit of bean inoculant with the soil. This will boost the productivity of the plant and will also increase the nitrogen boost in the soil which will help future plants that grow there.

Spider and other things

This spider has been around for a few months and keeps getting bigger. Have I said before that I LOVE spiders? I kinda don't let them build webs where I pass but I try to let them have some space. Anyway, this jumping spider gets around a bit. Here he seems to be eating an ant or maybe a small bee.

 

My garden is definitely coming into its own. The tulips above are done, but I am letting them feed their bulbs for next year. There's a lot going on here, many different plants growing together and none that I can see are weeds. I suppose I overplant but I think it's prettier that way. There is a bit of bare ground in the foreground.

 

I'm always happy to see my broccoli start heading. This is pretty small still. I'll let it get a bit bigger before I eat it.

 

Here's Abe wondering around. He always uses the stepping stones. Really, I need more of them. If anything they keep me from overplanting, just a little bit.