Gardening: week 6.5

It's been an exciting weekend!  I didn't put my plants in the ground yet, as they're not yet accustomed to being outside--some are still getting sunburnt leaves, and I'm starting to lose hope for the sick zucchinis.  But it is a time of anticipation and excitement!

The following photos are from 2 June.

My friend gave me two litchi tomatoes, and one has just blossomed!  I think it's absolutely gorgeous!

 

I spent the afternoon digging in these stakes.  I'm afraid they may not hold, so I may need to fasten them to the bed somehow--digging them in deeper is kind of out of the question.  These are 10' 2x2s, buried about 1' into the ground.  I'll have to come up with a way to secure them before I transplant the tomatoes!

If you think the stakes above are unreasonably optimistic, here's a photo from 7 Aug last year.  Remember, the fence is about 6' tall; and that one plant, though it's hard to see because of the backlighting, is taller than the fence, while bent over itself.  Some plants got over 8' tall last year, even after I let secondary shoots grow out.

I am SO FREAKING EXCITED for these radishes.  I've never grown radishes before!  *squee!*  Lookit this one, bulging out of the soil slightly!!  (Also: I freakin' LOVE my new camera!)

Radish plots:

Our neighbourhood has a sort of "adopt a planter" program.  I e-mailed the neighbourhood community organisation and asked if I could adopt this abandoned one near my house, and if there were any guidelines to what I should plant.  The reply:

There are no restrictions to what you can plant (except of course anything illegal - haha) so go ahead and get creative!

SWEET!  So I've planted a Purple Prince tomato, and some nasturtium seeds.  When my plants get big enough, I'll also include basil, marigolds and maybe some onion chives, if I can get my hands on some (the ones we have are garlic chives, and have never flowered).

The only potential problem: this pot has ABSOLUTELY NO SHADE WHATSOEVER.  It's by a bus stop on a main road in this neighbourhood.  So I put down some mulch, to help retain moisture; but I'm a little worried this guy may get sunburnt.  I'll check up on him whenever I can, but I'm pretty confident.  I'm also pretty confident that nobody will steal the tomato cage--though I'll be a bit disappointed if someone does.

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