Time creeps by as the plants continue to grow

It seems as though I could stare at these silly plants in the garden for hours that turn into days. But it is not til I ignore them for a day or two that I really see a difference in their growing patterns. Other than the lettuce and other leafy greens, which I have been happily eating for a month or so now, most plants are still in the growing stages and not ready to eat. The waiting game is much longer when you start your plants from seed instead of purchasing them ready to be placed in the ground.

While watching the plants grow tall I have found that many, or most, of the seeds planted actually sprouted. Man, was I surprised! I had hoped things would prosper, but had no idea so many would. With so many plants, more space was needed to allow the plants to grow to their full potential. Fortunate for me I am not doing this gardening bit solo, I do have a helper. S was able to work on the top garden and get the land worked to where it would be suitable for planting. Many of the abundance of plants were transplanted to the top, and at this point many have survived. Unfortunately we did lose a few, but the majority of the plants are still live. I do have about 1/2 a fence put up, and if everything goes well this weekend, the other 1/2 will be laid. Luckily no critters have had their meals on the plants. 

Before picture of the upper garden

Another item in the garden that I have ignored would be the worms. It took me a bit of time to acquire more worms for the bin, who knew they were such a hard commodity to find? A person at work graciously gave me quite a few, and in looking in on them a couple of weeks after obtaining them, the compost is doing just fine.

Worm and a bit of compost

Since I was unable to find worms for quite some time, I did have to supplement the soil to ensure the soil had enough nutrients to feed the little plants. I had a bit of heartache over this at first, but quickly got over it. The alternative would have been to replant everything ever so often, and since I am not a fortunate one, I cannot afford soils in this manner. From taking a hydroponics quick course one weekend, I remembered NPK- nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, the three things plants need (under most conditions). I stopped by the hydroponics store while in Tucson and chatted with the helpful sales people on 4th Ave. I came home with an organic mixture of NPK, mostly made of various animal poo. Once the worm bin and the other compost bin have enough time to create its goodness, I will happily use this fertilizer in place of the bought stuff. Atleast the bought stuff will do the job until this occurs.

Patience is definitely not my middle name. I will of course try to calm down and watch to enjoy the garden grow. As slow as it seems at times, I do not want to rush the yummy goodness that comes from such an activity. Hopefully there will be new pics to post next time. I did catch a glimpse of one of the pepper plants happily producing a pepper. Oh I can't wait to make burritos with the first pepper of the season! Or possibly a chili rellano, or salsa, or....oh my the choices might be endless!