straw bale garden = SUCCESS!

seriously. i never imagined my garden would take as well as it has. everything is massive and any space available is long gone. we had a bout of heavy storms recently and i feared my tomato plants would drown, but they ALL pulled through! just yesterday while watering, david and i counted 27 better boy tomatoes, and the largest is the size of a plum! even the upside down tomato plant is coming around and has three tomatoes already! we have countless romas, lots of super sweet 100's, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers are popping up all over the place, snap peas are ready for their first picking, banana peppers that are almost 5 inches long... it's all just amazing! 
just so everyone knows - straw bale gardening seriously, SERIOUSLY works. here are some pics of the garden progress starting with my hydrangea that has surprised us all -

the color of a hydrangea bloom all depends on the soil where its planted. the acidity is what changes the color, so some people have green blooms, or pink, purple, or the beautiful deep blue... i guess my soil is on steroids... our hydrangea, which is GINORMOUS, has every color bloom you could get! and im amazed!!! and completely in love. i think i take a new picture every single day :) and i have also cut lots of blooms and have them drying in mason jars around my house.

 these are garden beans and i started the seeds in a huge pot. every seed took, so i left four in the pot and moved the others to the raised bed garden. all are blooming!

 and these are the snap peas also started by seed in a large pot, and also moved to the raised bed garden. all are producing lovely little pods!

 all the sprouted carrot seeds taking very nicely! i really hope these turn out.

 banana pepper

 tomatoes

super sweet 100 tomatoes

more herbs (thyme, oregano and more basil)

we have a major overload of basil... so we made lots of fresh pesto and froze it.

hope everyone's garden is full of joy!

straw bale garden - week 3

so we are going into the third week of our garden extravaganza... and everything (almost everything) is doing so great. all the seeds that i planted are shooting up to the sky and have already been transplanted into the raised garden bed. the carrot seeds are sprouting through the soil. strawberries are being picked and devoured before we can get them inside. peppers are starting to form on the stalks. all amazing.... except for one thing - the upside down tomato plant with cilantro on top. i am assuming the cilantro was choking the tomato and taking all the nutrients considering it tripled its size, but the tomato plant has shrunk and the leaves are yellow. total failure, and very sad about it. so today i pulled the cilantro (which was not easy considering it had all become one rooted mess) - divided it into three separate plants and planted them elsewhere. i re-potted the tomato, yellow leaves and all, and added new soil. lets hope it works... if not, off to shop for another cherry tomato plant!

here are some pics of week three! (no pictures of the upside down tomato... too depressing)

two of the three cilantro plants were potted here surrounding the chives and parsley.

the other was planted here -

these are sugar snap peas and garden beans that i started from seed. they quickly grew and now have a new home in the raised bed garden.

the squash, zucchini, and cucumbers are getting massive.

tomatoes are thriving! this is the better boy, and the roma behind it is also doing great.

broccoli, red lettuce, and romaine lettuce.

the beginning of a red pepper!

all the pots.

 more garden beans in a pot.

carrot seeds are sprouting all of the pot... i'm really hoping these work!

watch my garden grow

seriously, i think my whole hand is turning green. i literally go to sleep thinking about waking up to see what's new outside! its not been long at all and everything is thriving. literally ALL of the seeds i planted have sprouted. the carrots are slowly but surely popping up, and my precious husband even built me a raised garden bed to transplant the extra seeds in... plus an eggplant and another pepper. the peaches are the size of a golf ball. strawberries are ripening every day. I. LOVE. GARDENING.

so this is our mint plant that was just re-potted less than 2 weeks ago. it has already filled the new pot and im not re-potting again! so basically, the larger the pot, the larger the mint = the more mojitos you will be graciously blessed with!!!

our potted rosemary is ginormous... even with cutting it atleast twice a week. we planted this last summer and it has been thriving ever since. 

hibiscus blooms are forming by the dozens.

knock out roses that stand about 5 feet tall and have hundreds of bright and beautiful blooms! 

many beautiful iris bulbs are popping up along the fence.

strawberries

growth of two pots of green bean seeds.

 pea seeds are growing fast! 

zucchini plant is the size of a basketball.

romaine lettuce! 

broccoli

 tomatoes are doing great and ready for a cage.

the raised bed my sweetie built for me... perfect! 

tomato blooms on the upside down tomato plant

the straw bale garden and the raised bed garden... all looking super! 

hope everyone's garden is as happy as mine :)

upside down tomatoes.

what is all this business about growing an upside down tomato plant? supposedly its a more effective way and leads to a greater production of tomatoes. 'topsy turvy' has been the chosen name for these tomato plant contraptions, and can be purchased pretty much any place that sells plants and vegetables. so i googled this method of growing and was astounded at the number of folks testing their thumbs at this genius idea. i came across MANY eco-friendly DIY'ers, and decided that instead of purchasing a 10-15 dollar 'topsy turvy' (which aren't very pretty), i would follow their method.
it starts with using a recycled or a used hanging planter - or if you must, buy one. drill a hole in the bottom opening of the planter about 2 inches wide, or have your handy man hubby do this part for you like i did! carefully... and i mean CAREFULLY push your tomato plant through the hole from the inside of the planter. that is the tricky part. i have seen some people wrap the tomato plant in wax paper before shoving it through... when it's through the hole, cut a piece of mesh to fit around the bottom of the planter so no dirt or root will come through the hole. last, fill your pot with a good soil mix and your done. i also added cilantro to the top of mine, but you can add anything, or nothing!
Hang your upside down tomato plant in full sunshine, water, and watch her grow! (quickly)
after four days, the tomato plant was already trying to raise up... but gravity is winning!!! i hope we get lots and lots of sweet cherry tomatoes!
Here is some photos showing our steps -

once your plant is through the hole, center your pot between two chairs so you can add your dirt and any finishing touches.