Do you Fuyu?

We have a new permanent member to the victory garden.  Say hello to Fuyu.  She is a persimmon tree.

Fuyu is staked into the ground.

Fuyu was planted on March 8th. Since that time, she have seen much growth.  Green buds grew.

Then, light magic, the buds pushed out green branches and leaves.  She is growing to be a big part of the victory garden.

Strawberries are showing their colors.

The rest of the victory garden is growing nicely in the sun.  The tomato plants have have been transplanted.  They are still small but will grow quickly in the next month.

Cucumber sprouts

The battle with the evil gastropods continues.  The gastropods devoured the cucumber plants.  I replanted.  We now have a nice row of cucumber seedlings.  I have swept the garden and destroyed most of the intruders. But they will be back.  Gastropods are persistent.

(L to R) Burgundy, Scarlet emperor, & Blue lake beans

The Scarlet Emperor beans are growing quickly.  They have reached the netting and are now beginning to crawl.

Lettuce is coming along...

Sunshine, check.  Water, check.  Now cross your roots and hope for more growth.

Transplanting and mulch

The mulch has arrive and the transplanting is nearly done. I have transplanted the zucchini, summer squash, and butternut squash to the garden beds.  All of the bean, bitter melon, and cucumber plants have also made the move to the main garden.

keeping the weeds away with free mulch from the dump

Majority of the plants have settled in nicely and are growing quickly.  However, there were a few fallen soldiers.  The yard beans did not survive the move and more seeds were planted.  The cucumbers have also struggled and may not make it through the weekend. I have planted additional cucumber seeds in the event the current plants do not survive.

The strawberries are doing very well.  I found my first red strawberry today.  I cannot wait to make my first strawberry slushy, yum!

The lettuce mixes are showing their colors while the sweet and Thai basil sprouts reach for the sky.  I foresee lots of pesto in my future.

Victory Garden First!  Last season I planted a seed that would eventually become an eggplant sprout.  The 2011 season was cold and the seed did not sprout until late summer.  The poor little plant did not push out it's first leaves until fall.

The victory garden saw a very warm fall season, which gave the plant time to grow.  A very cold dry winter hit. I dug up the plant and placed it into a pot.  The pot sat under a covered space in my backyard all winter.  Fast forward to 2012 spring.  The plant began sprouting new leaves and growing taller.  So here we are, almost the middle of spring and last season's eggplant sprout is now growing again in the victory garden.  The plant will turn one-year-old in a few months.  What a survivor!