Wordless Wednesday

Veggie Garden Progress

Here's an update on my vegetable garden.

My west back yard bed

My north backyard bed

My eggplant is doing well. I'm growing listada de gandia. I chose this variety because it's white with purple stripes. It's supposed to have a great flavor and it's just the right size for dinner.

My zucchini got munched by something, probably bunnies, but it is forming some new leaves. I hope that it will survive.

Most of my cucumbers look great.

However, my lemon cucumbers look terrible.

I planted green, purple and yellow bush beans.  They all came up and are growing well.

My tomatoes have grown at least a couple of inches this week.  Fred Limbaugh looks fantastic.  I chose this variety because it's a pink beefsteak that tastes sweet and fruity. 

These are my cheater celery.  The celery that I started from seed didn't do well, so I bought a dozen celery seedlings from a nursery. This variety is self-blanching, so I don't have to worry about planting them in trenches.

My broccoli has finally taken off. The seedlings were puny, but they are filling out nicely. I chose Apollo because it produces a lot of side shoots.  I don't like heads of broccoli much, but the side shoots are sweeter and more tender.

I Gave Up on the Celery

I tried to start celery from seed.  I sowed the seeds in February and placed them under fluorescent shop lights.  My other seedlings did just fine.  I even started taking them outside on warm days to give them as much natural light as I could and they still look puny.  

My pathetic celery seedlings

I had a bunch of meetings off campus yesterday.  I had about 30 minutes to burn and there was a nice garden center between meeting spots.  I couldn't help myself.  I really have little self-control at garden centers.  I bought some stevia, some pink poodle echinacea, sedum for a porch pot, and 12 beautiful celery plants. I'm a total celery cheater.

My beautiful new celery

I'm feeling both giddy and a little guilty about buying the celery plants, but I have little hope for the seedlings that I started.  If there's anyone out there who successfully grows celery from seed, I would love to hear your celery starting secrets.