Growing food

We built raised beds:

We had soil delivered (note: not ORGANIC soil -- it just wasn't in the budget -- the plan was to incorporate enough good fertilizers and practices to snuff out the bad...d'oh):

We reseeded our lawn w/ the leftover NON-ORGANIC soil:

I made plans, drawings and graphs. I planted fresh, organic seeds. I bought organic tomato seedlings (the one thing I don't trust to start from seed in Seattle) and hardened them off (something I've never bothered to do before). I bought organic fertilizer. I read books. I researched. I took notes. I waited.

Then it rained for something like a month straight.

Our grass seeds did well.

The raised beds? Not so much. I figured it was the rain.

But then it quit raining. And it seemed that it would never rain again.

We kept things watered (mainly to save the new lawn). The lawn looked pretty.

Some of the things I planted in the raised beds did okay. I had radishes, cilantro, parsley, strawberries, peas, and arugula. My tomato plants had the earliest buds I'd ever seen in Seattle.

Some of the things I planted refused to grow. The spinach, onions, beets, swiss chard, lettuce, marigold, romaine and bibb lettuces, and carrots were pathetic. Sad little seedlings that eventually faded away and died. The tomato plants had a strange, sad wilt to them -- as if they were parched or severely ill; their small green fruit barely clung on for life (something I've never had a problem with in previous years).

I'd also planted an herb garden w/ the same NON-ORGANIC soil. It wasn't doing so well either.

I wasn't sure. Was it the unusually hot weather and lack of rain or was I watering too much or not enough? Was it the soil?

Then, out of nowhere, one of my existing garden areas sprung 8 perfect tomato seedlings (from seeds I didn't intentionally plant -- perhaps the squirrels did it). No wilting. Beautiful plants. Meanwhile, the tomato plants in the raised beds were sadder than ever.

And wow. The green beans and potatoes I planted in that same existing area that hadn't had any organic treatment whatsoever did very well.

I can only assume we got really bad soil and should have done much more to repair it (or not gotten it in the first place). I read somewhere that carrots and root veggies suck all the bad stuff out of the soil (this is why I only buy organic root veggies). A few of my carrots grew past the seedling stage in the raised beds and they tasted HORRIBLE.

Maybe I got soil from a chemical dump!

Anyway, who knows. It wasn't a success. All I can do now is try to amend it over the winter and spring.

Meanwhile there are some pretty things out in the garden right now:

The herb garden finally accepted imported seedlings (basil and rosemary) after rejecting most of the seeds I planted:

The green beans growing up the beautiful trellis Robert built (NOT located in one of the new raised beds) have done extremely well:

I have more beans than I know what to do with:

The "wild" tomato plants look great (unlike those in the raised beds):

The hops look good:

None of the pepper plants I planted from seed did anything. Pepper seedlings I bought and planted in the raised beds? No problemo:

I tossed some kale seeds into a pile of old dirt and got a big beautiful kale plant. The kale I carefully planted in the raised beds? Nada. Same experience with summer squash.

I can't stop shaking my head. I've never had a problem growing stuff from seed. Lesson learned. At least the grass doesn't mind the soil.

And the flowers, as always, are pretty.