State of part of the garden after lots of planting, on May 14.

Lots is planted, and lots is growing! The garden at our Hendersonville home is a patchwork, with fun to be had all over the yard. We have a front flower garden (viewable from Sue’s sewing room), a strip garden along the front of the house, a side garden that is mostly hosta, then our back yard array. There are 5 discreet flower or shrub gardens, as well as the two raised beds and the various straw bales or containers in the center of the yard.

The weather has been pretty much ideal, following a cool, extended spring with a few late frosts. Right now the days are perfect - upper 70s to low 80s, a few showers, nights in the 50s. If I could bottle this up for use later in the summer, I would!

Yukon Gold potatoes growing in large containers, in partially composted wheat straw from last year’s bales

At this point, the following is up and growing:

Potatoes - Yukon Gold, in four containers filled with composted wheat straw from last year’s bales

Swiss Chard - in a container, and in a raised bed

Lettuce - in a container, and in a raised bed

Spinach - in a container

Garlic - planted last September, in two raised beds - probably a month from harvest

Sugar Snap Peas looking good - blossoming and climbing

Sugar Snap Peas - planted quite early, trellised

Strawberries - plants from a friend, in a raised bed and in a container

Summer Squash - up and growing well, direct seeded into straw bales, 4 types

Bush Beans - up and growing well, direct seeded into straw bales, 6 types

Cucumbers - up and growing well, direct seeded into straw bales, 2 types

Eggplants - some in straw bales, some in grow bags - total of 7 plants, including the varieties Mardi Gras, Green Ghost, Midnight Lightning, Twilight Lightning and Skinny Twilight

Peppers - some in straw gales, some in grow bags - total of 10 plants, including Chocolate Bell, Orange Bell, Fire Opal, Royal Purple, Carolina Amethyst, Shishito, Padron and Pinata.

Tomatoes - total of 49 plants, in grow bags or straw bales. Only a few are my typical favorites (Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Green, Cherokee Chocolate, Polish and Lucky Cross). 32 are indeterminate, the rest are dwarfs.

I’ll give a full report on the tomatoes in a future blog. I still have some microdwarf tomatoes to plant - they will go into the raised beds once the garlic is harvested.