Overplanting

Decided to go ahead and plant major crops out. All companion planted. No doubt I'll be thinning later (which I hate to do) but better than looking at bare earth. Or plain mulch, as it were.

Planted lots more spinach, carrots, watermelon and cucumbers, different varieties than before.

Planted 5 types of peppers. Jalapeno, green chile, serrano, yellow and red bell. My favorite is jalapeno but green chile is most popular here, while red and yellow bells go well in salsa and spaghetti sauce. Planted lots because I can sell them easily. Serranos also go well in salsa but are really hot and slightly bitter, so only planted a few of those. Peppers also help deter various insects.

Planted cantaloupe and honeydew. Won't produce for some time but the roots and vines will have time to develop.

Planted more corn, the short season variety. Previously, hadn't read the information well enough. This variety says it only grows 4 ft tall but also says just 63 days to harvest. If that holds anywhere near true (and weather permitting), I'll be harvesting corn in May. This variety can also be planted as densely as every 12 inches, so I planted a LOT of it. Before even harvesting, can plant a second crop of long-standing corn for harvest in Sept.

Built two more trellises. Makes 9 plus around 40 ft of fence for climbing crops.

The biggest job is going to be the tomatoes. Haven't decided yet how to do those but thinking of maybe using cage fencing on just one side of each row. Tie them to it, making for easy harvesting. Also requires less materials. Growing in rows, don't want them too tall. Besides, onions and peppers are planted in the same rows and need access.

Onions are peeking through now. Saw several of them growing. Much better than last year already. Didn't have much of an onion crop at all last year. Then again, where I planted wasn't great for them. From past mistakes, everything is plotted much better this year.

Got the fence stabilized. Used the old trellis stakes and nailed them as stabilizers on the unstabilized sides of each panel. Don't believe it will blow down again. The dog looks unhappy about it but I found another potato she dug up and piles of dog poop on top of the mulch today. So she can look unhappy. Too bad for her. She'll have to get over it.

No shift tonight. Going to the library tomorrow and checking into various positions.