The garden has been made! Len took off all of the grass for the 40' x 12' spot and then rototilled it up this past week, which means it was time to plant the cool-weather veggies today. I planted some Burpee's Golden Beet today to try for a spring crop -- the Detroit Dark Reds will wait until the end of the summer when I'll plant them for a fall crop or an early spring crop next year. I planted some fresh lettuce seeds and also transplanted some of the lettuce peat pots. I don't know how well those transplants will do, but I'm not too worried since I should get more lettuce from the seeds. I also planted turnip and spinach, and finally I planted my carrots and radishes. I'm a little worried about the carrots being able to grow -- everyone I know who's ever grown carrots has never had success, and I think it's because they're very picky about their soil. I'm not sure our soil is the right kind for them, but we'll at least try. And hey, this year anything that's reasonably edible will be considered a first success.
I've also started hardening off the winter squash plants. This morning I pulled them out of the greenhouse and saw that the cucumber and melon seedlings are really tall, must like the winter squash plants. I'm actually kind of worried that they're too tall -- the greenhouse may be working so well that I might have started them too early. I'm a little worried that they're vulnerable because they shot up so fast and became all stem. But I'm lucky to have a resource for gardening information -- our office assistant at work, Mary, is a gardener and told me that for the squash plants it meant strong plants. I'm hoping it also means this for the melons and cukes.
Next weekend I'll be transplanting the onions and the squash. And then the garden will actually look like a garden with things growing in it.