So it’s the first of the month (rabbit, rabbit, rabbit!) and I thought I would start it off with a peek at what’s happening (or not happening) in the garden. We are off to a slow start this year. A new space to grow things, a new climate and an almost nine month old baby are just the beginnings of what is slowing us down. Every day I want to get out there and plant or dig but there just is not enough time and Jeff has not had a chance to finish any more raised beds for us to plant in.

We have a little tray of chandler strawberries we bought as tiny seedlings from a lady at the farmers market. They seem to be doing well, except for a little white dog who enjoys munching on the berries and pulling the plants out of the box, dragging them all over the yard. These poor things have had to be replanted a few times before I finally got wise and stuck the whole thing on top of a chair. We shall see if I ever get to taste a strawberry.

This is another farmers market seedling that seems to be growing nicely in this box. It’s a black pear tomato and already has a little flower. Looking forward to homegrown tomatoes for lunch.

These are our tomatoes we grew from seed that are still waiting for a planter. I’m hoping they will survive in these larger yogurt containers for a wee bit longer while Jeff finishes their tomato planter up. I’d like to plant these all in the same box with basil beneath each of them.

We have some freshly planted parsley. Hoping to grow more of this too, but lost a whole bunch to I believe white fly? The bugs here in Ventura are killing me! All new issues we never had with our balcony garden in Orange County. I’m a novice when it comes to bugs.

We did get some beautiful heads of broccoli in our raised bed. Still combatting the aphids throughout the bed but I’m trying to cut broccoli heads away as soon as they look ready.

I’m not quite sure what’s happening with our Brussel sprouts. It seems as if some of them may be growing correctly while others seem stunted by either not enough sun or the growing aphid population. I ended up pulling one of them entirely but I think I will give this one a chance and keep spraying it with garlic spray to stave off the aphids. Anyone out there with tips? I’m all ears.

As well as broccoli heads, I have a ton of broccoli that suddenly flowered. I guess I didn’t get to it in time. We also have a few broccoli plants that are being munched on by snails once again. The bugs, the bugs!

Some snap peas that never get much taller than this. We get a couple every few months so I’m not quite sure what I’m doing wrong here either. Maybe I will try to put them in their own box all together?

So there you have it. Our May 2013 garden so far. Indeed a work in progress. We have so many plans but we seem to be moving at a snails pace. (Although the way the snails in our garden eat, we’d have a giant garden by now if we moved like they do). How is your garden growing?