A couple of months ago, Dakota and I started a little garden in the back yard. We had to dig out of the hill to make a flat area to plant, but it came out pretty well. This is it in April, after we did our first planting. We put in tomatoes, squash, radishes, peppers, green beans and carrots. Everything has grown pretty quickly, probably because we had to fill the garden in with several bags of soil and soil builder. This was due to the fact that the soil in that area of the yard is incredibly rocky and marked with clay deposits.I have been keeping the garden organic so far. (Although I didn't use "organic seeds." I'm not really even sure how seeds could be organic, but maybe that just illustrates my ignorance.) We weren't able to use our compost to fertilize the garden this year because it hasn't decomposed enough yet. I may need to get some of those compost-activating bugs or something. I did get some interesting pest-control products though, including this product that's made from concentrated garlic. You basically just dilute it with water and spray it on your plants. I am not sure how well it's working. I probably need to do a second application. I also ordered some fertilizing worm tea recently. I love that name. Basically it's worm castings (poop) in liquid form that you can pour in your plants instead of using Miracle Grow. I will use it on my potted herbs, some shrubs that need some help in the front yard and possible the tomatoes, which have been looking a little yellow lately.
Overall, the garden has been growing nicely, as I said. So far we have harvested a few green beans, a couple of tomatoes and a very nice yellow squash. All were delicious (although you'll have to take Dakota's word about the tomatoes). I'll keep you posted on how the radishes, peppers and carrots turn out. We may even be able to do a whole second planting after the tomatoes and squash are done producing. That's one of the many benefits of living in sunny Southern California. It's easy to live off the land around here. Hee hee.
Have ypu considered adding TAM jajapenos? They're incredibly easy to grow, and produce forever. Your temperature would be just right for them -- not too hot, not too cool.
Love,
Dad