Garden Update!

I have turned the soil and the sun has come out so I decided it was time to plant my corn and squash! On May 22, a relatively warm week, I planted my baby plants and wished them luck as they began their life in their new home.


Planting a corn plant, May 22, 2012
Photo by: Holly Harley



Watering my garden
Photo by: Holly Harley

Of course, according to Murphy's law, the next few days after the planting were cold, rainy, and had a risk of frost at night which could kill my plants. Thankfully Jack Frost decided to spare my garden.

Today the sun is shining and the temperature is warm so hopefully my plants will take advantage of the weather and do some growing.

It is important for all plants to have sunlight because plants convert  the sunlight to sugar, needed for growth and life in general. The name for this process is photosynthesis and the equation is as follows:

          6CO₂ + 6H₂O + light energy → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂

As you can see in the equation, water is also an important factor allowing for the plant's survival.

Not only is gardening healthy for us psychologically, as it is often used as a stress relief, but it is also healthy physiologically because photosynthesis requires the plants to consume carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, which is an essential gas needed for us to live.

For now, my garden is not going the quickest but as the weather gets warmer I am confident that my plants will have a growth spurt. In accordance to the author's instructions in the article "Celebrate the Three Sisters: Corn, Beans, and Squash" in Renee's Garden, I am waiting until my corn is 4 inches tall to plant my beans, that way my pole beans will have something to grow up and won't overtake the corn.

I decided to go against the directions of the author of this article, Alice Formiga, and plant my squash at the same time as the corn instead of the same time as the beans because I have had high predation rates of squash in the past so I thought I may have needed to replant some squash seeds. In some of the pictures you may notice a wire mesh over some of the plants. The mesh is my attempt to keep a few of my plants safe from predators such as gophers. Thankfully, at this point in time no gophers, or any other critters, have eaten any of my plants!

Watering close up
Photo by: Holly Harley

Enjoy the warm, sunny weather, I know the plants will!