Yesterday we finally got around to planting two of the vegetable gardens. Peas, turnips and lettuce are already up in some areas of the garden but we needed to get other crops sown. Although the garden was tilled earlier in the season, weeds wanted to take over, so a second tilling was necessary.

The first thing we planted was corn – many varieties this year. We planted How Sweet It Is Hybrid – 87 days, Country Gentleman – 90 days, Kandy Korn Hybrid – 89 days, Obsession – 80 days, Supersweet Jubilee Hybrid – 85 days, Silver Queen Hybrid – 88 days and Bon Appetit – 71 days. I also planted a pack of ornamental corn for decorations.

The next big planting consisted of green beans. We chose Tricolor Bush Beans from Renee’s Garden. These have gold, purple and green beans in the package and the days to harvest are approximately 55. We also planted Royal Burgundy bush beans – 60 days and Nugget bush beans – 52 days. My favorite beans are the Royal Burgundy. Pests seem to leave the purple colored beans alone and the pretty purple color makes picking beans fun!

Speaking of fun, I have several bonus packs from Renee’s Garden. She comes up with some of the coolest seeds and planting ideas. If you have never been to her website or bought her seeds, take a moment to check her out at http://www.reneesgarden.com/  Anyway, back to the story. I had a bonus seed packet called Native American Three Sisters Garden which contained seeds for Earth Tones Indian Dent Corn (great for grinding into cornmeal), Scarlet Runner Beans and Sugar Pie Pumpkins. These went into the front of the garden so they could be seen from the street. Next to them I planted the bonus pack Seeds For A Butterfly Garden so when we were tired of working and wanted to sit in the swing we would have something pretty to look at and some gorgeous butterflies to watch. This packet contained Zinnia Persian Carpet, Cosmos Purity and Sunflower Red Sun. Next to this pack I planted my last bonus pack which contained Seeds For A Hummingbird Garden. Inside this packet was seeds of Scarlet Runner Bean Magic Beanstalk, Nasturtium Summer Charm and Zinnia Scarlet Flame.

Now that the pretty plants were in, it was time to get back to planting. I planted a large amount of Fibre Flax Evelin – Linum usitatissimum. Hopefully this year the flax will grow and I will be able to turn it into fiber for spinning and weaving. I also planted colored cotton – Red Foliated, Arkansas Green Lint, Erlene’s Green and Mississippi Brown. Anyone know where I can find other natural colored cotton? I bought this from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.

Next to be planted was Grain Amaranth. I planted both Golden Giant and a mix from Bountiful Gardens. I also planted Sorghum GSO-7440 M6-1 from Bountiful Gardens. It says this variety is very rare, from KUSA.

The last seeds I planted were for Radish Watermelon.

I was hoping for some rain last night, but since we did not get any, I am off to water and finish up the rest of the vegetable garden.