Progress on the Experiment

We have been working hard on the garden.  Still, there has been a lot of trial and error.  We have had a zucchini, 2 yellow squash, and a tomato all die.  That has been partially because of the ridiculously wet, rainy spring we have had in Utah (hey, it's a desert, it is not supposed to be this wet) and partially because we have discovered that the garden is in a very windy area.  Honestly, the wind has snapped a two of the squash right at the stem.  Bummer.

But it has begun to dry out and we finally have just about all our plants in.  Since Robert went to the trouble to till such a big area he wants to make sure we use just about every square inch.  So even though we had become very ambitious in our plans, they have grown even more.  Here is what we have planted so far:

3 Beefsteak tomatoes (1 died)
4 Jetsetter tomatoes (I think I'm right with those first two varieties - Christian "un-labeled" them for me before we planted the first batch, so I can't be certain)
1 Atlantic Giant pumpkin
2 Big Max pumpkins
5 Miroma tomatoes
3 "Sugary" grape tomatoes
1 King Arthur Bell Pepper
2 Karma Bell Peppers
2 Zucchini (1 died)
2 yellow squash - which died
1 Goldbar yellow squash
1  yellow straightneck squash
2 Sweet Slice cucumbers
3 Celebrity tomatoes
1 Sunsugar tomato
1 Lilac Bell Pepper
1 Ivory Bell Pepper
3 Dusky Eggplants
6 San Andreas Strawberries
Some Sweet Basil

We've planted, laid the drip pipe, mulched, etc.  So hopefully we're on our way to having some yummy produce.  That said, it is interesting to note that some people have a garden so they can cut down their grocery bill.  Not us.  This is a hobby, thank goodness, so we aren't counting on all our food coming from this little plot of land.  Plus, the drip pipe itself was pretty expensive.  Although, if you do this over and over it probably does save you money in the long run - you just reuse the piping.  But this is just our experiment.  We can't be sure we're going to be here next year.

Robert has begun to till up another strip of dirt just behind the pumpkins because he wants to have more!  Okay, so his goal, in reality is to grow a pumpkin that is at least 200 pounds.  So he's going to try as many plants as possible.  I will add one more zucchini - to replace the one that died- and some more herbs that haven't sprouted from seeds yet.

We've made progress, and we've got all summer to see how it goes. I have already had one strawberry!