April Garden Update!

The 🌞 has been out and the weather is definitely warming up (it was never really that cold to begin with). Plants around my small yard have finally started to grow enough to provide aameaningful update. Let's take a look around!

Basil has completely taken off. I can't eat this thing fast enough and have already given bunches away to many friends. Cut off any flowers that may pop up so the plant can focus energy on producing sweet basil leaves.

Beets are starting to settle in and some are just a few weeks away from harvest. I struggled with pests coming by and eating the young saplings, but saw this more as an opportunity to stagger the harvest times. Simply replaced more seeds were saplings were completely eaten and killed. Seems to be working well as I have a beets in a wide range of expected harvest times.

Dragon fruit has finally started to show growth. Initially, after planting the cutting, I had thought the cactus was dying as it was starting to turn yellow and become very skinny. It turns out I was overestimating the amount of rain that we were getting and thus, was not supplying enough water. After a few heavy waterings, the cutting has shown new life with a darker green color, looking more plumb, and a new branch growing at the tip!

Strawberries are starting to grow more leaves. Unfortunately, only half of the ten transplants took and are showing life. No flowers yet means no strawberries yet. I have to constantly water these guys due to the soil/clay pot and fear they are just one heat wave away from death.

This forever-beet is kicking and kicking strong. I've been harvesting beet leaves from this guy about once a week. A rat seemed to have gnawed at the side of the beet a bit but it did not seem to have affected the root. As mentioned before, I do not plan on uprooting the beet in the near future and will continue to enjoy the steady supply of leaves.

Grape
Successful Kyoho Grape twig planting! The Kyoho grapes that I picked up from my mother in law last year have finally started to show life. Upon checking the roots, they seem to be developing well. Now the challenge is to keep these things alive before I transplant them into a larger container.