April showers

So the rains have come and we are loving it. Everything weve put in so far is coming up and we are starting to see the fruits of our labors. Below is some Holy basil (Tulsi) we put in a few weeks ago and its just now coming up. Its got a great flavor and makes for a very refreshing tea.

The peppers we started from seed are now in the ground and looking good. As are the ones that came from Sea Island, they are coming up quickly and have handled the transplant well. They are also interspersed with marigolds to curb the bugs
We cheated here and got some eggplant seedlings since the ones we started from seed are still a bit behind. But they wont fruit until the soil is fairly warm, so it will be a while till we are eating fresh eggplant parmesan.
Our herbs are coming along really well and have taken the transplant like champs, weve got some dill coming up in the back too. The green onions are delicious and do not taste like anything you can get in the store.
All of our leafy greens are looking great too, the rain that we had has really done them well. it might be hard to wait and let them grow up before i make myself a nice salad.
This was our biggest project, although it doesn't look like it. 35 tomato seedlings, 6 different varieties. The transplant has been a bit rough, mostly because we waited so long to get them in the ground. It was a bit too cold last week for them so we put it off and they go root bound, im hoping between the mushroom compost and the sun they will come back quickly and be fruiting soon. There are also about 100 onions interspersed among the tomatoes as well, as they compliment each other well in the nutrients they require.
We've also completed the chicken coop and need to get off our butts and buy some chickens. we think we will be going with rhode island reds. The total cost of our coop was $23.00 shows you how cheaply you can do it if you put your mind to it. On that note, we tabulated the total cost of our garden so far and its less than $400. Its not expensive, just lots of work.
Our friend Andrea down the street traded us some tomatoes for some beans she raised and they are already reaching out and grabbing the trelace.
We have also branched out and gotten some fruits, we now have blueberries and pomegranate as well as strawberries and my friend Daniel has offered us some raspberry seedlings as well.
The only thing we really have left to do besides planting okra and potatoes and laying down mulch. We will be using pine straw mulch as its cheap and will help the soil as it degrades. We are still on the look out for a larger water catchment system as the 50 gallons we capture each rain doesnt last very long. Thats all weve got for now.