update June 30

First baby zucchini showing itself!  Blossoms started a couple days ago, so that's like about six weeks from planting to first signs of zucchini.  Quick!

Sweet potatoes seem to be fine, though the Beauregard that was shipped to me was pretty weak and it was quickly picked off - only two remaining. They seem fine and one has tendrils heading out, so we'll see.

Watermelon and okra are much slower.  Some larger leaves are showing on a couple of okra, but they're still all pretty small. I thought they'd all be further along by now, but maybe they'll pick up speed as the summer heat really rolls in. 

update 6.13.15

Today I planted some Bradford watermelons.

I was gone over a week but it rained a bit so things looked fine.

The okra isn't growing as fast as I expected - not enough direct sun I think.  Maybe the same with the watermelon.  The sweet potatoes and squash are doing well.

Okra at 20 days: (they each have 3+ leaves but it's slow growing):

 Sweet potatoes at 14 days:

 Watermelon at 19 days:

 Zucchini at 19 days:

sweet potato slips

Yesterday I received sweet potato slips in the mail from Steele; they were shipped 5/28.  I brought them home and put them in water, but they look pretty sad. 

I got four each of Beauregard, Centennial, and Murasaki.  The second two seem more robust, but I'm not sure the Beauregard was ready to be shipped - quite small, not hardly any roots. 

Well, I'll put them all in the ground and hope for the best.  I prepared soil by digging a trench about 8" deep and 12" wide, and then I mounded the soil up at least another 4".  They don't get direct sun all day because of a neighbor's tree, but I think they'll still get a fair amount - especially once the leaves spread. 

A big part of why I'm growing them is that when in Liberia my favorite food is sweet potato greens.  While I can't duplicate that same dish, I can probably make some nice stir fries and such with the leaves.

If this goes well, I want to save my own slips for next year - these slips are not inexpensive and it's been a bit of a hassle to get them (I thought I'd get them a week ago, and now they won't be hardened before I have to travel).  In general I want to save seeds as much as possible, which today means I need to collect the cilantro seeds from the plant out front that is long expired. 

We'll see.  Going slowly, slowly.  Giving the watermelon and squash and sweet potatoes room to spread so it will seem like I'm gardening my whole yard, but lots aren't very big in New Orleans - if I really want to maximize productivity, there would need to be some vertical elements.  But not this year, except for okra leaning against a chain link fence, and I'll construct a bean teepee.  The lot where I'm growing now is not going to be my permanent garden - I only plan to be in this house a few more years, and I put in fruit trees that will soon hopefully grow and eventually shade everything.  For now I'm learning, and it's not going to hurt anything that I'm improving the quality of the soil with organic matter. 

starting again

Different house though same neighborhood, I just got the lot next door and am looking at gardening the heck out of it. 

My soil quality is low - it's compacted clay with a layer of sand and then weeds on top.  So I went to Wood Materials and got so far two cubic yards of vegetable garden soil mix (May 14 and May 16; about $40/cu yard).  It looks to have wood chunks in it which isn't thrilling, and other vegetative non-composted matter, but I know to let it sit a bit. Even after just a week of sitting, what I shoveled into the beds looks more hummussy. 

I have one free 4' x 4' x 6" bed from a local nonprofit, and I built two more which are 2' x 6' x 10".  I remove the weeds underneath with a grub hoe, then put a layer of brown paper bags, then put in the purchased vegetable mix.  I'm also clearing along the chainlink fence with a similar method though without the beds - along there I want to plant okra.  On the chainlink on the other side of the house, I have some mirliton plants which seem ok now (I planted some late last year and they died in the winter). 

I recently ordered seeds from Seed Savers exchange: okra (Clemson spineless), watermelon (Black Beauty), zucchini (Blacktail Mountain).  Last night I ordered sweet potato slips from Steele: a mix of (Beauregard, Centennial, and Murasaki).  And then on NPR I saw an interesting story about Bradford watermelons so I went and ordered a package of their seeds, too.  They're expensive, but I can save the seeds to plant next year if I want, and I like the whole Bradford family thing - saving a species from extinction, using money for help in poverty-stricken areas, etc. 

The last time I grew okra it went like gangbusters and I was able to cook a lot with it and pickle it, and the pickled okra was wildly popular.  I eat a lot of zucchini, and I would like a reason to get a spiralizer.  For the sweet potatoes, I eat a lot each year and there's a learning curve for me so I'll go step by step - I want to see what works best for me here, see about saving the and making my own slips next year, etc.  And for watermelons, I eat A LOT of watermelon each year, and I want to make some juice and syrup for cocktails (which I'll freeze), and pickle the rind.  i hear the Bradford are great for that.  Also, just seeing what works here.  I've never had good luck with melons and squash because of powdery mildew and such, so I want to see what I can figure out. 

I want to get some good tomatoes to plant in the next month or so with the idea of canning a lot - I use a tremendous amount of canned, diced tomatoes in winter.  It's a lot of work but maybe I'll find a friend who wants to join.  I've also struggled with growing tomatoes in New Orleans - with the fungus and the tomato hornworms and all that.  So, I want to take it slow and see what I can do. 

I will need to put down some bird netting until the plants are set - I get a lot of birds in my yard every day, probably eating weed seeds.  They will obliterate the planted seeds and seedlings, given a chance. 

I may need to set up an irrigation system, but I'm kind of avoiding that if I can. 

Then I need to start thinking about winter crops, and that's where I go hogwild.  I'll have to think about if I want to build more beds or if I just want to clear space and mound new soil mix and that be good enough.  I'll see how it works with the okra.  Maybe I'll use beds for root crops, to be sure it's deep enough. 

It's all learning right now. I read a lot and reflect a lot, but so much is just dependent on fluke - the microclimate of my yard, the bugs, etc. 

I do have fruit trees in: a calamondin I put in last September has been producing constantly, providing me with lovely gin & tonics.  The meyer's lemon died, probably from overwatering.  Then I put others in two months ago and the avocado mostly died (probably from the wind and overwatering - there were heavy rains for weeks and that turned out to be a particularly swampy part of the yard).  The pomegranate is good, the lime and feijoa and loquat and satsuma and peach and persimmon trees seem fine.  The blood orange tree's leaves have some brown spots that I need to look into.  When I planted them I dug large holes and put in soil amendments and covered with crushed pine straw, but the weeds are so invasive so I need to clear again and put down newspaper and more mulch.