Soil Test & Asparagus

Sent in a sample of my soil yesterday to a company called Logan Labs ( http://www.loganlabs.com/). They came recommended via an experienced gardener I heard on a podcast I listen too. It's $20.00 per soil test. My thoughts were that if they can tell me exactly the condition of my soil and exactly what I need to add to it, it would save me hundreds in the long run. I've seen a sample of their reports and they are pretty detailed. I'll share the results when I get them...should be about 7 business days, so hopefully later next week.

Below are pictures of our asparagus plants. They appear to be doing really well. This is their second year so we can harvest some of the stalks this year. 

The final 2 (of 8) of my Dutch Cabbage plants that survived last week, appear to be ka-put. I didn't expect to have 100% success transplant rate, but didn't expect 100% failure either. Not sure what happened.

Name Change

O.K., the title "My First Garden", though simple and accurate, seemed a little boring. So, after some collaboration with some coworkers, we came up with Hoe-Made...a little more catchy...hopefully.

2nd Planting

Alright, I got some more plants in the ground today, plus some herbs, with the help of my lovely wife. I lost 6 of the 8 Dutch Cabbage I planted last weekend and one of the Brussel Sprouts (Bubbles). Below is a list of what I planted today:
6 - Packman Broccoli
3 - Jade Cross E Brussel Sprouts
3 - Savoy King Cabbage
1 - Pineapple Sage
1 - Oregano
1 - Rosemary

Pineapple Sage - I planted this to help attract beneficial insects (I wanted blue salvia sage), It's bloom is supposed to look  great. I'll plant a culinary sage in 2 weeks.

Rosemary

Butter Lettuce in front, followed by Red Leaf Lettuce and Correnta  Spinach.

Premium Crop Broccoli in front, followed by Flat Dutch Cabbage (2nd row left 2 plants),  Packman Broccoli (2nd row right 2 plants), more Packman Broc, Jade E Cross Brussel Sprouts, Bubbles Brussel Sprouts, and in the back is the new Savoy King Cabbage.

My Texas Sweet Onions aren't looking very good, not sure what to do?

Grass...it has risen!

Alright, I haven't touched my garden since last weekend. Tuesday is when I noticed grass starting to come up and I kept meaning to get out there and start hoeing, but just wasn't able to make it happen. Got to make it happen now before it gets out of control. Unfortunately, the soil is very moist, so I will probably need to wait till later in the day. I may put some more plants in the ground today.

Also, you'll see in the pictures that some cabbage plants haven't made it. However, the lettuce (top pic) is looking good.

Initial Planting...yee haw

Alright, I got my first plants in on Saturday. The weather was great, but soil was still pretty moist...maybe to moist, but hopefully not.
I used my homemade compost when planted. I dug a little hole, threw in two handfuls of compost and mixed it in with the other soil.
I planted the following:
Dutch Cabbage - 8 plants
Broccoli - 4 plants
Brussell Sprouts - 4 plants
Butter Lettuce - 8 plants
Red Leaf Lettuce - 4 plants
Spinach - 8 plants
Texas Sweet Onion - approximately 36 plants
See pictures below:
Starting from the top:
1. Side view of everything
2. Onions
3. Two rows of butter lettuce on bottom, the red leaf lettuce, and spinach on top
4. Broccoli on bottom, then two rows of cabbage, then brussel sprouts on top (spinach top left)

This is our raised bed, which we built in the Spring of 2010. Here I have turned the soil and added some composted horse manure...bout 3-4 wheel barrels full. Notice the Asparagus on the far end. I wasn't sure when/how to prune the plant over the winter, so we didn't touch it. We have our first shoot coming up.

1st Post

Alright, this is my first post, so bear with me as I get the hang of this. Above is a picture of the the 20 foot by 40 foot plot of my yard that I had tilled up for the garden. The dark spots are where I dumped some composted horse manure. The flags keep my dogs out...saved them from the underground fence training they went through, so now we can use them where we don't want the dogs to go.