Muscle Beach 2012

We call our rooftop patio Muscle Beach.  At some point during our first summer here, our neighbour was throwing a bench press.  The Boy decided it was just what our patio needed. Other than that first night, it has never been used. But it adds character I suppose, and a name for the patio.  Muscle Beach. I told the Boy that we could part ways with it when we move from here.  The Boy says we’ll see.  We’ll see indeed.

Anyway, last weekend we opened up the beach and this was our conversation:

Boy – “Can you keep a journal of what we plant and when we planted, and update it every year?”

Me – “Yes”

10 minutes later

Boy – “Do you have a book to write down what we planted and track how well it does?”

Me – “No”

Boy – “How are you going to keep track?”

Me – “I write a blog, maybe you’ve heard of it?  That’s kind of what it’s for – keeping a history of things.“

Boy – “Haha, oh yeah!”

So as per the Boy’s request – this is the 2012 Muscle Beach Round Up,

This year we got our crap together early and we planted on May 12. (The Boy wants to keep track of the date we plant.  I think it’s an OCD thing)

We’ve still got a couple of plants that need to go in, but so far we’ve got:

 

• Golden Peppers
• Purple Peppers
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Green Beans
• Carrots
• Chives
• Basil
• Parsley
• Oregano
• Rosemary
• Mint

Potatoes are new for us, and so are Purple and Golden peppers (which means I can cross another one off my 101 in 1001 list). We did red peppers last year, and had sad little plants that each produced a single pepper.  The Boy went out to “harvest” and the squirrels/raccoons had beat us to it – they were all half eaten.

This year we’re trying to not crowd our containers.  While one tiny little plant looks pretty silly in a giant pot off the start, I’m hoping if we give them more room to grow, we’ll have more luck.

We’re picking up more pots this weekend, so I’d still like to add kale, and green onions.  The Boy wants to try broccoli but I think we’re too late. We try lettuce pretty unsuccessfully each year as well – but I’m thinking maybe this year will be the year.

This is our new Blue Jay friend – the Boy is very excited about his presence and made me take about 50 pictures. 

I’m cool with him as long as he stays out of my plants!