Growing at the speed of light

Well things are really moving along in the garden at the moment - it's amazing what a difference a few days can make.

I had to go to Melbourne for a few days. When I left, the bean seeds that my 3yo helped plant were just starting to push through the soil. Get home 5 days later, and they are literally 15cms tall!

I planted them out into the veggie patch tonight. The newspaper pots make them so easy to get into the ground!

I also pricked out the baby tomatoes I had grown from seed - as I didn't really expect them to grow I have WAY too many. These are just the ones I pricked out, there are at least double this amount still in the original container.

I also planted my bought tomato seedlings into the ground, after originally having them in large pots so I could more easily protect them from any frosts.

Sadly I only have 2 cucumber plants left of the eight I planted - and one of those isn't looking too good either. I think I was a bit rough with them when I planted them out. I have some seeds though so may try to get a few more going from seed.

I also have my very first pumpkin flower - isn't it cute!

I have also discovered this fantastic product called Smart Mulch. Cost around $25 for this big bag, but I have mulched my whole patch, and still have about 1/4 of the bag left. It comes in little cubes of straw-like material, that when wet expands to 5 times it's volume. I mixed in some of the pea straw I already had, but it doesn't seem to be prone to blowing away like the straw did, and keeps the soil lovely and moist, really cutting down on watering.

This is a picture of what it looks like once it is all expanded - as you can see there is a little pea straw mixed in with some of it.