The garden continues to trudge along. I thought that by scaling down the number of plants this year I would have an easier time keeping up with it, but so far that hasn’t been the case. It’s been raining a lot, and the sun’s been out too, so things are growing well. However, that means the weeds are growing well too and, frankly, I hate weeding. On the weekends, I’ve been able to find some time to work at it some but during the week it’s the last thing I want to do.
Well, one of the last things.
Still, some of the plants are starting to look pretty good, like the Roma Tomato up above. Not long before I can make a pizza or some pasta sauce.
Continue to the full entry to see more photos.
The beets are tall, but the leaves don’t look so hot. I had read that you can use the leaves in salads but I think I’ll pass. Some of the plants seem like they were planted a little too shallow and the root, where the edible part will be forming, is showing above the surface. Over the weekend I dug a few of them up and tried to plant them deeper. We’ll see if that helps any.
New to the garden this year: corn (Silver Queen variety). I planted a 12″ grid, six feet by five feet. Out of the 30 plantings, about 22 of them came up. Based on 1 or 2 ears of corn per plant, I figure I’ll get about 30 to 35 that are edible. Here’s hoping.
The squash plants have big, beautiful flowers on them already.
The cucumber plants are also flowering. I bought the materials to build some A-frame supports to trellis them and let them grow up, rather than growing out across the dirt. The advantages to that growing method are that: 1) the ripe cucumbers are easier to harvest; 2) the ripe cucumbers are green all the way around, since the sun hits all sides instead of just the top; and 3) the cucumbers that result are supposed to be straighter. Plus, it looks cool.
The onions and shallots are looking strong and healthy.
There’s a TON of dill that self-sowed, scattered throughout the garden. Cilantro, too.
Blueberries are already turning blue, at least on the smallest plant. Last year we trimmed a lot of dead growth off the little guy and he seems to be happy about it, rewarding us with some edible berries must sooner than any of the others. I have the stuff to put netting over the berries to keep the birds away but have not yet put it up since it’s been raining a lot lately,
Lastly, Sundrops, which are scattered throughout the flower beds all around the yard. Nice.
Hi Josh,
I’ve enjoyed following your garden blog for a few years and finally have begun my own, mainly for far away friends and family. Thought I’d pass along the link since you were my inspiration! (my camera is a measley 2 mega pixels-I’ve got a new 8mp camera on order so hopefully the quality of my pictures will improve a little!). password: mitzi
lippyloo
hmmm, website didn’t seem to post! knasus.dotphoto.com
Hi lippyloo! Thanks for the compliments. I looked at your photo pages and all I have to say is, “WOW!” It puts me, and my weed-filled little plot, to shame, that’s for sure.
You have so much space and a neatly organized, weed-free, and well-stocked garden going. It looks fantastic. Did you plant the asparagus that’s popping up, or was that a surprise? Over at my family’s land in Hadley they get surprise asparagus making an appearance every now and then, even though the fields haven’t been used for harvesting in many years.
Also, I’m jealous of all the help you seem to have, both in weeding and in preserving (like the strawberries) and, most importantly, eating!