Vegetable Gardening

[GLC1968]

Lisa - your garden is beautiful! Is that borage there in the front of one of those photos? Do you eat it or is it just there for insect protection and visual interest?

I have a bunch of photos on my camera, but I'm missing my cable so I can't download them. Our garden is growing like gangbusters. Both the boxes and the row garden area...it's unreal! We are so pleased at the success we've had with things that we failed at last year. I've harvested so much broccoli that I haven't had to buy it in months and I eat a lot of broccoli! The peas and kale are still going nuts and while the first planting of spinach did really well, I need to get more in the ground. We've had a cold wet spring, but it suits my tastes just fine as the spring veggies are my favorites anyway.

We did fail miserably at growing sweet potatoes once again. Maybe I'll just have to accept that three strikes and I'm out? Oy. I think it's too cold here.

[tulip]

Lisa, your garden takes my breath away! How beautiful!

GLC, sweet potatoes like it hot hot hot! I can't imagine they'll do much in the PNW. I did have luck growing them in Maryland a few years ago. Get a new cable already! We want to see pics of your Eden!

I've expanded my garden this year. I'll take some photos and post them.

Oak, from your May question:

I rotate my raised beds just by rotating them. I have 7 beds that are roughly 6'x3', and one long one that is 13'x3'. I just plant different things in each bed. I have two wire bins for potatoes, and those rotate around year-to-year. No corn; not worth it for me when there's a corn field 2 miles away with a farm stand. The only thing that I don't rotate is my herb garden, which is a half-circle. It's new, so it's kindof bare this year, but I'll post a picture soon.

[GLC1968]

GLC, sweet potatoes like it hot hot hot! I can't imagine they'll do much in the PNW.

I know...but I was hopeful. It does get hot here, particularly in the valley I live in, but the nights are ALWAYS cool and our season is very short. I tried a potato variety that supposedly does well in this region this year and got NOTHING. I'm annoyed. I think I might contact the growers where I bought the slips as they are also local and might have some hints for me. I *might* give it one more shot.

I can't wait to see your herb garden! I'm really procrastinating on mine. I've got a few annual herbs in with my regular garden, but I haven't even started my perennial garden yet. I have decided on two locations so all I need to do now is make it happen. You know...in all that free time...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Is that borage there in the front of one of those photos? Do you eat it or is it just there for insect protection and visual interest?

It's for my honeybees (and any other bees who want to share). I have several flowers for bees in the veggie garden.

We need pix of your gardens! Did the rose bushes at ends of beds work well for you? How are your animals doing?

Lisa, your garden takes my breath away! How beautiful!

Thanks! I remember when you gave me that advice about utilizing the space in my old small garden better, and planting closer together. I've been following that advice successfully ever since, and it works well for me.
But my biggest tactic that works is successive planting of just one or two 3' rows with seed frequently, and yanking out the older stuff somewhat ruthlessly and composting it.
Seeds are fairly cheap, and life's to short to eat bitter bolting lettuce!

More kohlrabi!! lol

[spokewench]

Oh, I'm so jealous - I'm lucky if I get that much growth in a season let alone one month!

I spent two days in New Hampshire prior to my niece's wedding doing landscaping in 97 degree 100% humidity. I love the growing back there; but I just don't want to deal with the winters and the inability to get away from them; so I will stay in Flag at 7,000 feet!

But, I really would love the gardening . . .

I was away for a week; so I am behind in my weeding; I will try to get a picture of my little tiny garden this weekend so you can see what is up!

spoke

[GLC1968]

OK, here goes:

This is our row garden taken on July4.


We have a very late summer this year, so a lot of things are just now getting going. Here we have tomatoes, two types of corn, winter squash, summer squash, melons, beans and garlic in the back. Potatoes hadn't yet been planted (they go where the black plastic is and I'll also be doing fall broccoli where the garlic is after we harvest (next week!).

This is our squarefoot gardening section also taken on July4.

Kale, carrots, radishes, parsnips, beets, peppers, tomatoes, cukes, peas, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, lettuce, chard, spinach, potatoes, strawberries, and onions.

This is the section of row garden that was covered with black plastic - it's now our newly planted second potato patch (the first is in the boxes - we are experimenting to see where they do better):


This is our 7 new blueberry bushes and our drip system. Someday we'll get a real harvest from these but not this year...


Red plums - should be ripe in a couple of weeks:



And for good measure - here are a couple of other things that we are 'growing'

The bees 'hanging out on the front porch' on a hot day last week:

The taller hive is just MASSIVE and filling with honey like crazy!

A pregnant Skylark (due end of August):

[Veronica]

Yippee! GLC garden pics!

Almost as good as a blog entry....

Did you know Nov. 17 is Homemade Bread Day? I thought of you as I was prepping my writing prompt for that day.

Veronica

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Great to get these updates from everyone!


GLC- my two hives are doing very well too! But mine are mostly just building up their population their first year now....i doubt there'll be any excess honey for me this year.
My new blueberry bushes are just babies too.

[tulip]

It's been a very hot summer, with several weeks over 100F. Some of my plants did not like that a bit--I still have yet to see one zucchini! Others just hunkered down and waited it out. Now that's it's cooler, things have picked up again.

I created several new beds this summer. The herb half-moon bed will be fabulous next year, when the lavender and rosemary fill in the border and I get additional herbs in. Right now there's alot of basil, zinnias, and cosmos to fill in.

The sunflowers are kindof all over, but I like them that way. And the melons, squash, and pumpkins have taken over, too.

[tulip]

39 Hollyhocks for my perennial gardens in the front, side, and back.

Lots of leeks for the winter potager.

[badger]

I'm so jealous of all your gardens!! I can't wait to have a proper vegetable garden, but for now I have to make do with pots on my patio.

"garden"

my haul today:


Question I have, which may very well have been asked/answered earlier but I can't go through 27 pages: how do you keep some veg/herbs from "bolting"? I was trying to keep the cilantro and swiss chard from bolting, but no go. It was a futile endeavor so I just let them go.

And incidentally, does anyone know what this tree is? I'm thinking it's part of a hazel family, but I've yet to see it anywhere for me to actually identify it. It flowers bell-shaped purple flowers and bear seeded pods:


sorry for the bright background:

[tulip]

What a beautiful garden, Badger! Cilantro bolts when it gets the least bit hot, but the seeds are Coriander and you can collect them and use them in cooking. Or you can use them to replant cilantro for the cooler months. Plant them now.

I've never had Swiss chard bot. It seems to last all winter and summer here.

[jobob]

Wow, great stuff, everyone!

Lee planted a couple of large pots, one with heirloom tomatoes and the other with grape tomatoes. They did great, and we've been enjoying the harvest over the last couple of weeks.

More ambitious plans are now in the offing.

PS - how's Skylark doing, GLC?

[GLC1968]

You guys...our garden is a disaster! Things are so over-grown that it's scary! We've been good about watering this summer (we now have a good drip system installed) but we've been terrible about maintenance or harvesting and it shows! I'm almost afraid to close my eyes at night for fear that it takes over while we are sleeping!!

I did manage to harvest a bunch of tomatoes and beans and summer squash last night. And I beat back the strawberries which are desparately attempting to take over other boxes! The winter squash is doing unbelieveably well (it's climbing up the corn, now!). One corn variety is GORGEOUS and I cannot wait to harvest some (it went in late this year). The potatoes are doing well, the garlic was fan-freaking-tastic (I'll have to post pictures of our haul!) and we are now picking plums, apples, tomatoes and blackberries daily. We will have a bumper crop of carrots too. Oh...but no zucchini! I have no idea why...but the same variety that innundated us last year is producing very, very little this year. Odd.

Jo - Skylark is good. She's 'due' in a week, and her udder is already filling out, so it won't be long now. We have plans to install the baby monitor in the goat shed either tonight or tomorrow (a powerful wireless one) so that we can keep tabs on her at night. As much as we aren't ready to have to milk twice daily, I am looking forward to having goat babies AND fresh raw milk again.

[tulip]

Badger, that looks like a Royal Paulownia tree to me (Paulownia tomentosa), also known as an Empress Tree. It originated in China. It grows fast and has pretty flowers. It's considered invasive because those seed pods drop seeds that sprout prolifically. The tree also sprouts right back when cut down. Down here, in the SE US, it's considered a weed tree. But up north, it doesn't grow so fast. It will provide shade, so that might affect your garden plans.