Friday, May 29, 2020

In the Garden


This is a partial glimpse of the asparagus patch.  This is it 24 hours after I harvested all the big enough stalks just yesterday.  I'd like to have a time-lapse camera set up to see just how fast the stalks grow.


The cold frame over this lettuce and miscellaneous salad greens is due to come off very soon.  I had to replant in a couple of spots and there are still some itty-bitty plants that may not make it.  Replant, replant.


Here's half of a bed of five different kinds of radishes before the second thinning.  We love our radishes.


This is our rhubarb plant on steroids with comfrey on either end.


See my wiggly-waggly leaves of garlic?  What's with that?  The bed has bush zinnias under hot caps on either end.  I do believe the started zinnias have gotten smaller since I set them out.


Six green pepper plants under hot caps.  They need to have a cold frame set over them (and the hot caps removed) as soon as I can get someone to help me do the job.  By the by, we've never had so many dandelions.  They were all mowed down by the mower three days ago.  I feel like they're a super-breed and may take over the acreage.


My cauliflower plants look good and healthy at this stage.


I planted an eight foot row of cucumber seeds from 2014 and I think every one of them germinated.  I'll thin them down to just four plants which will give us all the slicing cukes we'll need with many to give away.


These are my shell pea trellises.  Can you see the pea sprouts?  No, me neither.  I just planted them two days ago.


Our haskap berry bushes are lush and chock-full of blossoms.  Looks to be a good year for them. 


The strawberry plants have blossomed early this year.  If all goes well, we should get a good crop from them.

No picture but I have two zucchini plants under a hot cap that are just bursting to get out, but our temp is possibly going down to the mid-30s tonight so I didn't want to chance letting them out of their little hot house quite yet. 

I still have most of the warm weather crops to plant, and had to spend the afternoon weeding in the blueberries and strawberries (the 3/4" of rain we got this week did wonders for the growing plants and, of course, the weeds) so I don't feel like I made much forward progress in the garden today.  Unless you count the weeding . . . which does count for a lot since once you fall behind on that, as all you gardeners know, it's really, really hard to catch up.

14 comments:

tpals said...

I think it looks great, even with the dandelion carpet. Hooray! You are still winning the war on weeds in the garden. ;)

Leigh said...

I love seeing your garden making it's start. Garden photos are always a happy way to start the day. :)

Sam I Am...... said...

I wish I had a garden like that! I used to and hopefully will again someday but for now I garden in containers. I've never heard of Haskap berries and I have never had much luck with radishes since I came down here. YOu have a beuatiful garden and no weeds!!! COngrats!

Mama Pea said...

tpals - Thanks! It all still looks pretty barren to me, but here's hoping it will grow and flourish now that our Arctic weather seems to have passed. Only down to 44° last night rather than the 30s that were predicted. Yay!

Leigh - Well, thanks so much, Leigh. I always think of you when I post pictures of my garden and know you're so very far ahead of me. Glad you understand the differences in our gardening climates and can appreciate them.

Sam I Am - Radishes like growing in cooler weather so I'm thinking your climate is a wee bit too warm for them. Maybe if you plant them in January? ;o) Here's wishing a bigger garden for you in the future. It's such good exercise and produces wonderfully nutritious food!

Nancy In Boise said...

Why your garden looks so great and organized! We finally got all of our warm weather veggies planted last weekend. I finally have radishes this year, 2 kinds. I couldn't remember if you have ducks and chickens? How are they doing? We just got three new chicks so its exciting times!

wisps of words said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
wisps of words said...

Pretty Header!!!!!!!!

~smile~

Michelle said...

At least your dandelions are LOW, instead of towering over your gardens beds like our weeds do! It's spitting a little rain today; the garden needs a good SOAKING now that I've planted our seeds.

Retired Knitter said...

Gosh! Such neat gardens. I wish my house looked half that good.

Tigger's Mum said...

Eat the dandelions (great in risotto); you will be surprised how quickly you can't find enough of them! What are haskap berries? And what are those gorgeous flowers in your header? You must be gardening at a challenging latitude but it all looks great. Are your seasons sort of short and intense, or are there some things that really don't get a chance to mature before the next winter?

Mama Pea said...

Nancy - Getting new chicks, whether hatched or purchased, is always exciting! Oh, the potential for homegrown eggs!

wisps of words - Oh yes, that first salad of homegrown lettuce each year tastes so good! Maybe in a week or so here. The honey bees do love the dandelions, that's for sure. Even when they are mowed down, by the next day they are popping up again. And I do love the way they look, just not the seeds that spread new, huge dandelions right in the middle of my strawberry plants! ;o)

Michelle - You'll get a handle on the dandelions/weeds. Put that strong, able-bodied teenager in your house in harness (!) and give him a trowel to dig them out! Sunshine and rain, both necessary for a good garden.

Retired Knitter - My house is such a mess right now. (Ya can't do two things at once!) The kitchen floor is especially in dire need of a good scrubbing. We're supposed to have rain tomorrow so maybe, just maybe, I'll attack it then. (It's getting to the point of being a necessity!!)

Tigger - I know there are wonderful things you can do with dandelions. Wine! Unfortunately we can't quite find the time to utilize them right now. Haskap berries or honey berries are much like blueberries but have many, many times as many anti-oxidants . . . which is a good thing for us. I'm pretty sure the header picture is of blood root blossoms. It was taken by my daughter when she was tromping in the woods. Our growing season is very short and some times not very warm. So without some sort of a greenhouse or cold frame, we can't get things like tomatoes or peppers to mature. :o(

JustGail said...

Your garden is looking good, even with the lack of rain. No weeds in the asparagus... puts mine to shame! You have plants far ahead of mine, but I don't have hot caps or cold frames, so got started later. Maybe next year I'll get out earlier now that I have the raised beds hilled up. Our dandelions are a bumper crop this year, I keep reminding myself pollinators love them, and keep forgetting they are edible at least while small.

The tall stakes on the cauliflower - is that just to mark them, or will they be used to support a cover to keep the cabbage worms off later?

Nancy In Boise said...

I saw a Show recently that said that asparagus in the right conditions can grow up to 8 in per day! I thought that was crazy! I can't remember do you have chickens or ducks? If so can you post some photos? Thanks!

Mama Pea said...

JustGail - I put the stakes next to my cauliflower plants (broccoli, too) when I set the plants out because as they grow, they get so top-heavy I have to tie them to the stakes so they don't topple over in our frequent high winds. Thanks for commenting!

Nancy - Ooops, sorry I forgot to answer your question about our poultry. We just have ducks and chickens right now. The geese all went to freezer camp because they were starting to get a trifle bit too cranky and nasty. We get visiting little ones around here frequently and they love going into the big poultry pasture to see the birds up close. We couldn't take the chance of a goose going after one of them. Also, we decided we like the taste of chicken or duck better than goose! I stopped posting pics of our "livestock" because I thought it was boring to everyone, but you've encouraged me to do so again. Thanks, and I will!