A Little of What's New

I was glancing back over some of my old posts and, seeing some pictures from my last garden log update, it hit me how much has changed. Of course, I already knew that from the feeling of hauling all those compost bags around, but it was nice to actually see in the pictures.

I really enjoy going out every day and watching my garden, seeing how things have changed from one day to the next. I expect a lot from it, always looking for consistent new growth. Sometimes it feels like things are going too slowly. That's why it's nice to have this garden log. So that I can look back and see just how much has happened in a short time, at what hasn't happened since I last stopped to watch.

The last garden log update had a photo with one completed but empty raised bed. There are now three such beds built and planted. In Raised Bed #2, I have some greens I bought as starts, as well as a number of seed-grown plants. There are two kinds of hot peppers, two kinds of sweet peppers, basil, sunflowers, cucumbers, and beans. There is also a purple tomatillo plant. It's the only tomatillo seedling I had that made it, but it's also my largest plant right now. Here's a shot of the half of that bed without the mature greens, followed by a close-up of the greens.




In the other new bed, Raised Bed #3 (I'm kind of looking forward to naming the gardens), There are two kinds of tomatoes, basil, peas, beans, sweet peppers, nasturtiums, two kinds of corn, and zucchini plants growing. Here's a nice, if relatively unrevealing shot of that bed. The many tiny seedlings are courtesy of my cottonwood trees that were kind enough to seed my entire back yard.


Another big change can be seen in the herb garden. In my last post with pictures, it was just starting to come back in. Now it is overgrown and in need of serious harvesting. I want to tackle the winter savory, bottom middle, first. I would like to put cuttings in the food processor with water, and then freeze the solution into mini ice cube trays. I could then pop them into a plastic bag and have frozen herb nuggets ready whenever I need them.


I've also been working on a container garden. I like the flexibility of such a garden, and the possibility of splitting it up and putting certain plants where they are needed. This may be to act as a companion plant, as my carefully potted mint is now supposedly discouraging cabbage moths from some of my cabbage. Pots from the container garden can also just fill an empty space, as they do here...


The pot by itself on the left has some transplanted bronze fennel seedlings from last year's fennel that re-seeded. Of the three on the right, the green one has two bush beans and two cowpeas, the white one has a mini red bell pepper plant, and the large one has two different cherry tomatoes, some lemon basil, and one more bush bean plant. Here's another shot of them, cause I wanna...


And that's it for now!

Garden Log - April 18, 2008

The end of the semester and the beginning of everything has kept me busy. Too busy to post, it would seem, however tonight's insomnia presents me with an opportunity. A lot's been going on, but here's a look at what I've got pictures of at the moment.

First off, here's a shot of last year's herb garden. It contains fennel (looks dead but presumably re-seeded?), sage, savory, oregano, and two kinds of thyme. With the exception of the fennel, it looks like it over-wintered quite well to me.


Here's a shot of my two 3'x8' in-ground beds. One contains garlic planted late last fall and the other has some chard and rapini transplants from inside. This is the same chard seen in previous posts. That latter bed has a number of things I planted by seed, none of which has come up just yet.


Last week I received a big order of fruit and berry trees and bushes from Oikos and I've been working on getting them in the ground. Most of these I put into a new garden on the south side of my house. When the snow melted it was all grass there. Here's a shot taken after some prep-work.


And after a little more work, here it is with plums, quinces, strawberries, and a currant bush. The timber part of the edging I brought home from work, intended as firewood, last fall. One of them is actually partly burnt. The two logs are from the woods that abut my property.




And here are some close-ups. First, one of two Nana Beach Plum bushes. These are supposed to bloom nicely so I put them closest to my deck.


There are four strawberry plants around the window well, two Alpines and two "Berries Galore."


Next up are the lemony quinces, one of two shown below.


And finally, a currant bush. I've got another of these I plan to put in elsewhere, after some sleep.


And right near the currant and the quinces, a bit of crowberry. This is a groundcover that should spread, not getting any taller than its current size. It is supposed to "produce sweet acidic purple black berries available year round [...] They were and still are used by Eskimo where they are used to make pies and mixed with other berries to make jelly."


I've done more than this and have a lot going on inside as well, but I'll call it a post for now.