The garden looks beautiful this year.
Thankfully, thus far we have encountered very
few bugs or diseases. We started the
garden in March when we started seeds in the laundry room under grow lights.
Some things did wonderfully and others not so much. In the garden we have
planted lettuce, swiss chard, kale, radishes, tomatoes, bell peppers of many
colors, cucumbers, basil, cabbage, green beans, zucchini, butternut squash,
patty pan squash, brussel sprouts, onions, carrots, garlic, several different herbs and last but not
least, potatoes. Whew, listing it all out makes it seem outrageous! In addition
we have the permanent plantings of asparagus, rhubarb, blueberries and
blackberries.
We have already harvested the cabbage and ended up with 3
beautiful heads. We have harvested a
plethora of lettuce and swiss chard. We
gave lots of it away to happy recipients but it is now too hot for the lettuce
to grow and it started to bolt. But God is so good and provides our salads in so
many different varieties. The cukes are
now starting to flourish as well as the basil and I see a new kind of salad
starting next week. We just vigorously
trimmed the swiss chard in order for it to regrow. Where we cut all the lettuce down will be
replanted with October beans. Since the cucumbers are starting to come in daily
now, I see pickles in my future and for that Ryan is grateful.
Tomatoes are beautiful this year. No signs of blight thus
far, but too early to see if we will encounter blossom end rot. We have experimented LOTS with Epsom salts
this year and I think we have seen a noticeable difference. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, a mineral
that is lacking from a lot of soil. By
replenishing it we are hoping to have less disease. Thus far it has been beneficial but it is too
early to tell the final outcome.
We will keep you posted on garden pics as things progress
thru the season. Sorry the pictures are in such random order but I seemed unable to move them around.
Enough garlic to keep the vampires away.
Swiss chard in the foreground after it had been trimmed back. Beans in the back on the tall trellis. Tomatoes in the middle.
Tomatoes a plenty and another shot of the trellised beans. Marigolds are inter-planted in the beds as they help deter pests. Garden pests and many people dislike the smell of marigolds, yet I personally like the smell.
Brussell sprouts...this years new crop experiment. They seem to be doing well. We have 5 plants total.
Cucumbers on trellis. I have almost picked enough to can a jar or 2 of pickles.
Tomatoes are doing grand this year. Inter-planted with them are borage which attract pollinators and keep away pests.
Wyatt helped Papa plant all the cabbage and Brussel sprouts in the early spring.
One of the three beautiful cabbage that we harvested.
This picture of swiss chard and lettuce beds are from early spring. They have already been harvested & replanted. Boy have we eaten our fill of greens this spring.
Asparagus.......Oh asparagus. We ate so much of this in the spring. The skinny spears we let go into plants to replenish for next year. They are so whispy and airy at this time of year. We ended up staking some fencing around it to keep it from blowing over.
Blackberries usually do well if we have a lot of water. We will see how they do this year as water has not been as plentiful. The plants still look nice and healthy.
Blueberries are starting to come in now. We have picked twice now, once about a pint and then last night a small mixing bowlful. We are thankful they survived our late frost.
Potatoes were planted very deep so that we don't have to hill them up as they grow. We have 4 rows, each a different variety. We will keep them in the ground until the plants start dying back and then we will dig them all up and replant this bed with something else.
TONS of butternut squash. We experimented growing them on a trellis this year so that the fruits don't lay on the ground. They have done really well. We lost some to blossom end rot but it does not seem to be a problem any more.
Onions are almost ready for harvest. Some parts are starting to die back, indicating they are finished growing. We will likely harvest all these after the 4th of July and them dry for storage.
Happy healthy eating to all.
