last time in the garden (may 15):

this time in the garden (may 28):

Do you see all that green? It's amazing the difference two weeks can make. Everything is popping up in the garden, the apple trees & berry bushes are leafing out, and the ferns are blanketing our woods. It looks like they'll bloom soon, I don't know if I've seen ferns bloom before?

Watermelon, muskmelon, spaghetti, buttercup, sugar pumpkin, & delicata squash are all popping up in the big mounds we planted in the back of the yard. We'll see if the vines and fruit hold up to curious critters in the woods.

Speaking of critters. Do you see that sweet little tree frog on the apple tree branch? I counted two garter snakes, two toads, a tree frog and of course…. a very helpful puppy, while I watered the garden yesterday morning. (my brother is going to love her, she is such a cutie!)

I transplanted the bulk of the tomatoes into the garden. (Amish Paste, Zapotec, Red Pear Cherry & Gold Nugget Cherry) The hot peppers will go in this weekend along with the Snow White Cherry tomatoes. What are you favorite heirloom tomato varieties? I always have such a hard time narrowing my decision down to a reasonable amount. Also, on a funny note…. I mixed up a few of my tomatoes… so I'm not sure where the cherry tomatoes will be. It will be fun to see where they end up once the fruit begins to ripen!

The fava beans! I've never planted these before (picture number 8) and they are beautiful! The robust leaves almost look like succulents. I'll be making tee-pees for all the beans and peas next week. I'm hoping to harvest a few snap peas before we head north…..

Lastly, those potatoes. I planted yukon gold, norland red and german butterball. (all from fedco) They look amazing and are filling in the half moon beds quickly. I plan to bury them again in a few days. We'll keep adding straw and soil to the beds as they grow. I've read this has the possibility of yielding a good amount of potatoes in a small space, have any of you tried this?

Tell me, what is growing in your garden?

xo,

s

Over these last few months we have carved a little homestead space into our backyard. Joe cut down a few trees and a mountain of brush. We learned how to run an industrial chipper we rented for the afternoon…that was something! It's been an amazingly huge project…. one that we are excited to see the fruits of as the leaves fill in again and the forest wakes up. Everything is just beginning to green up and fill in and we're happy to see that we opened up the canopy enough to to let the shine on our little garden…. but that we still feel like we live in the woods. (plus, knock on wood, we seem to have less ticks this spring!)

*June 2013*

*June 2013*

*June 2013* (last summer's view from the porch…. look at the muscles on that lumberjack, ahem.)

*October 2013*

*May 2013* (the guys are standing right where the garden is in the picture above this one)

This spring we planted 4 blueberry bushes, 6 blackberry bushes, 5 raspberry bushes, 3 grapevines, 1 plum tree, and 6 apple trees. We read about a technique  where you plant three apple trees in a tripod close together, you keep the center well pruned for good ventilation. This is supposed to be ideal for small spaces. We'll see!

I started nasturtium, sweet peas, lettuce, greens, herbs, peas, beans, nettle, lemon balm, flowers, squash, melon, kohlrabi, beets, radish, spinach, cilantro, dill, savory, chives, sage, parsley, cauliflower, and collards over the last 2 weeks. My mint came back from last year and I moved it into the garden. (left in her pot so she doesn't take over the place.)

I used salvaged limbs to make odd shaped beds around the edge of the fencing where I planted nasturtium, sweet peas, and herbs…. my hope is that the nasturtium and sweet peas will climb all over the fence and the herbs will deter hungry critters.

Soon the tomatoes & peppers will be heading out there…… and I can't wait for fresh peas. 

Tell me, what's going on in your garden?

xo,

s