End of June Garden up-date

Let’s do the disclaimer first.

There is never enough time for the garden, ever.  This season even more so.  I injured my knee in April, which slowed me down.  Had it operated on in June, which slowed me to a stop.  I am on the mend and trying hard to follow my Doctors advice. But laying about isn’t something that I’m very good at.  I did go play in the garden last week, nothing strenuous.  But not a bright thing to do, my knee hurt real bad that night and I spent the next day on the couch with ice and my leg raised.  So now I am trying to follow my Doctors advice.

So on to the garden.

My spinach is done.

I’ve cut my last asparagus and it was a very good year for asparagus.

My beets have stopped growing and seem to be shrinking into small red seedlings so I turned them all under and planted carrots in their spot.  These are in my mouse-proof bed beside the first planting of carrots that are doing very well.  Maybe you can’t plant carrots and beets together.

first planting of carrots, beets were planted in front of and beside them 6/23/13

Lettuce crop is just starting to bolt (go to seed).  Have planted some more and they are coming up.  I only plant 10 or 12 at a time which is generally more than I use.

lettuce 6/23/13

The 3 types of kale are doing well, my wife made her favorite chicken and baked kale last night.  Our second cutting.

from the bottom, turnip, kale, swiss chard, kale and a wall of peas 6/23/13

I was very late getting my squash, pumpkin, melon and cucumber seedlings planted, they were small and very yellow.  Some of them, now that they are in the gardens, have turned to a nice dark green but they are still small.  We just have to wait and see, I think I may have started too late for some of them.

butternut squash seedling 6/23/13

My corn is being over run by weeds. Because of how close I plant them, with a sore knee I just can’t twist and bend right to do the weeding.  No one else has applied for the job so the weeds are taking over.

My tomato plants are suffering also. I haven’t been able to tie them up yet.  There are small green tomatoes on some of them.

tomato plant 6/23/13

My peas have been spectacular.  I planted them very heavily and they just grew into a mass of vines and pods.  After hand picking a couple of times, I pull the plants right out of the ground and sort through them on my potting shed table.  I started freezing them for this winter.

first peas 6/24/13

 

potting shed table, sorting peas with the ladies helping 6/30/13

My chickens enjoy watermelon on the first of July and it is hot and humid.  My deer, well maybe “mother natures” deer, enjoy the blackberry patch.  How do they eat the plants thorns and all??

Chickens with watermelon 7/1/13

 

Deer eating blackberries 7/1/13

Last item, anyone want to guess what this flower is??

Hint, it makes a very tasty jelly.

Ed

More Spring

It is official, Spring is here, my Magnolia is blooming.  It is one of the earliest flowering Magnolias that I see in the area so some years it gets zapped by a frosty night and looses its flowers.  I’m hoping  that doesn’t happen this year.  No cold nights are expected for the next week.  We’ll see.

 

I’ve gotten into the garden and planted peas.  I don’t plant them in neat rows, I sprinkle them heavily in a foot wide row along my garden fence.  Then I rake them in, tamp them down and water.  Some of the seeds are on the surface, most are under dirt, some have room and some are touching other seeds.  It will be a jungle of vines when it is time to harvest but the yield will be great.  I hope.

The spinach that I planted in my cold frame last fall is starting to grow again.  There are too many plants in too small a space so I dug out over thirty and transplanted them into the west garden about  5 inches apart in all directions.  The picture of the cold frame is after I dug out over thirty seedlings.  I plan to transplant more as time allows.  Probably should be doing that instead of blogging.

spinach in cold frame 4/10/13

transplanted spinach 4/10/13

Ed