GARDEN 2009
June 12, 2009
by: jovial_cynic
by: jovial_cynic
It's already the middle of June, so it's probably time to show off my garden so far. I still have things I haven't planted yet (snap peas, more potatoes, beans, etc.), but I have enough here to make me smile.
Having gotten permission from my wife to carve up more of the back yard into a garden, we've laid down some 4x10' beds to grow LOTS of stuff.
Here's the rear area where my garden has been for the last few years.
Artichokes. They take FOREVER to grow.
Asparagus. :: sigh :: They take even longer than artichokes. In fact, I don't think you can really harvest asparagus for two YEARS after you plant seeds.
My blueberry bushes are doing great - lots of little berries forming. If blueberry bushes didn't just look like gangly sticks during the cold season, I'd have these growing everywhere.
This is my third generation broccoli that my oldest daughter and I planted in January. It's neat to harvest seeds and to watch the seeds turn into food year after year.
Lots and lots of carrots. You're supposed to space them out a bit, but I literally just dumped the seed packet into the dirt. I don't love carrots like some people do, so I don't really give them too much thought.
I've had this golden sage for a few years - it survives the winter just fine, and it's grown quite a bit. I thought I would use it more than I do, but I don't cook as often as I would like. That, and this sage is good with red meat, and we just don't eat very much red meat in our house.
I planted grapes last year - it was a Home Depot special that came in three varieties - green, black, and... something else. What other grape colors are there? Anyhow, it didn't produce at all in the first year, but this year...
We have grapes! Two of the three varieties have sprouted little bunches of grapes, and the third variety is just now starting to grow large enough to do something. We shall see. So far, all the grapes look green to me.
My lemon thyme has grown large enough for me to split it up into three plants. I've given one of the splits away to a friend, and have the remaining two on my back deck. I use this a lot more than any other herb - it's great on chicken, fish, fried rice... pretty much anything, really.
I've never had lettuce grow this well before. I think that my compost has finally matured, and the plants I'm growing are just thriving in it. The lettuce heads are big enough that just two of the plants provide enough lettuce for a salad. AWESOME.
Here's my next batch of lettuce and some bak choi cabbage. I have no clue what kind of lettuce it is, but it's about the best lettuce I've ever tasted. It has some sort of nutty flavor to it, and just a single 1" leaf goes a long way. I can't wait for it to get huge.
My onions and garlic are doing quite well. I haven't planted any bulb onions yet, but I think I probably should. It'll be nice to have several varieties of onions growing. Onions go well with everything.
Here's my small red potato bed. I had hoped to do the rising-box trick with them, but I don't think I'll get around to that this year. I'll just keep putting more dirt on top of them until the dirt starts spilling out of the box.
I actually have a monstrous section behind my rear garden to grow an entire field of potatoes, which I plan to do. Potatoes are great.
This is a third-generation radish crop. I actually prefer to let the radish go to seed and eat the seed pods instead of eating the root, since the yield is so much larger, and the seed pods are much juicier.
Here's my rhubarb plant. I'm not sure when/if the stalks will turn red, indicating that they're ready. It's possible that I have a different kind of rhubarb than I originally assumed. I'll have to do some more research and see.
My strawberry plot is doing quite well, although there's some critter that's been getting into my strawberries. I think I may end up investing in some traps to snag the critters before they eat up all my berries.
We've put down three zucchini, which of course means that we'll have a trillion zucchinis growing. If you're reading this blog and you live anywhere near me, be warned - you might end up with a basket of zucchinis on your door step.
Having gotten permission from my wife to carve up more of the back yard into a garden, we've laid down some 4x10' beds to grow LOTS of stuff.
Here's the rear area where my garden has been for the last few years.
Artichokes. They take FOREVER to grow.
Asparagus. :: sigh :: They take even longer than artichokes. In fact, I don't think you can really harvest asparagus for two YEARS after you plant seeds.
My blueberry bushes are doing great - lots of little berries forming. If blueberry bushes didn't just look like gangly sticks during the cold season, I'd have these growing everywhere.
This is my third generation broccoli that my oldest daughter and I planted in January. It's neat to harvest seeds and to watch the seeds turn into food year after year.
Lots and lots of carrots. You're supposed to space them out a bit, but I literally just dumped the seed packet into the dirt. I don't love carrots like some people do, so I don't really give them too much thought.
I've had this golden sage for a few years - it survives the winter just fine, and it's grown quite a bit. I thought I would use it more than I do, but I don't cook as often as I would like. That, and this sage is good with red meat, and we just don't eat very much red meat in our house.
I planted grapes last year - it was a Home Depot special that came in three varieties - green, black, and... something else. What other grape colors are there? Anyhow, it didn't produce at all in the first year, but this year...
We have grapes! Two of the three varieties have sprouted little bunches of grapes, and the third variety is just now starting to grow large enough to do something. We shall see. So far, all the grapes look green to me.
My lemon thyme has grown large enough for me to split it up into three plants. I've given one of the splits away to a friend, and have the remaining two on my back deck. I use this a lot more than any other herb - it's great on chicken, fish, fried rice... pretty much anything, really.
I've never had lettuce grow this well before. I think that my compost has finally matured, and the plants I'm growing are just thriving in it. The lettuce heads are big enough that just two of the plants provide enough lettuce for a salad. AWESOME.
Here's my next batch of lettuce and some bak choi cabbage. I have no clue what kind of lettuce it is, but it's about the best lettuce I've ever tasted. It has some sort of nutty flavor to it, and just a single 1" leaf goes a long way. I can't wait for it to get huge.
My onions and garlic are doing quite well. I haven't planted any bulb onions yet, but I think I probably should. It'll be nice to have several varieties of onions growing. Onions go well with everything.
Here's my small red potato bed. I had hoped to do the rising-box trick with them, but I don't think I'll get around to that this year. I'll just keep putting more dirt on top of them until the dirt starts spilling out of the box.
I actually have a monstrous section behind my rear garden to grow an entire field of potatoes, which I plan to do. Potatoes are great.
This is a third-generation radish crop. I actually prefer to let the radish go to seed and eat the seed pods instead of eating the root, since the yield is so much larger, and the seed pods are much juicier.
Here's my rhubarb plant. I'm not sure when/if the stalks will turn red, indicating that they're ready. It's possible that I have a different kind of rhubarb than I originally assumed. I'll have to do some more research and see.
My strawberry plot is doing quite well, although there's some critter that's been getting into my strawberries. I think I may end up investing in some traps to snag the critters before they eat up all my berries.
We've put down three zucchini, which of course means that we'll have a trillion zucchinis growing. If you're reading this blog and you live anywhere near me, be warned - you might end up with a basket of zucchinis on your door step.
