The Crop Report – Week Six

I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I’ve posted!  We’ve been traveling.  I’ve been helping others with their gardens, and I’ve been working on the new patio, which has left me feeling VERY tired at the end of the day. 

My garden helper is still around – he asked if he could weed two boulevard gardens AND the west hill while we were gone – I didn’t say no!  I can't remember a time when all the garden beds have been weed free at the same time!  Neighbors and passers-by have noticed, too! And, he’s been a GREAT help on the patio project.  We took a break yesterday for the July 4^th holiday, but I’m sure he will be here shortly – ready to finish off the project.

The crops are doing well.  We pulled an onion last night for our July 4^th picnic dinner and it was plump – almost the size of a leek.  We are still harvesting kale on a daily basis and the chard got big enough for smoothies earlier this week.  All of the tomato plants have tomatoes and all of the pepper plants have blossoms!  The vining spinach is coming up now, too, but has not started to vine.

The cukes and squash have begun to “jump the box” and are starting to creep into the front yard, which is fine with me!

I don’t know what’s been going on with the berries, however.  The strawberry crop looked so promising, but we haven’t gotten ONE berry!  Not one!  The creatures must have been very busy.  And, last night when we took our evening walk through the gardens, we noticed that the blueberries looked skimpy and scant.  So, a fence or some cages may be in order.  Luckily, the raspberries are both plentiful and ripening!  We’ve gotten a handful now for the last several days.  Yummy!

It rained almost two inches last weekend while we were gone and then “spritzed” a little bit on Tuesday afternoon.  But, it’s been dry since then.  So, for the first time since the week we planted, we’re going to water.

My neighbor has hatched three Monarchs, but I haven’t seen the caterpillars that were in my boulevard gardens for a few weeks.  Two nights ago, I saw a wasp eating a Monarch – possibly newly emerged.  Nature isn’t always beautiful or serene.

The neighbor I “stay-cation” with commented this week on the lack of bumblebees.  She hasn’t seen any in her garden this year.  I’ve seen several, and now that she’s brought it to my attention, I’m keeping an eye out for them.

There’s so much more to write about – a couple of field trips, the patio project, the continued work of the garden helper.  I will do that later – possibly from the new patio!

The Crop Report – Week Three

The crops are really taking off!  The Riverman is disappointed that there are no blossoms on the Celebrity tomatoes, but he’s pleased with how much they’ve grown since last week.  He “ruthlessly” thinned out the carrots last night.  And, we’ve been using the kale in our smoothies all week!  The onions and peppers are all very healthy.

The cukes and the squash haven’t yet set blossoms, but I can see the tiny little cucumbers where the blossoms will form!  They are much more robust than the plants we had last year.

I haven’t yet gotten the fence around the vining spinach, so the creatures are still having a field day chomping off the newly sprouted plants.

All the berries are doing well.  They seem to be in a race to see which one will bear fruit first.  I don’t remember them all starting to show fruit at the same time last year.  Last week I predicted we’d have raspberries by now.  Sadly, that prediction did not come to fruition.  Maybe next week!

Two of the Monarch caterpillars are still around.  I saw four earlier in the week, but when I checked this morning I could find only two.  My neighbor says she’s seen some on the coneflower plants instead of on the milkweed and says I shouldn’t worry too much.

Mother Nature is doing the watering again this week.  We’re expecting 2 – 3 inches over the weekend.  We’re having additional gutters put on the house and the guy finished the east side of the house yesterday.  So, we’ll see if the additional gutters help to keep the water away from the foundation!

 

That’s the crop report for this week.  What’s happening in your garden?!

More about the Berries

I’ve had raspberries in Auntie K’s Garden since I bought the house.  The first year, I got a handful of berries.  The second year, maybe two handfuls.  Now, they’re taking over the universe – or at least the back yard!  They’re still running rogue into the hosta hill, but I have a friend who is willing to find a home for those.  I was able to freeze berries last year, which we used for smoothies. This year, I’m hoping for enough berries to make jam!

When the Riverman started the veggie garden and the Urban Farm in 2012, we added strawberries and blueberries.  It was tough going at first, but now all the berries seem to be doing well.  Maybe the “sleep, creep, leap” motto really is true.

We have the strawberries in a box.  (My uncle in Norway has his in a raised bed and they did phenomenally well there, so I copied his approach.)  Early on, we had some winter kill – I think because the berries were close to the edge and I didn’t have straw bales around the bed in the winter.  This year, every plant came back.  A few berries jumped the box, so they’re running wild in the yard!  I’m okay with that!  Last year, the birds (or maybe a squirrel) got the ONE berry that appeared.  This year, we’re already seeing lots of flowers, so we’re hoping to share the harvest this year with our feathered and furry friends.

The blueberries also suffered the first year.  One of the original 5 plants died.  One was eaten almost to the ground by rabbits.  So, we didn’t get many berries.  Last year, I bought a few more plants and stuck them in the south facing hill where the lavender used to be.  I mulched the heck out of them last fall and put cages around them to *try* to protect them from the bunnies.  Every plant survived!  Two showed evidence of bunny munching, but even those are flowering now! 

With 9 plants, we should get enough for a blueberry pancake breakfast, or maybe some blueberry muffins.

I love currants, but don't know a thing about growing them.  Has anyone else tried currants?  If so, what has your experience been?  Should I try those next?

The Crop Report

I can't believe it's been a month since we planted "the crops" for the Urban Farm Project here at Auntie K's Garden. It seems like yesterday we were mixing soil and compost and building the raised bed and planting seeds and seedlings. According to the seed packet, the radishes should be ready to harvest any day now. (Don't tell the Riverman, but I pulled one yesterday to see how ripe they were, and I think they're going to need a few extra days. They still look like radish pencils rather than round radishes.)

I'm astounded at how full the raised bed looks and how lush everything seems! We've got weensy peppers and tomatoes and the peas are just starting to blossom. The onions are doing really well in their special box. We've eaten a handful of strawberries already (now that I added extra squirrel protection) and there are more to come. The raspberries will be ripe any day now, and we're seeing color on a few blueberries.

I think a few things have suffered from a little too much lovin' in the watering department. Two pepper plants lost blossoms and the cukes and squash ended up with a few yellowing leaves. We've held off on the watering for the last couple of days and they look like they're starting to recover. Whew.

Anticipating First Fruits

I'm looking forward to tasting the first strawberry from our garden. Oh, I'm also looking forward to eating the veggies we planted, but for me, there's nothing like that first strawberry of the season. Mmmmmmm. I love that sweet, sometimes tart, juiciness that makes your mouth so happy! Not to mention the satisfaction that comes from having grown the fruit yourself.

I had thought that day was here last week. But, when we got back from Wabasha, I found the ripe berry on the mulch near the bed with one bite out of it. Dang squirrels. "I'll teach them," I thought, "I'll put some bird netting over the bed to keep the creatures out." Things were looking good this week, and yesterday, there was a ripe berry again! But, I wanted a picture first and the battery in my camera was dead, so I told myself I could wait until evening.

You can see where this is going, can't you?! Yep. I got home and found the berry expertly snipped off and the hull in the bed. The berry was gone -- completely. Something had gotten it through the netting! There are two more berries nearly ripe. I hope by the time I get home this afternoon I will be able to taste one!

Strawberries on the Run

A friend put in half a dozen strawberries earlier this year in one of her flower beds. She got a few berries and was happy. But, she called me over the other day to ask what was wrong with them. “Nothing’s wrong,” I said. “They’re sending out runners, so you get more plants next year.” She gave me a horrified look as she responded, “More? Oh, no. That’s no good. They weren’t supposed to do that!”

I asked if she had bought June bearing or everbearing. She didn’t remember, but still had the tags. June bearing. Yep. They send out runners. Everbearing do send out some runners, but not nearly like the June bearing varieties. She started ripping out the runners even though she wanted more strawberries next year because she didn’t want them taking over her flower bed. Her goal is to make a new bed and transfer the berries there later in the year.

Betsy plowed under her strawberries on the run a few weeks ago. We were relaxing one afternoon and she proclaimed with more satisfaction than I was expecting, “Yep, I plowed those berries right under.” They had apparently run their course and needed to go. She’ll start new plants in a new area.

I don’t have strawberries yet. I had planned to put them in the two raised beds, but didn’t get the hostas that had spent the winter in the boxes moved early enough to get the strawberries in. So, it looks like I’ll be joining the crew of folks who will be planting strawberries in the fall! I’m going to try June bearing in one box and everbearing in the other and see what happens. I’ll keep you posted.

For Everything There is a Season

The retired music director at my church refused to play Christmas carols during Advent. “It’s not Christmas until December 25th and we need to honor the seasons,” he would say. (Christmastide in the church runs from December 25th to Epiphany on January 6th.)

Earlier this week, I heard a news story about people being robbed at Apple stores. I was confused about this since even early apples aren’t in season for another month. The news story continued and mentioned iPhones and iPods. Only then, did I realize the news was about Apple computer stores and not local apple orchards. (Context is everything, right?!)

A friend won’t eat tomatoes in restaurants saying, “Even though it’s tomato season somewhere, it’s not tomato season here.” (Even when it is tomato season here, he doesn’t eat tomatoes in restaurants unless he knows the tomatoes are local.) For years, my friend, Betsy and I call each other when the first tomatoes come in – because it means “fresh” BLTs.

This week (and maybe next week, too) is the jackpot week if you’re a berry fan, like I am. Strawberries, Raspberries, and Blueberries are all in season now. Depending on the variety, strawberries start in June and can go through the summer. Raspberry season starts in late June and runs through late July. Blueberries start mid-July and run through mid-August.

Because we can get all the fruits and veggies we want in the grocery store all year, we have lost, I think, the rhythm of the seasons. We have lost the wild anticipation of the first strawberry or BLT or apple or ear of sweet corn.

I don’t know that I’d urge or exhort everyone to forego bananas or peaches or raspberries in November. But, maybe notice what’s available at your local farm stands or Farmers Markets from week to week. Pay attention to the fruits and veggies you can buy today that you couldn’t buy last week, because, everything does have a season.

Groundcovers for Sunny Spaces

I’m getting a lot of questions this season about groundcovers. People want to fill in spaces between plants or eliminate their grass or grow something under a tree where the grass is already sparse. Some groundcovers are sun lovers while others prefer shady spots. Some are slow growers and some will take off quickly. When I pulled together my list of favorites for sun and shade, I realized it was a lot to cover in one post. So, I’m going to split it up. Today’s list is sunny spaces. Tomorrow’s is shady spaces.

Dragon’s blood sedum. I have neighbors who have trouble with this one, but it’s thriving in my garden. It’s a very low growing groundcover (about 2inches tall) and has green leaves small red to maroon flowers.

Creeping thyme. I started a few plugs on the sunny hill last year and really like the way it’s growing. It’s a short grower with small spikes of purple flowers. There are lots of varieties, so pick the one right for your situation. (Don’t pick a taller growing one to use between stepping stones, for example.) The thing I like best about this one is that it’s fragrant.

Cerastium. This is a groundcover with silver-gray leaves and a small white flower. It’ll get about 6 inches tall. Cerastium’s a fast grower and loves full sun. I put some in my garden a few weeks ago and am hoping it takes over the sunny hill.

Strawberries. Sounds crazy, I know. But, more and more people are considering strawberries as a groundcover. A few gardeners in my neighborhood are doing this and it’s working well for them. The bonus is that you get yummy fruit mid-summer!

There are lots more groundcovers for sunny spaces I haven’t mentioned (creeping phlox, anyone?!). If I’ve left your favorite off the list, let me know!