A couple of days ago I realized I had completely forgotten to send out a discussion post two weeks ago. With so much going on in the world, it’s no wonder. I’ve put it on my calendar now so I won’t forget, and I’ve also decided to move it to Wednesday.
Today I’d love to hear about your garden. Whether it’s a mini-farm or a pot of herbs on your windowsill. What have you got going? What plans do you have for your space? If you don’t have a garden of your own, tell us about your favorite neighborhood gardens!
I picked up these two baby maple trees while out walking the dog one afternoon from an area where they won’t be missed (and would eventually be pulled out once growing a bit bigger). I believe they are Big Leaf Maples, or some other variety that grows really tall. The trees they came from don’t have quite the same shape as some, but they are BIG. I probably won’t see them reach that size, but it will be fun to watch them grow. I’ll find a permanent spot for them once they get a bit bigger.
I look forward to hearing from you ~ don’t be shy! Just click “Like & Comment” to share your thoughts.
Hooray for maple babies! I would really like to turn my yard into a maple grove. I have a big easter lily by the front porch that I don't really like. Sure, it looks vaguely tropical and the white flowers briefly look nice before they fall over and look messy. I'd much rather have a nice Japanese maple there for some fall color.
I planted some crocosmia bulbs along our front porch to go with the plant I put in last year. I look forward to the bright flowers and the hummingbirds that love them. GROW FASTER
I, too, have a couple maple babies! Mine are looking like acer palmatums, nothing as dramatic as the big leafs. I also rescued a squirrel-planted hazel and have to figure out whether I really want a squirrel tree--part of me really wants one, even though I'm working with a fairly small city lot.
Otherwise, It's the usual big crop of garlic (and their scapes), more herbs than I can eat, mibuna, kale, tatsoi (slugs notwithstanding), lettuce, rhubarb, gold potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, 3 kinds of peas and 2 beans. Cucumbers and shishito peppers went into the ground and are slowly getting on, as are the fall Kuri and acorn squash still in the greenhouse. Carrots and nettle never went anywhere--I think it's a bad year for the former, and I'm not sure I kept the nettle damp enough. But I am trying to establish some comfrey as a means of making better compost tea, and as I have baby fruit trees now, comfrey is good medicine.
I like to grow hard-to-find stuff, so I'm curious where everyone sources their seeds. I've used Baker Heirloom Seeds and Strictly Medicinal, as well as Kitazawa Seed Co.
We started transplanting and seeding our raised beds in April. Carrots, beets, Walla Walla sweet onions, garlic, pole green beans, leeks, cauliflower, basil, blueberries and strawberries. We've had only one ripe strawberry, so they're running late (thanks, June-uary!). The carrots sprouted quickly and then vanished. First, we suspected a rabbit, so we fenced the bed and replanted. The seeds sprouted well. Yay! Then I found a slug slowly mowing down a row of green sprouts last night. I heaved the lil bastard into the woods and surrounded the rows with coffee grounds as future deterrence. Looks like we're gonna really have to love beets this year. I think I overcompensated for last year's crop disaster, when we harvested six. Either that accursed rabbit or our neighborhood pack of deer ate the rest of the seedlings and greens. The basil is struggling in the cold and damp. The onions and garlic seem to be doing fine. The beans are filling out and starting to rise. The leeks aren't showing yet, but I only put those seeds in last week.
When I lived in Oak Harbor and had a vegetable garden, I grew basil quite successfully from starts and seed. I always waited a little longer to put them in, until things really got warm.
I don't really miss the vegetable garden, though I do miss some of the results. I was ready for a break when we moved. It's a lot of work, and while I enjoyed it most of the time, I always felt like I was falling behind taking care of it. It was a constant battle with bindweed. I really don't miss that!
And I forgot the tomatoes. They're growing like crazy and starting to bloom. Oh, and the tiny Japanese maple seedling that I found as an inch-long red twig in the dirt. It has four leaves now!
I rather rudely neglected my berry situation, which is funny, since I have raspberry coming up everywhere and the 3 thornless blackberries have taken over an entire bed, shading out strawberries and lingonberries.
Growing trees from seed or near-seed is a great project, back when I was a gardenless apartment dweller I used to grow avocados, despite the fact that I'd never have a place to plant them. It's an optimistic action.
usually by now i have my garden well started, but this year i'm moving slow! my raspberry canes are loaded with bees and nascent berries, my first round of peas got eaten by slugs but round two is holding in, and my wildflowers are very happy with all the rain we've gotten! i have a couple of pumpkin starts that need to go in the ground too, and i'm trying my hand at lettuce because there's nothing my husband likes more than a big salad. i'm hoping this weekend to put in my pole and climbing beans.
Hooray for maple babies! I would really like to turn my yard into a maple grove. I have a big easter lily by the front porch that I don't really like. Sure, it looks vaguely tropical and the white flowers briefly look nice before they fall over and look messy. I'd much rather have a nice Japanese maple there for some fall color.
I planted some crocosmia bulbs along our front porch to go with the plant I put in last year. I look forward to the bright flowers and the hummingbirds that love them. GROW FASTER
Bonus: crocosmia when dried has a great architectural quality. Already thinking about the skeletons of winter plants.
I, too, have a couple maple babies! Mine are looking like acer palmatums, nothing as dramatic as the big leafs. I also rescued a squirrel-planted hazel and have to figure out whether I really want a squirrel tree--part of me really wants one, even though I'm working with a fairly small city lot.
Otherwise, It's the usual big crop of garlic (and their scapes), more herbs than I can eat, mibuna, kale, tatsoi (slugs notwithstanding), lettuce, rhubarb, gold potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, 3 kinds of peas and 2 beans. Cucumbers and shishito peppers went into the ground and are slowly getting on, as are the fall Kuri and acorn squash still in the greenhouse. Carrots and nettle never went anywhere--I think it's a bad year for the former, and I'm not sure I kept the nettle damp enough. But I am trying to establish some comfrey as a means of making better compost tea, and as I have baby fruit trees now, comfrey is good medicine.
I like to grow hard-to-find stuff, so I'm curious where everyone sources their seeds. I've used Baker Heirloom Seeds and Strictly Medicinal, as well as Kitazawa Seed Co.
Where do you get yours?
I really love Uprising Organic Seeds! They are up in Bellingham, and they carry a bunch of native seeds. :) https://uprisingorganics.com/
Ooh thanks! I forgot about them and I really prefer to get some local stuff.
Funny how you can't grow nettles when you want them, but they sure are happy on their own! They definitely need the dampness.
We started transplanting and seeding our raised beds in April. Carrots, beets, Walla Walla sweet onions, garlic, pole green beans, leeks, cauliflower, basil, blueberries and strawberries. We've had only one ripe strawberry, so they're running late (thanks, June-uary!). The carrots sprouted quickly and then vanished. First, we suspected a rabbit, so we fenced the bed and replanted. The seeds sprouted well. Yay! Then I found a slug slowly mowing down a row of green sprouts last night. I heaved the lil bastard into the woods and surrounded the rows with coffee grounds as future deterrence. Looks like we're gonna really have to love beets this year. I think I overcompensated for last year's crop disaster, when we harvested six. Either that accursed rabbit or our neighborhood pack of deer ate the rest of the seedlings and greens. The basil is struggling in the cold and damp. The onions and garlic seem to be doing fine. The beans are filling out and starting to rise. The leeks aren't showing yet, but I only put those seeds in last week.
That's a very busy garden you have!
When I lived in Oak Harbor and had a vegetable garden, I grew basil quite successfully from starts and seed. I always waited a little longer to put them in, until things really got warm.
I don't really miss the vegetable garden, though I do miss some of the results. I was ready for a break when we moved. It's a lot of work, and while I enjoyed it most of the time, I always felt like I was falling behind taking care of it. It was a constant battle with bindweed. I really don't miss that!
Reading Amanda's post, I forgot about our lettuce box. It's very full and productive.
And I forgot the tomatoes. They're growing like crazy and starting to bloom. Oh, and the tiny Japanese maple seedling that I found as an inch-long red twig in the dirt. It has four leaves now!
I rather rudely neglected my berry situation, which is funny, since I have raspberry coming up everywhere and the 3 thornless blackberries have taken over an entire bed, shading out strawberries and lingonberries.
Growing trees from seed or near-seed is a great project, back when I was a gardenless apartment dweller I used to grow avocados, despite the fact that I'd never have a place to plant them. It's an optimistic action.
usually by now i have my garden well started, but this year i'm moving slow! my raspberry canes are loaded with bees and nascent berries, my first round of peas got eaten by slugs but round two is holding in, and my wildflowers are very happy with all the rain we've gotten! i have a couple of pumpkin starts that need to go in the ground too, and i'm trying my hand at lettuce because there's nothing my husband likes more than a big salad. i'm hoping this weekend to put in my pole and climbing beans.
It's kind of hard to get too enthusiastic when the weather is gloomy.