I had mentioned my garden. Well, here it is, warts/weeds and all. I planted a very abbreviated garden this year, banking on my neighbor's huge and ultra-productive garden and my work-for-vege arrangement with Marianne. Has it been worth it? Yes and no. Yes, in that there was less to plant, water and weed. No, as in Marianne disclosed she had not planted cherry tomatoes because she doesn't like picking them. WTH? I have to say that a summer without cherry tomatoes is not summer. It is a pale and lacking rendition. My neighbor did plant cherry tomatoes but his garden is not organic. This is the guy with the 'scorched earth' policy when it comes to weed whacking. I tend to be more selective when it comes to helping myself to his garden's bounty.
Here are some photographs of this year's garden - snapped on the fly because... it started to rain!
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| The sad, sad strawberry bed. |
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| Dahlias (and ragweed!) and the garlic bed |
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| More dahlias, puny jalapenos and four tomato plants in rear |
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| Cukes, volunteer sunflower, fall crop beans (hidden behind the cukes) and out-of-control lemon balm |
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| Always a winner - kale and collards! |
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| Herb bed, comfrey behind |
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| Self-seeding calendula and more damn ragweed |
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| Cukes! |
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| Els - do you remember this hat? One of my fondest memories of you and the Netherlands was the tea shop with the hat store upstairs. |
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| Dropped off by my neighbor - peas, blueberries and raspberries. |
31 comments:
I'm picking my first big tomatoes this morning; we've had two large cherry tomatoes so far. Downsizing freezer space???
I appreciate you showing your garden - weeds and all. The only people I know who have weed free gardens are the Amish in our area, and they have about seven barefooted children with hoes in their hands out controlling their gardens. We finally got some rain and boy, things are exploding now. I hope you get lots of good, steady rain and find a supplier of cherry tomatoes! -Jenn
I was ready for fall June 15th. I'm not even showing pics of my garden this year, it's that bad! We've had yummy tomatoes for a few weeks now, and berries galore. Please, grab a couple of lobsters, some blueberries and fresh corn on the cob and have a kings feast in my honor. I sure do miss the bounty of August in New England and I miss those chicken lobsters year round. Good thing the B-Pat has flippers and not claws! ;-)
Yes - oddly enough, since I am transitioning from a meat-based to plant-based diet, I won't need the big freezer. I also need the space in my house, so having one organized (!) and well-filled freezer that takes up half the space in my laundry room will be a real bonus.
Me, too, Jenn. And I showed it AFTER spending two hours weeding! Good golly, the only thing flourishing this year is anything in the weed family.
The B-Pat has talons! He is completely a lunatic when it comes to nail-trimming, so I have been clipping the very ends - two at a time - every other evening. Such drama. Such high maintenance. I am going to do a lobster boil (or grill) complete with ripe tomatoes and corn on the cob when my sister and BF come in August. I will leave out the parts with butter running down to my elbows in deference to your sensitive nature... :) xo
I wish we would get some real rain. I've pulled everything out of the garden except the jalapeno which is covered with red and green fruit (and why I didn't pull it is beyond me since I haven't picked a single pepper) and the bell pepper because it had 3 fairly good sized fruits on it. which reminds me, if I'm not going to pull those out I should at least go over and water them. and strawberries...I wish we could grow them. I've tried, many people have tried but they just simply don't do well here.
I have grown strawberries well in the past BUT, if you let the weeds get even a little ahead of you, you're done. They grow in the middle of the plants and it's hell to pull them. I'm throwing in the trowel.
Lucky you! The butter doesn't do it for me, I like lemon myself, but man I haven't been to a proper lobster boil in years....
Thankfully, I on't have a drama queen. We have one that growls and bites, he goes to the vet and Mandy who's think nails make it easier to dremel. The techs do her mani/pedi and she is good about it.
And lucky you! B-Pat has to be muzzled and held by one tech, while the other braves the clippers. I've tried the Dremel with him, but he strongly resists.
We need two freezers because we ARE vegetarians!
If I was feeding more than one, I'd hang onto it!
Oh yeah, there's that. I'm feeding three – and the teenager eats for two!
Weeds or not, you've got a lot of good things going there, lady! And you have cukes already? Mine are the size of peanuts in the shell. Small peanuts in the shell. My cherry tomatoes (the only ones I try to grow) have a gazillion blossoms and maybe five green marbles. Will I get any harvest from them before Jack Frost arrives? Gosh, I hope so. Have a great blueberry picking day coming up.
A weedy out of control garden is still better than no garden!
Too bad about the cherry tomatoes.
Yes, but you have no weeds! The way things are going, I think you will have plenty of time for buckets full of tomatoes! I am looking forward to Saturday - there is nothing quite like being outside with birdsong and your sister!
Marginally true, Ed. Marginally true.
It sure as shooting is. They are first on the seed order form this winter.
i feel your pain. my garden didn't do much this summer. i got a decent amount of cukes, some peppers and lots of cherry tomatoes(sorry!). i was thinking the same thing for next year...just plant a ton of zinnias! they have been very successful this year. yum...lobster boil! i just won't buy lobsters here. holding them in tanks with doubtful ph causes them to release hormones and they never taste the same. i need to get my butt back to new england!
Oh my gosh, that gift basket from the neighbor is such a delight. I hear on on the weeds.
Not looking too bad! Our hens do a good job in the protected areas in the garden, but your is much larger. It's been hot here, triple digits, lots of watering. We're just getting our first cukes and a tomatoes, peaches almost ripe! Our small/medium chest freezer is great for 2 with tons of peaches, applesauce and misc veggies to freeze. I can but freezing is so much faster now that I worked year round. Loving that cute hat!!!
I always plant cherry tomatoes because they do so much better for me than regular ones. This year the orange cherries are starting to pick up the pace, but the red, pear-shaped ones are just sitting there, solid green.
The person I got my strawberry plants from said if I can keep ahead of the weeds for three years the plants will be thick enough to crowd the weeds out. This is year two so keeping my fingers crossed.
Oh, Susan, I feel the same about my Wisconsin garden. I didn’t gather enough fallen leaves last year to mulch the whole thing over winter, and I ended up actually MOWING a weed-covered center section and then covering it with old carpet. (Your strawberry bed plan sounds like a good one.)Then the thirteen-lined groundsquirrel family tunneled up into several beds and ate every carrot seedling I’d carefully fenced off, along with sunflowers and a few other things. Oh, and they’re eating tomatoes as they begin to ripen. The bright spot is they eat red tomatoes, not yellow or orange. My Sunsugar cherry tomatoes are safe. Here’s wishing you an improving garden picture as we head into late summer.
You do, indeed! And you must stop on your way...
Isn't it beautiful? Looks like our weeds are equally as vicious this year. I've never really seen such aggressive growth with such a variety of awful weeds, as I have this year.
I'd love to let my girls out front but they would finish the garden off! I love to see your cute girls making their way around yours - such pretty hens! I tend to like frozen fruit better, but with power outages, at least you don't have to worry about waste. That hat has to be 25 years old!
My fingers are crossed for you, too! I am going to grow my own cherry tomatoes next year. I have my eye on a couple of unusual heritage tomatoes - might as well have fun!
Good heavens, Joy! It sounds as if you are under siege! Is there anything you can do about the ground squirrels? I have millions (only slight exaggeration) of vole holes throughout my garden, which is why I do not grow root vegetables. I can never get to them before the rodents. I'm about to weed whack the rest of the beds this weekend.
Oh, my, those peas are to die for. They're available here for only a very short time because of the heat. Hey, sometimes life gets in the way of lots of things. Your garden just took the hit this time but that's okay.
Considering how busy you are, I have to say that your garden looks pretty good! And your greens bed! I can only dream about something like that this time of year! Hopefully I'll have a nice one too about October.
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