Garden 2025 Update #6: My Early June Garden

I composed & meant to update this 10 days ago.  In the last 10 days things look much different so the July update will be a lot of fun, seeing the tremendous difference!

I've used this method before for my beets & carrots and it worked really well so I thought 

I'd see how it might work to protect my onions from the chipmunks. They just love onions.

So far it's a 100% effective deterrant after being in place for the last 11 days. 

Green beans coming up nicely.  

It never ceases to amaze me how drastic the view from the deck can be from one season to the next. 

48 hours of heavy winds lead to an emergency stake-up of most of the garlic. 

It's been a weird spring. The Roma tomato plants are small but they're producing. 

I plan out my garden months in advance and knew a year ago I wouldn't be growing potatoes this year. 

And then I found one tucked away in a veggie basket, out of sight, that had begun to chit. 

Immediate change of plans 😂

This year's potato is a single medium size Russett. 3 pieces in each pot. 

It'll be fun Potato Math to see how many come from a single potato. 

Looking to add some pretty pops of color, I added two new Butterfly Bushes. 

I can't describe how magical they smell other than to say it's birthday cake & love. 💖

Another new addition this year are these adorable pansies. 

I've transplanted nearly 100 strawberries this year and there's 4 different kinds.

This pretty, deep pink blossom variety is so pretty! 

The oldest garden tool in my possession, from back when things were made to last.

This is entirely made from diecast metal, handles to blades, springs, levers, nuts & bolts.

One of my grandma's most used, she parted with it & gifted this to me in 1983.

I grew up in her back yard and watched her use this tool at least thousand and one times. 

 I've never oiled or sharpened it, and would love to restore it one day. 

I used it today, and it works just as awesome as it did 42 years ago. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you're encouraged by what you've read here, and if you have any thoughts or suggestions please feel welcome to leave a comment. 😊

Garden 2024 Update #15: Putting the Garden to Bed

 And just like that, the Juncos arrived, the autumn color change is almost at peak, there are flurries in the forecast off and on... and the last harvest of the year is done. Well, almost last. I'm leaving the carrots a little longer to see how they do. 

Overall it was a really good growing season, despite a few problems here and there. A couple of things I won't be growing again will be sweet potatoes and onions. I was very hopeful for the potatoes this year (their vines were long & healthy) but they didn't produce well. This is the 2nd time I've tried with the same poor results so, they're out.  So for now the plan is to replace that growing space with a single raised bed and fill it with strawberry plants. 

Things keeping me busy since my last garden update:

Salsa with the last of the ripe tomatoes & jalapenos for the year

Final pepper haul of the year October 13th

My cozy, charming wee garden

Little Jalapeno Forest

I wish I knew what both the possum and the squirrel were thinking 😂

A green onion from the farmer's market. My garden will have what your's is having, thank you. 

I'd love my own home grown veggies to look like this! 😁

A wonderful "first soup of the season, Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup recipe 

Yummy summer berries 💖

Other than the late summer planting of carrots, I still have loads of garlic to plant, leaves to mulch for all my beds, and berries to cut back. Thankfully the forecast is favorable over the next few days. Other than that, I can officially say the wee back yard garden is closed for the season. 

That will do it for this garden season update thread. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have an incredible day. 😊

Garden 2024 Update #14: Season's End (almost!)

Seven months ago I began my garden updates with some big ideas for 2024.  In that post, exactly 7 months ago today, I mentioned how I was spending some concerted effort with things that I haven't previously had much success with.  Sweet potatoes and onions from seed. Well the onions were a complete flop just like before, since the squirrels and chipmunks just absolutely love young onions, and ate them all. I won't be trying that again, I'll just get my onions from the local farmer's market instead. The sweet potatoes on the other hand, are doing fantastic. 

Starting with slips I grew & then transfered to jars of water, I ended up with 4-6 slips in each 20 gallon grow bag.  They seemed to struggle most of the first half of the season but then when the intense heat of the summer showed up, they took off like mad.  I suppose that makes sense considering sweet potatoes are actually a tropical crop.  They did excellent in this location too, so my plans for next year will be to grow them here in the same place.  Possibly in grow bags again, or possibly in a raised bed along this side of the sand area. I love the way raised beds make the growing space so organized and tidy, so I really think this area needs one of those to go toward my goal of beautifying my growing space.  

Another crop that did really well for me this year were jalapenos. I discovered Cowboy Candy a few years ago and it became an instant hit with the entire family as well as many friends. I never seem to make enough for it to last more than a couple of months (in addition to all the jars I give away in gift baskets) so this year's plan was to make at least twice as much!  I like to mix up the peppers 1/2 & 1/2 with jalapenos and sweet peppers, to dial the heat down a little and that works out perfect for everyone.

Overall this year, I had some pretty wonderful successes with garlic, basil, mint, lemon balm, peppers, carrots, blackberries, apples, potatoes, tomatoes and even my cucumbers that got flooded out far too early in the season.  Next year I'll be dialing it in even more, and focus more on what grows well in my wee garden.  I'll still make room for experiments but after many years of trying out new things, trying new spaces to see what grows best, where, I think I've finally sorted all of that out.  

While I haven't harvested the sweet potatoes yet, those are on the list to clear out over the next couple of weeks along with all the rest of the tomato and pepper plants and then mulch a ton of maple leaves for topping off all the beds for winter, and putting the garden to bed. I plant my garlic on Halloween, and this year I'm going to plant twice as much as in years prior, since we always run out long before the season is over. 

It's been a really good growing season for me, and I hope this inspires you to get out there and use whatever space you have, wherever you are, and grow some of your own amazing food! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have an incredible day. 

Garden 2024 Update #13: A Garden & Kitchen Tour

It's hard to believe it's already September. The growing season always seems so short, and over way too soon.  While it's not quite over yet, it's coming quickly and the chore of "putting the garden to bed" has already started. 

Come join me on a walk through the garden & peek into the kitchen:

Mid August when the garden is most lush. 

I love the way it looks when food is spilling out of the raised beds the way the carrot tops are.

I've been working on beautifying (as much as possible) the inside of my wee cottage. 

As I always say, it was really nice of me to buy this hot tub for my cats. 😂

My 2nd to last Mars Madness Hibiscus flower this year. 

They cast such a gorgeous pop of color in the garden. 

Yet another contender in the "mutant tomato of the year" contest. 

All the green tomatoes are growing on a single stem that appears to have grown out of the red tomato. 

Terra Cotta Yarrow - orange blooms are new - they yellow out in about a week. 

Apparently the carrot heard about the mutant vegetable of the year contest. 

What you get when you leave your wee bunch of carrots in the box lid. 

Scarlet Runner Beans were late bloomers but look at 'em go now!

The grape vines are taking over. 

My Cherry Wine at 8 weeks.  It's fantastic! 🍷 Recipe is here.

Sometimes the harvest looks like this. 

New Fridge Pickle recipe I'm trying from here

The spear on the left is 1 day old. 

The one on the right, the more olive colored one, is a week old. 

Perfectly pickled & garlicy goodness. 

25-ish pounds of tomatoes 

A year's worth of ketchup (more or less) and 2 quarts of rich tomato juice.

I use Sarah's recipe here

The late summer clear up has begun. 

Out are the butternut squash (non-producers this year) and blackberries are now in their place. 

Clear up continues with the removal of the last of the vines on Cucumber Lane. 

This whole section is being planned for renovation for next spring. 

One of the last berry clusters this year.  

The bushes were HUGE procucers and I couldn't be happier.

Thanks for coming along on a tour through the garden & the peek into the kitchen. 

I hope you were encouraged or inspired in some by your visit today. 

Garden 2024 Update #12

Mid August is also mid season for harvesting & canning. I've been busy with a lot of both, from my own garden & the local farmer's market for the freshest possible goodness. 😍 Canned so far this season have been garlic dills, bread & butter pickles, peach sauce, blueberry sauce, fruit syrups, peaches & pickled carrots.

Well then, let's go on a walk through the garden:

I couldn't be more delighted with this year's blackberry yield so far. 

This is year 3 and so far it's produced 1.5 pounds of berries. 

By comparison, last year it produced a handful. Literally 😂 

Looking forward to enough for a lovely, late summer blackberry pie. 

Lemon Balm on the left, was growing in a pot. 

The one one the right, I planted from seed last year, indoor greenhouse overwintered, 

then planted in the raised bed in the spring. If plants could talk? 

The yellowing one on the left would say "I'll have what he's having!" 😀

My Scarlet Runner beans never fruited this year but they did provide this lovely, living decor 

over the arch trellis. Over the last few seasons this trellis has had pumpkins, squash & beans.  

Next year, I'm looking forward to trying something different.  

Some days the harvest looks like this. 

Tomatoes, sweet roasting peppers, jalapenos, pickling dills and some chamomile flowers. 

I counted and tried to be accurate and I *think* there are 46 jalapenos here on these 12 plants. 

I've already harvested a handful so that's a pretty good return. I'm seed saving this year so, 

next year, Lord willing, the entire bed of peppers will be 100% homegrown. 

I finally got my act together (mostly) and tidied up the dining room canning shelf. 

I'm going to add another shelf to divide the section 2nd from the top. 

(More space for jams, jellies and sauces!)

Home grown & home canned food is not only better for you, it's also really pretty sitting there on 

your pandemic era lockdown project #436 "canned food shelves" mostly with lumber you had on hand. 😁 

My new Hibiscus Mars Madness bloomed today. 

Flowers will be used for tea blends. 

Concord grapes and sweet potatoes are both doing really well this year. The grapes will be 

generously pruned this fall and the grow bags for the sweet potatoes were just a test. 

I may be replacing them with a permanent raised bed this fall or next spring. 

First time Elderberry grower. I have 2 plants, and they're both doing amazing.

Terracotta Yarrow early blooms. So adorable. 💗

Thanks for stopping by and going on a pictorial trip through the garden. I hope it encourages you to use whatever space you have to grow what you love!