State of the Garden

This weekend really only consisted of staking and weeding.  But good golly what a weekend of just those two things can do!

It’s looking good, folks;  I hate to even say it, but the vast majority of the weeds are out, and everything that needs to be staked is up and running.  As we get closer to being out of town, the garden is getting closer to having a neighbor coming in and be able to determine what needs to be picked, and what is ok to stay.

We’re excited, though.  Almost all of the tomato plants have some sort of fruit on them (and those with blossom rot have been picked off), the corn is growing in leaps and bounds, and any of the beans that are left over probably won’t even flower until we get back.

It’s not perfect, by any standards, but I think JGL and I have a whole tickler list of things that we want to note for next year:  what worked well, what didn’t, and things to remember for the next summer.

In the meantime, though, we’re very grateful for what we do have, and for the harvest we’ll have in a few weeks time!

Oh Companion Crop of Mine

It seems like the garden is changing and morphing every time I step into it!  We finally got it weeded out so it looked respectable again, and I was able to stake up the tomatoes that need it the most–we need to procure more stakes this weekend.  But we have distinct and soon to be ripening tomatoes all over the place (up front and out back!), and we’re both excited to have that first grown-ourselves tomato of the season.

The thing I’ve been tickled the most by this week is our corn–the “tassels” have started to emerge on the first two rows we planted, and our pole beans that we planted in and amongst the corn is in fact starting to trellis up it.  The ones where I gave the corn a month head start seem to be doing a bit better than the ones I planted the seeds together, but hopefully they’ll start to catch up soon. 

 On the books for this weekend includes taking out the last of the peas (the snow peas went away late last week), and finding goodies to replace those spaces.  We have some purple podded bush beans that could go in, but any suggestions would be much appreciated

And updated pictures are up!

And we’re back

I know, I know, it’s been a long hiatus since our last update.  In my defence, I was gone for two weeks, and apparently it rained the good majority of the time I was gone.  But this weekend we tackled the yard with a vengeance, thanks to the added deadline of my folks coming to visit at the end of May (which I’m incredibly excited about!).  There’s still lots to be done today, so I’m making this quick, but here’s the list of things accomplished this weekend:

• One more truck load of mulch procured and spread on the back gardens and then shared amongst the front gardens.
• Side “kitchen” garden weeded out, re-edged, and mulched; rogue tomato plants thinned, last of the ‘maters went in there.
• Blueberry bushes weeded and mulched…we have a few berries poking through!
• Veggie garden weeded; grass clippings spread on the paths; weed-eated along the edges.
• Cauliflower, cucumbers, acorn squash, one more row of October beans, four more rows of corn, and three rows of pole beans put in the ground!

In addition to that we’ve decided to move forth with line drying all our stuff (in addition to the added benefit of helping the environment, I’m really hoping this helps my wallet this summer!), and I made the executive decision to start making all the household cleaners.  I know it has nothing to do with gardening, but we’ll let you know how all this goes as well

The photo album is updated so be sure to check it out, and we’ll update more soon!

Easter Weekend

Both JGL and I are beat.  We’ve spent most of the day outside, and I’m pretty sure I have a sunburn on my back and tan lines (Forgive me, ELF!  I’ll fix them before your wedding!!).

It feels great

We took a TON of pictures today, so rather than post them all here, we’ve put them up on Facebook.  You can still access them even if you don’t have a FB account by clicking here to see the public photo album.  I’ve tried to narrate them as we’ve gone along so you all can follow what we’re documenting. 

It’s been a stunning few days, compared to last weekend.  It’s been in the high 70s, low 80s, sunny and beautiful.  JGL cleared out the carport, and we even had dinner out there last night.  More than likely we’ll be out there again tonight   The week is looking to be the same, but with some rain towards the end of the week, which we’ll need.

But here’s the rundown of what’s been accomplished this weekend thus far:

• Fencing put up around the vegetable garden (woo hoo!  Take THAT deer!)
• Lime worked into the soil, “back forty” re-tilled and turned, and as many clumps of grass as we can moved OUT.
• Salad, bush beans, and two rows of corn put into the ground
• Grass seed put on the very bare patches of lawn–watered and hay placed on top
• Negotiations started with Neighbor about using his truck to procure mulch for the flower beds

The seedlings are looking strong, although they need to be thinned out.  I’m pretty amazed that we haven’t killed any yet, but we’ll take it–fresh tomatoes are going to taste sooo good!

But before we get ahead of ourselves, I think it’s time to get clean, pick up the house, and take a breather–I think Carson and Lucy would like to spend some quality time with us rather than watch us run around.  Happy Easter, everyone!

It's the Easter Lab, Charlie Brown!