Sunday, June 14, 2015

mid-june garden update

this post is mostly for my garden records, but i do so enjoy tours of other blogger's gardens so i hope that you will enjoy this tour (pay no mind to the weeds - jam has just started weeding today but we will get it all weeded in the next few days!)!

a big, beautiful hugelkulture bed filled with strawberry plants - some of which already have blossoms - woohoo!


garlic bed number one:


one of the many salad bars:


the pea bed weeded and comfrey leaves laid down - comfrey and seaweed are both excellent mulches and add a variety of extra nutrients to the soil.


we put seaweed in all of the beds/pots/tires every fall and spring. seaweed will be going down on all of the beds this week.

our 12 biggest tomatoes have been put out in their tires:


a crazy thing happened this year - we have volunteer tomatoes everywhere!!! i planted 46 and 46 came up but in all of the pots in the greenhouse - volunteer tomatoes have appeared. we have an additional 20+ tomatoes. i like having those kinds of problems!

this is the radish, daikon radish and swiss chard bed, weeded and comfrey leaves spread on:


garlic bed number 2 (it is full of garlic but some of it is from last year):



these are 2 melon/squash/pumpkin beds. i start one or 2 of each and then when i plant them out i plant seeds directly in the beds. the cans are to protect the older plants from slugs.

here is the brassica bed - again, i start some brassicas indoors and then when i plant them out i continue the rows with seeds. that way we don't have a glut of stuff all coming in at once.


this is for our good buddy PP who looooooves tires! look at all of those potatoe plants - woohoo! please ignore the weeds. potatoes are pretty forgiving when it comes to weeds but we'll get to these tires eventually!


a beautiful comfrey plant that i am letting go to seed:


we have volunteer comfrey plants all over our land. comfrey can be cut back 3 times a season here. we use it for mulch and compost.

here's our little apple tree that got decimated last year by aphids - he's coming back strong now, thank goodness:


and then there's these apple trees. ugh.


we love having a variety of birds in our yard all throughout the day but for some crazy reason, this year, the goldfinches and purple finches have started eating all the buds!!! we have no idea what to do.

here's the greenhouse - a mish mash of peppers, tomatoes, herbs and such:


more seeds being started:


a blurry pic of more peppers:


more tomatoes and peppers:


tomatoes, peppers, herbs and more salads:


herbs, peppers, tomatoes, salad:


volunteer chives that are all over the yard:


i don't bother planting chives anymore as the several bunches all around the yard provide us with all we need and they re-seed themselves every year:


our friend W is going to kill us when he sees our grapevine - we just haven't gotten to it yet! but we already have grape clusters forming - woohoo!


and some pretty apple blossoms:


i couldn't finish the post without a pic of today's catch of trout:


you are only allowed to catch 5 a day during trout season. these things are so good for you and salmonoids are loaded with omega 3-6-9.

these trout were caught for BullDog Man and Sweet Sandy. Pioneer Preppy gets the next batch.

33 comments:

  1. Hi you two. Your enthusiasm and garden pictures are inspiring. My husband is jealous of the great trout fishing but we enjoyed Jambaloney's trout picture. I don't comment often but I do read each one of your postings. They always make me smile and encourage me to outside and work hard on our little homestead here in So. Calif. Best to both of you. G. Villarreal

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    1. thank you so much G. Villarreal (i love your last name!). it is easy to be enthusiastic when you live in such a wonderful place - we just visited people we consider our family last evening and we had a wonderful time seeing our friends. they make us feel loved and appreciated and they take really good care of us. our sister c brought us 6 bags of delicious dried mango - can you believe that??? i am glad that you read our blog and it sounds like you should have a blog of your own! we have a dear friend in North California and love sharing gardening stories and tricks. you sound like you must have a few too. thank you for stopping by and commenting. we never realized when we started this blog that we would end up meeting so many nice people - like you!

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    1. we just wish there was a way to get some down to you! we have you and Sweet Sandy in our thoughts and prayers daily. that is one Sweet woman you got yourself! xoxox

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  3. It was almost perfect until I saw those tires :(

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    1. you, dear little brother, will be happy to know that we removed the 2 tractor tires from the front yard because of your dislike of tires. but i will never stop growing potatoes in tires - it just works too well. sending much love to you and Mrs. PP. xoxoxo

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  4. You have lots growing, Kymber. Where are all of those extra potatoes you are going to grow? (-: Thanks for the tour.

    Fern

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    1. Fern - i think this will be our best year here! we had everything nailed when we lived in ontario - everything we knew kind of went out the window when we started gardening here! but we are learning! all of our extra potatoe seeds are in boxes in the basement with towels covering them - bahahahah! we planted 200 potatoes in 40 tires and we are expecting at least 200lbs of potatoes this year. i found your latest post very interesting and i really enjoyed the comments.

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    2. I look forward to the island planting tour and your thoughts about where and why. It sounds like you have picked a great BOL for the coming collapse.

      We really appreciate all of the comments on our latest article, and have found them to be very interesting and informative. I am grateful we have this way to share with folks from all over. It's like a giant, worldwide classroom with hundreds of teachers. A real blessing.

      Fern

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  5. Seaweed for mulch. And fresh fish. Very jealous indeed.

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    1. TB - we live a real, hard life eh? bahahahahaha! now put up some of your pics from the tournament on your blog! i think people would really enjoy them!

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  6. Garden is looking good - I love looking around other peoples gardens! As for weeds you've got none (and I mean none) compared to weeds. Even my weeds have got weeds at the moment!
    I've got loads of extra tomatoes this year and with a few of them I'm going to try one truss cropping where you let a truss of fruit form, then pinch back any growth above that so it concentrates on the one truss and nothing else. That way you only get one truss fo fruit off that plant but you get it much much earlier. Worth a shot anyhow!
    finches area sod for the buds but what can you do? Maybe you should plant a load more trees then it wouldn't matter! I'll teach you to graft your own so it'll cost you peanuts!

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    1. Kev - thanks so much - i so enjoyed your video tour of your garden! i am very much looking forward to your truss experiment and if it works out really well - yer darn tootin's i'll be doing the same next year! as for teaching us how to graft - you already have with a bunch of your older posts. but i will gladly get your hands-on help with grafting and making your trees - thanks kev!

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    2. woops - that should say "more trees".

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    3. Sorry about mentioning the tomato thing again, I just realised I'm repeating myself as I'd already mentioned it ages ago!

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  7. Everything looks good. You guys are going to be eating well this year & more. Love those volunteer tomatoes. I had 2 come up last year. Great job to both of you!

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    1. thanks DFW! and i am still waiting for that pic! xoxoxo

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  8. Looking good guys :) I'm useless when it comes to pruning grape vines. And can't find any solid advice (with loads of pics) anywhere. Wanna oblige...? ;)

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    1. Dani - our friend W has sent us some good advice and once we put his advice to use, i will take pics and provide some clear advice. he really knows what he is doing! sending much love! xoxo

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  9. Have you had good luck with the hugelkulture bed? I have been reading about it, and am just wondering. Everything looks good. I will not try to brag about our beets. (or at least not too much!!)

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    1. John - i swear i am flying down there with an empty suitcase and filling it with your beets!!! jam thinks there are few beets coming up but i planted hundreds - arghghghgh! our experience with hugelkulture has been really good - the garlic seems to love it, as do the strawberries and apparently asparagus loves it too. i think it is a great way to garden!

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  10. I was out this morning just before dawn, as soon as there was light to see, cutting down big weeds in my meadow with a sling blade. It was not fun. Then I come to your blog and see all your nice vegetable beds, and I think to myself, she just must like working out side and with her plants. Wish I liked working outside more.

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    1. ick. cutting weed with a sling - no fun at all! but you are right - we both love to be outside and there is nothing i love more than planting a seed and having a plant grow! and then i love to eat that plant that i know that we grew. however, at this time of year it is the worst with all of the blackflies! sending much love Harry, as always! xoxo

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  11. Gurlie,
    its not even 11am and I am all ready exhausted from seeing all your gardening..I thought I had a huge set up. We would make our girl Sci extremely happy and I know she is smiling down on us.
    lately here its been too darn hot to do anything. Temps around 98. all a person wants to do is sit in the shade and eat a freezie pop. even my chickens are hot. lol

    Hugs to you and Jam, everything up there looks great..keep it up!

    -Angel # 2

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    1. Angel #2 - yer darn tootin's Sci is extremely happy with us! but she'd be yelling about all the weeds! i don't know how her and Mars kept such pristine gardens - it used to drive me crazy because i could not keep up with her! and with that kind of heat you guys are having - get yourself a couple of freezie pops!!! you deserve it! good luck with your garden this year and give us another tour if you can. sending much love to you, Senior and the boys! xoxoxox

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  12. Sweet Kymber,

    Hey Girlie......Bulldog Man loved your post.....and enjoyed the fish. He even responded, :-)

    SciFiChick would be please with all 3 of us Angels. We all have worked very hard in our gardens, and we will have beautiful harvests.

    As for your fruit trees, throwing bird netting over the top of each tree will help deter the birds from eating your blossoms and buds.
    You can get netting for about $2 to $3 dollars a net in Walmart and some dollar stores....maybe even in a grocery store if they have an aisle for gardening (ours do).

    I have several more tomato plants to plant, I may borrow your tire idea with fencing and plastic for protection.

    I'm a garden freak, and love garden tours any time whether in ground beds, raised beds, TIRE beds, or grown wild.

    Bulldog Man is feeling a tad better today, he just now ate real food. He even slept for a solid 4 hours, all of this will help him recuperate faster. Thank you for your warm thoughts, prayers, and fish.

    Love you and Jam, sending hugs.
    Angel #3

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    1. hey Angel #3 - i saw BDMan's comment and was surprised! but i just read your latest post that he is doing well and drinking melon smoothies so that is great to know! Sci would be thrilled for all 3 of us - and especially for you for not giving up after all of the storms you have had!

      the bird netting is a good idea but then the birds couldn't land on the trees, something they love to do - to perch on and then go to the feeders. i don't know what we are going to do but it will have to wait until next year as we are just praying that they will stop eating the buds. we have gold and purple finches every year since we have been here, they have always liked landing on the apple trees and then going to the feeders. they have never eaten the buds before??? we don't know why that changed this year???

      we are so glad for BDMan's quick recovery and you and yours are always in our thoughts and prayers! sending much love as well! xoxoxoxoxo

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  13. Your garden looks like a full time job for three or four people. How do you ever let Jam leave to go work for lobsters?

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    1. Ed - thanks - it IS a lot of work but work that we love! and jam enjoys working at LobstersRUs as it keeps his skills honed. and i can handle him being away 1-2 days a week. thanks again buddy!

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  14. everything is coming up a treat. maybe there are insects on the fruit tree buds? not much going on in our garden concentrating on the inside of the house. plenty of logs to be cut and stacked once we have a wood store sorted. as they say in the Game of Thrones, Winter is coming....

    Happy Solstice to Framboise Manor, incase I dont get to comment again. I will be at Stonehenge dancing my heart out! wooo hoooo

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    1. thanks Sol! i saw your latest post and no worries about what the garden looks like! and yes - cure that wood and any naysayers be damned! Happy Solstice to you too - thank you - and make sure to do a dance or two for us! i hope that you have a fantastic time! xoxox

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  15. I love seeing others' gardens and yours does not disappoint!

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  16. Leigh - we are the same - i looove seeing other people's gardens and learning about what they are doing! and thank you very much for a sweet comment!

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