HOME TOUR

I shared our 2021 Garden Plans with you all a couple months ago. So I thought it was high time to show you the early June garden progress captured beautifully by Ruth Eileen Photography. I put quite a bit of time into figuring out crop rotation and spacing of plants. This was also the first year we attempted flowers / vegetables from seeds. I’d say it’s going fair and already has changed so much. I can’t photograph it fast enough.

Almost all the seedling flowers I put into the ground around the perimeter have been chewed up and eaten by some elusive beast. Perhaps a chipmunk squeezing through the fence or some field mice. It doesn’t appear to be a bug because at the first site of damage I grabbed one of my chicken wire cloche and protected a small cosmo seedling. That’s the only one left so it was clearly an animal versus a bug which would have just gone through the wire mesh. All of the flower seedlings in the raised bed are doing really well. We only lost two seedlings so whatever beast it is, it appears to not be jumping up into the beds. I think we may turn the perimeter planting beds into raised beds next year. Since the initial planting I’ve tucked a couple additional seeds in that are just now sprouting to try and extend my flower harvest.

Thankfully, all of my sweet peas are doing great. Which was definitely scary because they’re planted on the outside of the garden fence. They’ve all sent up additional shoots after I pinched them and I’m waiting for them to explode in growth now that the warmer weather is here. I’ve been fertilizing them weekly with this fish and kelp fertilizer.

THE VEGETABLE RAISED BED

The broccoli and red cabbage are from the garden center. The tatsoi, mustard, kale and carrots in the raised vegetable bed are from seed and doing great. I’ve tucked in some Nasturtium, which we grew from seed, to hopefully climb the trellis soon. I need to pull the kale but I was waiting for it to seed itself.

I planted a melon seed in the corner and we’re going to get our A-frame out when the seedling is a bit bigger. If any kale regrows it will be shaded under the A-frame during the heat of summer. It sure looks unruly right now though.

THE UNEXPECTED

Now we had those two raised beds on either side of the garden perimeter next to the she shed because we wanted to use what we had. I never loved them there and would have prefered a raised garden bed that’s on the ground vs on legs. Well, fate would have it, after Ruthie took pictures we had a really wet Memorial Day weekend. Almost 4 inches of rain over two days and as a result, the bottom fell out of the bed. All the seedlings came crashing down. We were able to save a few of them (we think). They’re still recovering but it definitely set us back. We lost the watermelon seedlings that had just sprouted. I replaced them with purchased plants from the garden center. Matt scooped up all the dirt and using the same wood from the bed, made me a raised bed on the ground. In the fall, we’ll disassemble the other one and do the same. Here’s some updated glances I took below.

JUNE HARVEST

Right now the Strawberries are ripening with more flowers blooming each the day. My white peony Duchesse de Nemours is blooming and looking magnificent. We’ve been making salads from our spinach and kale for a while although it has been trying to bolt. I’ve been babying my broccoli trying to get the main heads bigger. To keep it from bolting I’ve mulched it heavily and kept the soil very moist. As a result, these are currently the biggest broccoli crowns I’ve ever grown.

We put in a drip line as we will be heading to California in a few days and wanted it to be easier for my friend (and Roobee dog watcher) to get the garden watered. Jury’s out as to whether we like this stuff. We picked it up at our local hardware store, Greens if you’re in town. It’s pretty rigid which has made placement hard but it is also top of the line and supposed to last.

Right now we’re also on bug control land. I haven’t seen any cucumber beetles or Japanese beetles yet. I’m putting in bamboo hoops and bug netting to hopefully keep the zucchini and pumpkin vine borer-free which was a source of angst last year. I’m picking aphids off the roses and periodically spraying them with Neem oil. That’s really our early June Garden Progress. How’s your garden looking?