My Growing Garden: Another Follow-Up

June 19th, 2009 - filed under: The Farm » Flora

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A month ago today, I shared a little update on the progress of my beloved baby veggies. I was looking over that post last night, and I just can’t believe how much has changed so fast! 30 days later, it’s a totally different picture.

 

img_0285My heirloom beets and barely-sprouted carrots, mid-May.

 

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img_0895The big bushy beet greens (and purples!) intermingling with carrot tops and onion shoots, in the ‘root veggie bed’, mid-June.

 

 

img_0267A month ago, my pak choi was perfectly formed and fabulous, and keeping pace with the broccoli that shares the bed (darker green, to the left). But then we had a heat spell and the poor babies bolted, shooting out flowers and quickly setting to seed. I tore the last of them out last weekend, making room for some fall crops.

 

img_0913The brand new pumpkin transplants, snaking their way through the dirt and hay!

 

 

img_0275And speaking of broccoli, those little dudes were healthy and strong last month.

 

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img_0889They’re progressing wonderfully, growing a ton, and finally starting to form little florets. Woo-hoo! But wish me luck- I’m battling a mealy bug outbreak. Eek!

 

 

img_0263These were my pretty peas just a month ago. I thought they were big back then, but in the past few weeks I’ve had to construct an entire new scrap-wood structure just to support them! Good thing I’m crafty!

 

img_0920They’re over my head now, cresting the fence, and man do they taste great!

 

 

img_0280The final veggie I covered last month was my corn, just poking from the soil.

 

img_0885It’s been slow growing, but it’s finally starting to take off. Go little kernels, go!

 

Last month I mentioned some other projects I hadn’t been able to photograph. Here’s a little glimpse at the rest of the garden.

 

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My strawberry patch hides behind the red raised beds. There are sunflowers shooting up along the back fence (you can see a few in the back, left) and some asparagus in the far corner. Strawberries and sunflowers are great companions, and also pair well with spinach. I’ll be sowing some spinach into the mix come fall, but for now, Sunflowers and Strawberries!!!

 

 

img_0899For diversities sake, each of the beds has an herb border. The ‘root veggie bed’ on the left is lined with cilantro (great in green smoothies!), which shares a family group with the carrots. Alternatively, the tomato + cucumber ‘climber’ bed on the right is fringed in dill, which attracts happy bugs like aphid-eaters.

 

 

img_0906This is the ‘climber’ bed. The tomatoes are in the background there, and they have their tower cages to help the grow tall. In the foreground is that odd-looking arch, which is actually the metal mesh from an old boxspring mattress. We broke down the bed to clear out the space, and this little score was a happy coincidence. Lesson: you never know where you’ll find your next freecycled garden gem! So I’ve planted my pickling cucumbers along the edges of the dome trellis, with the plan that they’ll grow up and over, creating shade for the basil and gourmet greens I’ll grow underneath. Hopefully . . .

 

img_0909Happy healthy tomatoes! Wheeeee! I cant *wait* for these to start bearing. Salsa and sauces and salads, oh my!

 

So, how are your gardens growing, my dears?

sign-off

  • http://okneil.com Neil

    You really seem to have an eye for photography, why dont you add a little of that to the site :) Pics from your travels?

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Neil – Aw thanks, but my husband really has the photographers eye. I’m just running around snapping at plants like a lunatic, haha. But I’m glad you enjoy them! =D

  • Laura

    Hi! I’m not sure how often you’ll be checking these comments now that the blog is no more :-(. But I just wanted to tell you what an inspiration you are to me. That sounds super cheesy, but it’s so true! I have pinned so many of your recipe’s and gotten so many great ideas from you, not to mention your quirky and honest style of blogging always kept me coming back for more! I’m new to your blog in the last couple of months and now that it’s over, I’ve gone to post one and have been reading on lol. Anywho, enough with my gushing!, I was wondering if you could recommend any gardening books or if you’ve just acquired all of this divine gardening knowledge through the years with the help of google. There seems to be so much to know, and I’m very anal with this kind of stuff, if I’m going to do it, I want to do it right! I hope to hear back eventually, but if not, I totally understand. Goodluck in all you do, and hopefully I’ll see (read?) you around the web!

    Laura

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Laura, thank you so much for such a sweet comment. Unfortunately I don’t have a ton of book recs – my gardening know-how has been scrapped together over the years mostly from websites. I do have the book Great Garden Companions and I love it. I also use a local publication that has all the crop-specific planting dates for my region. Most areas have something like this and it is invaluable! Ask at your loval nursery.

    Luck!