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.
My heirloom beets and barely-sprouted carrots, mid-May.
The big bushy beet greens (and purples!) intermingling with carrot tops and onion shoots, in the ‘root veggie bed’, mid-June.
A 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.
The brand new pumpkin transplants, snaking their way through the dirt and hay!
And speaking of broccoli, those little dudes were healthy and strong last month.
They’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!
These 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!
They’re over my head now, cresting the fence, and man do they taste great!
The final veggie I covered last month was my corn, just poking from the soil.
It’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.
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!!!
For 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.
This 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 . . .
Happy 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?
^^^ Way back in springtime, I planted some potatoes. It’s a simple strategy: as the foliage grows, more tires and dirt are added to the stack. This converts stem into root and produces more potatoes, as the leaves continue clamoring skyward. This intensive small-space system is supposed to yield 25-30 pounds of potatoes. I planted [...]
My first real harvest!!! My snow peas seem to have gone feral. Wild and unbridled, they’ve exploded from their pea patch, clamoring for sunlight and climbing, climbing, climbing. They’re almost as tall as I am (and that’s over 6 feet, oi!) And best of all, they’ve begun bearing pea pods. In honor of my [...]
Did you know that most tattoos aren’t actually vegan? It doesn’t occur to many non-vegans, but animal products impact almost every aspect of our lives – even something as marginal and subcultured as our beloved body art! And it’s true – almost all tattoo ink contains animal ingredients. Crazy, right?! I’m lucky enough to live [...]
Mocha Devastation Cake from My Sweet Vegan The Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale is an intercontinental grassroots awareness campaign and participant-fueled fundraiser, all in celebration of delicious cruelty-free living! Anyone can play, by organizing your own sale, or by finding and feasting at one of the others. The fun begins on Saturday, June 20th and continues [...]
