Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Around the Garden











Do you see those empty beds in the first photo? Yup, they have been completely harvested. One has actually been empty for a while, that was the garlic bed. The other one we have been slowly harvesting the beets from and getting them put up for the winter ahead. The last batch came out of the ground on the weekend along with the onions that were planted in there too.

The bed has been worked over, compost and manure added and will be seeded tomorrow with kale, Swiss chard, arugula, mesclun mix and beets. If all goes well we will have a lovely fall harvest.

We have been lucky this year in that the bugs have not been too bad, but after a few busy days away from the garden some of the squash and zucchini got hit with powdery mildew. We have been treating it naturally, but I think I can safely say most of the squash is gone. There are four plants that seem to have fought through so we are keeping a close eye on them and hoping we can get a few squashes from them. The zucchini was caught in time and didn't suffer too much damage. And truth be told we have harvested so much zucchini already this summer, I wouldn't have been too upset if it had been struck. 

Other than that the garden is doing great. The strawberry plants are still giving us lovely juicy berries. We planted some alpine strawberries this year and they are super sweet, almost like a dehydrated strawberry. Different, but good. The tomatoes are slowly ripening and cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, kale and Swiss chard are on our dinner plates regularly. I have been patiently waiting for the potato greens to die back and couldn't wait any longer, I dug around on Sunday to take a look and harvested our first potatoes. We promptly ate them for dinner. This was our first year using the no dig method for growing potatoes and it seems to have worked very well. Definitely will do it again next year.

The herb garden is growing well and I have been harvesting herbs daily for both cooking and infusing. Comfrey, yarrow and lavender are being infused on my kitchen windowsill right now and calendula flowers are harvested as they bloom and drying. As soon as I have enough they too will be infused in oil and later made into healing salves.

It has been a great year in the garden, and I am feeling so very grateful for the food it is providing for us.

How are things around your garden?

20 comments:

  1. Your garden is a sight for sore eyes- I feel inspired to start mine next year- what a lovely harvest. Well deserved- now that is something to smile about Kim!

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    1. Thank you! Happy to inspire, can't wait to see what you come up with :)

      I am smiling, a big happy smile.

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  2. What a beautiful garden. I'm inspired! Have only planted tomatoes and parsley (essentials!) at our new place but always grateful for what comes from our garden xx

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    1. Thank you Elisa. We are really happy with out garden these days and feel like we are finally providing a good amount without have to spend every minute out there working on it :)

      Enjoy those tomatoes and parsley.

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  3. Like I said on twitter, if money were green (wait it is sometimes) You would be a millionaire. That last one of the potatoes really sealed the deal for me. I also like seeing how those two beds are resting while the rest of the garden is still working. That's really neat to me.

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    1. Thanks KC! The potatoes were huge for me this year, trying a new method of growing them was exciting and made me a little nervous. But it worked!

      Resting, I like that, they are doing just that, well until tomorrow and then one will be back at work.

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  4. I am coming over to your house for some homegrown food, You have quite the gift and I appreciate the work that went into your harvest :)

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    1. Come on over Karen, I will share my food and you can share some knitting tips with me :) But seriously it would be so lovely to share some of this wonderful food with you...maybe one day xo

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  5. such beautiful raised beds! I can't wait to build ours this fall, but ours won't be as large or beautiful as yours. What a blessing they must be. Be well.

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    1. Thank you. It has been a lot of work to get here, but we are really happy with them and how well they work.

      Thank you!

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  6. I love getting a peak of your garden :) I didn't think of planting beets for our fall garden. I wonder if I can squeeze some in... it's a great idea.

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    1. Go for it, worse case you don't get any beets, best case, you do!

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  7. Your garden is beautiful! I love your raised beds, and all of your produce looks wonderful! Raised bed garden is my favorite method as well, so much easier to manage! :)

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    1. Thank you and I agree, much easier to manage.

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  8. Oh my goodness, Kim, we clearly need you to come help us with our garden! You's is just gorgeous and so full! We haven't had such a great season with ours. Not sure why but it's not been one of our better years. Hopefully next year will be more bountiful for us!

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    1. Oh you know I would love to do that Shel :)

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  9. The pictures of your garden are so beautiful and inspirational! One day I hope to see those garden beds with my own eyes. Our plans to get to the zoo just didn't pan out for this summer, I was a little too ambitious with my summer plans! One day...

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    1. Thanks Carrie. No worries, the invitation is always open. You are your lovely family are welcome anytime xo

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  10. Lovely! Not to mention delicious. Garlic is something that I haven't grown in a few years, and have no idea why - it's one of my favourite things to eat!

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