Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Around the Garden

















These days around the garden are pretty darn good...a little weeding, a little thinning and a little eating. There is still more thinning to do, mostly the beets, and the second planting of carrots, chard and kale will need to be thinned in the next week or so. We should be eating strawberries from the garden in the next few days, and the raspberry bushes are full. I think it will be a good raspberry year around here. The garlic scapes are just starting to peek out, and the cucumber, squash, zucchini, beans and peas are all doing well. We are keeping the bugs under control at the moment, they are not gone, but controlled, and if we stay on top of it all should be okay. Lupines are being enjoyed by the bees, and the first calendula flower bloomed, and then the next day three more opened up. I love calendula. I will most likely leave these first few in the garden to enjoy them, but as more blossom I will start collecting them to make some oil, and eventually use the oil in my healing salve.

A few of you have asked about the set up of our yard, the second last photo above gives you a bit of an idea. You can see the back garden behind the garage, the chicken coop is just on the other side of the garage, the front gardens are up by the fence and our home, which you can't see, is to the left. I am taking this photo standing in Reece's outdoor play space.

How are things around your garden these days?

29 comments:

  1. I love your garden Kim! And that last photo looks so inviting. I'd love to sit on that porch and sip an iced tea with you ;)
    Going on holiday in May wasn't the best of ideas garden-wise. But that's ok. We have a bit to show for, and I'll just sow some salads that we can harvest late in the year. We have beans, and strawberries. But the snails and ants (!) are killing a lot of our plants and produce. Collecting the snails is fairly easy, but getting rid of the ants is another subject...

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    1. Thanks Sylvia! Oh wouldn't that be lovely, I would love that too. Maybe one day....

      Those darn snails and ants...bugs are tough little buggers, eh? I think your holiday was well worth the smaller garden this year :)

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  2. Such an inspiration. They look amazing!
    I have a quick question : What is the material that you drape over your greens? I've never seen that done as the greens are growing. Is it for heat or for weed control?
    Looking forward to the info! :-)
    Have a great day friend!

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    1. Thank you! We are feeling pretty good about the gardens this year :)

      Those are row covers. Used to keep the bugs off :) They also help with a bit of a faster germination, and if you get the higher rated ones can also help protect from frost. They also help keep the chickens off my greens :) We did have them on the cucumber and squash beds as well, but didn't really have enough to cover properly and allow for growth, so took them off last week once all the seeds had come up and the seedlings were getting bigger.

      This is our first year using them and so far so good. We do have some cabbage worms on the kale, most likely because I didn't cover it at first, which allowed the butterfly to lay its larvae. They are covered now, and it seems we have caught it early enough...fingers crossed.

      Hope that helps. xo

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  3. looking great! i love the second story planters you have. How lovely to have such a spacious yard and to fill it with food!

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    1. Thanks! Those were added this year, just a little way to dress up the chicken coop :)

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  4. My are you going to have some yummy food soon. I grew to love beets and spinach from my dad's garden when we moved to the suburbs.. You have a lovely property!!

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    1. We already do, in small amounts, but yes, soon there will be a lot of eating from the backyard. So looking forward to it :)

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  5. Your beds look amazing, Kim. Happy Gardening!

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  6. It is all coming up so fast! So green I want to rub my face in it! :)

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    1. It is! The perfect combination of sun, rain and more sun helps :)

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  7. It all looks amazing! I love that you use the tree branches for stakes, it looks beautiful. I definitely need to get out and weed...i try to ignore it but that doesn't seem to work.

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    1. Thank you! I figure why no, we usually have enough trees down in the spring from the winter past that we might as well put them to good use :) Yeah, weeding, not my favourite part either.

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  8. Those strawberries are soooo close! How can you stand it!? I had to sample one of our raspberries yesterday finally. Getting so red, but no quuuite ripe yet.

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    1. They are! And they are now gone :) Those photos are from Sunday, and they were ready yesterday, as well as quite a few more. Little man got most of them, but I did manage to get a few. Now we wait for the next ones to ripen.

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  9. Oh my! Your garden is so lovely!! And all the green around your chicken coop, just beautiful!!

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    1. Thanks Summer. It is a work in progress, but we are pretty happy with where the garden is right now :)

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  10. Incredible! Your gardens are so beautiful, Kim! :)

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    1. Thanks Desiree! They are a lot of work, but I love it!

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  11. Your gardens look amazing and your yard is just gorgeous! I love the picture of Reece on the front porch under the sweet banner (bunting?). Just lovely, dear friend!

    Our garden is growing incredibly well this year! The raised beds are amazing and we defintiely need to start harvesting the lettuce! Sadly, Grace and Emma plucked all the carrots thinking they were weeds. Do you think we'd get carrots if we replanted them now or should we just wait till next year? And our potatoes look like they are doing well too! I cannot wait to start eating what's growing back there! We have a ltitle longer till that happens (well, other than the lettuce that's ready to go that is)! xo

    http://ouronesweetfamily.blogspot.com/2014/06/today.html

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    1. Thank you Shel. You will have to come and see the gardens in person one day :)

      Raised beds are awesome. We made the switch three years ago and haven't looked back. We love them! I am happy to hear yours are doing so well. That is too bad about the carrots. You can go ahead and direct sow some more, you will just have a bit of a later harvest. The carrots can tolerate a frost, so a later harvest is perfectly fine.

      Hope that helps. xo

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  12. Your garden looks wonderful, I love the way you've done the raised beds, and your chicken house looks amazing as well with all the green surrounding it. Stopping by from your link at SouleMama. Enjoyed the garden tour! :)

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    1. Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the little tour around our yard. Appreciate you stopping by :)

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  13. Your garden is *gorgeous* as usual! I was just telling my husband about it as we were planning our own garden (last year's pictures were still vivid in my memory). There is such loveliness in your yard this year too!

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    1. Awe, thanks! Good luck with the garden planning :)

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  14. Lovely and lovely, your garden just keeps taking off. It really is quite lovely. I really like the picture of the little green tendril (peas? beans?) our peas are not doing so well. Take care.

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    1. It is growing so well, and I am pretty pleased about it. Even after a few days away, we came home and it is just amazing! That would be a pea tendril.

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