Rain is in the forecast for today so I guess this means all the garden chores are on hold and I’ll be working indoors going through my seed packets and making sure I’ve planted everything that I wanted this season.
I know I still need to start a few trays of chives and get another round of Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cabbage going but other than that, I think everything can be sown directly in the garden at this point. Which is pretty darn exciting if you ask me.
The past few days we’ve been working on chopping down all the brush and saplings at the end of our driveway to make room for the pear and plum trees we bought last month.
The area was sadly overgrown and pretty much an eyesore {from the road and out kitchen window} so it will be nice to finally have the area tidied up.
The HH still has a few more branches to run through the chipper, but the area is taking shape, and I suspect by this time next week we’ll have the fruit trees planted and yet another garden chore checked off our list.
Which is nice… because I seem to keep adding things to that list. ; )
Last weekend as I was planting the corn and pumpkin seeds in the religious family vegetable garden, I found myself running out of room. I mean 5 rows of corn? Was that going to be enough for the two of us?
And what about the 10 different varieties of winter squash I wanted to grow? I had only managed to get the butternut squash planted before running out of room.
How was it possible that I had filled an entire 1,500 square foot garden plot and found myself still needing MORE SPACE?
I mean, I’d like to think I’m somewhat of a pro when it comes to companion planting, but apparently not because the 30′ x 50′ garden plot the HH had carved out for me wasn’t going to cut it.
So I asked the HH if he would mind if I used the lasagna garden to plant the rest of the squash. {He had wanted to plant grass seed in the lasagna garden because he thought it was an eyesore.}
Well apparently had eaten his Wheaties that morning because he was in a good mood and decided that not only should go ahead and use the lasagna garden to grow more vegetables in… but to enlarge it too! 🙂
Hot dog! Now we have not one, but TWO religious family sized garden plots!
At this rate, who knows, we might end up with some farm animals too. {How fun would that be!?}
This is what the garden soil looks like on the *new* side of garden #2.
And this is what the soil on the *lasagna* side of garden #2 looks like. Not too shabby eh? I guess all the cardboard, seaweed, grass clippings and wood chips really did break down into something magical afterall.
Gardening. It’s pretty rad if you ask me. And now I have even more room to play with.
Life is good! 🙂
~Mavis
P.S. How is YOUR garden coming along? Do you have all your seedlings in yet? Are you growing more this year than in years past? I know I am.
Mrs. C. says
I am behind on everything due to the Kitchen Remodel (I finally have water after 6 weeks) and weird weather….BUT, things are getting in the ground! Onions, shallots, ground cherries, some tomatoes. I have a lot to do, but it is so exciting to see some progress. The other thing that has slowed me down is that we put up a 60’ long high tunnel/greenhouse, and it has been a lot of work to build raised beds and fill them. Our soil is almost all clay and shale, so it is very difficult to plant in ground. Our fruit trees struggle. I look at your flat, rich soil and I have garden envy! I also have about twenty different squashes and melons I want to plant. Huzzah!
Mavis Butterfield says
I was wondering about the water in the kitchen! So glad to hear it is up and running again. 🙂
Susan H. says
We had a small amount of black seeded Simpson lettuce and mustard greens as well as green onion in our salad yesterday! I love the bloom on the mustard as well. Most of garden is planted (or replanted) with the exception of cucumber and herb seedlings I am waiting to toughen up. The groundhog war is on! He has gotten several plants. I have been putting out garlic to dissuade him. I have a question. How to you keep cilantro from bolting or going to seed so early?
Margo says
If you plant cilantro in the shade and don’t thin them, they will last a bit longer before bolting. If you can stagger your planting over a month or so, you could get a longer season, and then there’s the planting in a pot you can put in a sunny window indoors.
suzanne says
I agree with Margo. Some shade really helps. A tip I got from Sunset magazine is to cut quarter of the plant back frequently. Like slicing a pie and rotate around the pot. Even if you don’t need the cilantro that week its helps to send up fresh growth as apposed to just seed heads.
J says
Can you explain this more? Somehow I’m just not understanding! Like mentally divide a round pot of mature cilantro in quadrants, and shear one quadrant down each week? Will it send up new leaves, like some lettuces? So we could do this in the garden as well? The shade and succession planting make sense! Thanks for the tips!
Emily says
I’m glad to read updates from a fellow groundhog warrior 😉 Fence panels made from chicken wire are the only thing that saved my garden from the groundhogs.
Margo says
Only another gardener would say, “I envy your beautiful, rich, soil”. I’ve been harvesting wax and green beans daily and plan to make a few jars of dilly beans today. Just hand pollinated 2 dragon fruit blooms which are huge and beautiful. Been harvesting basil, both drying and salt preserving it. Zucchini, acorn squash, and tomatoes growing and hopefully will be ready to eat soon. I am picking cherry tomatoes for salads, though. Love your 2 “religious gardens!”
Caroline says
This may be a dumb question, but how do you water your gardens? Do you set up irrigation for all of that?
Mavis Butterfield says
Nope. We have a hose and a nozzel down there to use when we need it.
Gigi says
Do you have a well? It’s easy enough to dig a trench and run another line and put in a yard hydrant between the two religious family plots :). It could be the next tractor project for the HH.
Patti says
Our Lasagna garden is exploding! We have 5 squash plants (2 zucchini and 3 yellow) and my husband has already picked over 40 of them! I have made 3 stuffed squash casserole, loaves of zucchini bread and we have roasted some and steamed some for dinner. Not made a dent in the baskets and he is still picking! I cannot imagine how much you will have from two gardens!
Lori King says
Apparently the religious garden isn’t from a mega church how fantastic you are doubling your garden! I am looking forward to seeing your harvest!
Tracy says
I thought I went overboard last year. But this year, I managed to divide and pot up over 1,000 Dahlia plants. I’ve planted 400 in my various mixed borders and still have 300 in gallon pots sitting on my driveway. I’ve lost my mind. (If anyone near Southern NY (Westchester County) wants a boatload of free, very healthy Dahlias…hit me up! You can have as many as you’d like!)
Deborah Herman says
Well I can tell you that your canning cupboard will not remotly be big enough. Better add some shelves somewhere. You will probably be selling at a road side stall. Or donate it to a local food bank.
That’s a mighty big garden you got there, not to mention what’s planted in the front of your house. I wish I could have that kind of garden. Boy howdie.
Jules says
How exciting to have more space to plant!!
We’ve only been able to harvest lettuce so far here in our part of the PNW. And finally strawberries!
Sue S. says
One lonely basil plant, a lavender, and an over-wintered rosemary. I’m still trying to get a handle on the flower beds, if you can call them that. Oh but there’s a bumper crop of weeds in the driveway that I’m still trying to get under control. That’s about it for me. And my dad had an acre planted with all kinds of veggies when I was a kid. Guess I like knitting and hooking more than gardening
I so admire your energy level Mavis and HH.
Anne says
It’s looking pretty sparse. We are much further south and things should be a lot bigger than they are. But we are halfway through a kitchen reno, a round of Covid, a patio rebuild, so there’s a lot of distraction. Luckily our CSA will do the actual feeding!