Two weeks ago my front yard kitchen garden looked like this.
And now it looks like this. Hot dog! What a difference a few weeks {and a proper garden path} make. 🙂
The sugar snap peas are coming in like mad.
And so are my favorite Blue Lake pole beans as well.
The Bloomsdale spinach I planted is getting it’s first set of true leaves.
The peppers are packed in tight {just the way I like to grow them}. This year I started the following from seed:
I planted the French breakfast radish and the mesclun baby greens in between the Bloomstruck hydrangea plants along the front of the house to maximize my growing area.
While Mrs. HB was here we also planted basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro and cucumber seeds. I also have zucchini, butternut squash and sugar pie pumpkin seeds in the ground too. Oh, and I also planted a few of my favorite mammoth sunflower seeds along the side of the picket fence too.
The two poppy plants I transplanted are getting ready to bloom. I have no idea what color they’ll be but would be SO EXCITED if they were pink or purple ones.
Earlier in the spring I also dug up 2 peony plants and divided them into 8 smaller clumps. So while I won’t have any giant blooms this year, at least I’ll be able to find out what color the flowers are so I can order a few more roots this fall to fill out the peony border I have started along the front of the picket fence.
And last but not least, a view from the top {taken with by the HH with his drone}.
My first garden here at Camp Butterfield, it’s coming along. 😉 It may not be a huge garden this year, but at least we’ll have a little bit of everything we like to eat.
How is YOUR garden doing these days? Are all your seeds in? Curious minds want to know.
Have a great weekend everyone,
~Mavis
- Garden Markers by Mavis Butterfield {Hey! That’s me.}
- The best garden tools on the planet earth can be found HERE.
- The full list of vegetables I’ll be growing in my garden this year is HERE.
Jeanine says
Everything looks great! Lots of hard work, and oh so worth it. Do you have to water very often or does it rain enough to keep it moist and happy? Another question….do you have a well? We live in the country and have a well and it doesn’t rain much in the summer, so we have to keep our garden watered every few days.
Alli Aplet says
I was wondering the same thing Jeanine! Also Mavis, will you be planting any zinnias this year?
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes! I’ll be planting them next week. 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
We have a well and I think I’ve watered the garden 3 times so far this year {typically about 15 minutes per section}.
Stephanie in Utah says
Your garden looks amazing! I love the aerial view. It looks like a perfect little New England kitchen garden!
Kim says
Exactly my thoughts, Stephanie. Well done, Mavis and HH.
Mel says
I’m jealous of the path! Our long-term plan is to add paths, but it’s a big project since they’d be across about half an acre and be used to connect parts of the yard, so we haven’t gotten there yet.
I’m sort of amazed our (coastal, Zone 7B) garden is on track for the year given everything else we have going on right now, but it is. We’re picking strawberries, snow peas, and sugar snap peas daily. My new herb garden design is working out perfectly, and the herbs are filling out. Our beans are germinating, and our tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers are growing. We’re not getting much rain though. We had about 18 months of well above average rainfall, and now it’s been dry for about two weeks, which feels very odd by comparison.
Also, I unloaded about half of the extra tomato plants I started from seed, but I was unable to find homes for 11 of them, so I’m going to experiment with growing them in 5-gallon buckets. I already planted 25 in raised beds, so we will have 36 plants total. I don’t think I’ve ever grown so many.
Mavis Butterfield says
Mel do you know what variety of strawberries you have? I want to try something new here.
Mel says
Yup–they’re Tribute Strawberries from Stark Bros. It’s a day-neutral variety that was bred at University of Maryland. Since we are in Maryland, I figured they’d be well-suited to this area, and they have done extremely well. We have one 4×8 raised bed of them, and I have picked up to 4 lbs. in one day from that one bed. I don’t actually eat them, but my husband loves them. They don’t tend to last until Fall for us (they usually give up in late June due to heat and humidity), but I bet they would be more truly day neutral in a cooler zone. Ours have also always produced in the first year.
Rebecca in MD says
Hi Mel,
I’m in zone 7A here in Maryland. We have had the same situation with the rain, and I am thankful (on behalf of my garden) for this rainy weekend.
I am interested in finding out how your tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets make out. I also ended up with extra tomato seedlings this year, but was able to gift them all to friends. But I may try the 5 gallon buckets in the future for extra seedlings to give fresh produce to our local food pantry.
Mel says
I usually don’t have any trouble unloading extras, but it’s harder with us still working from home and not seeing anyone.
I’m also thankful for the rain, but it is preventing me from transplanting the tomatoes into their buckets. Other than the fact that they are getting a later start, it should be a pretty fair experiment because I have doubles of the bucket varieties in my raised beds, so I can compare the performance of different varieties to their in-ground counterparts. I think the biggest challenge is going to be support. At least one of the extras is a White Currant tomato. I love it for its color, flavor, and productivity, but that plant is a real handful. It routinely gets 10-12 feet high in the raised beds.
Susan H. says
I have my first HERB GARDEN in pots this year. Pineapple mint, oregano, sweet basil, parsley, sage, and lime thyme. The thyme tastes like lime and I smile every time I say it!
Lori N says
I have pineapple mint too! I love it. It’s hard to find here in Southern Nevada so I only have the one plant. But I also have a couple chocolate mint plants growing too. I’m going to look for that lime thyme, it sounds like a fun plant to grow!
Jim Doolittle says
Great looking garden, and that overhead view is really awesome! You are so lucky that the HH has a drone ;)! We hope that you guys are doing well!
Mary Beth says
I’m in California, in Zone 9B. I’ve already picked my first zucchini, my first eggplant is ready and my first tomatoes are getting big!
Diane Dodge says
Mavis, you are such an inspiration! I’m in Boothbay and I’m so relieved we are finally getting some rain here soon. It seems like we went 7 weeks without significant rain–my Alaskan Cedar was really suffering, along with the rest of the yard, so I was watering everyday, and I have 3 acres, so it takes all day, moving the sprinkler. ANYWAY, I moved here in October of 2019, and I’ve been ripping out most of the non-native, sterile ornamentals that produce no berries or nuts for the birds. So far, on my project to transform the 3 acres to a bee/bird/pollinator haven, I have planted Willows, American Hazelnuts, Nannyberry Viburnum, Cranberry Viburnum, Red Osier Dogwoods, a Hawthorn tree, Jo-Pye Weeds, Butterfly Weeds, 3 kinds of Milkweed, Native Plums (Beach plums), Bull Thistle, Native Honeysuckle, Native Crabapple, Juneberries, Witch Hazels, Bee Balm, Coneflowers, Nanking Cherries–whew! Plus Delphiniums just because I love them (and so do the slugs!) I have several Red Oaks, which are wonderful sources of caterpillars for birds. I’m a big fan of Doug Tallemy and his books, where he makes the point that insect populations have declined by 1/3, and so have bird populations. This is caused by insecticides, loss of habitat, but he makes the point that we can turn our backyards into habitat by planting NATIVE PLANTS. Most hybrid ornamentals are sterile–have no berries or nuts for the birds.
In the garden, we have strawberries, Blueberries (new plants), Chinese Cabbage, Collards, Parsnips, Carrots, Lettuce, Arugula, Asparagus (2nd year), Beets-kinda–for some reason I have trouble growing these, Lima Beans, Kentucky Wonder pole beans, Butternut Squash, Acorn Squash, Pumpkins, Cucumbers, Peas, Kennebec Taters, Dill, Parsley, Sorrel, Raspberries, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Cantaloupe (no success last year, but will try again), Shallots, Bunching Onions, Scallions, and 8 different kinds of Tomatoes. I will try again this year with Okra–last year grasshoppers stripped 12 6-foot okra plants of their leaves in a single afternoon! I planted Apples, Plums, and Peaches 2 years ago–still no apples or plums but I have 6 tiny peaches on my Red Garnet peach tree–I’m so excited!!!
I wanted to plant dogwoods (Cornus Florida) and a native Black Cherry, but the people I ordered from last November stocked out, so I have 3 huge holes in the yard and you can’t find a non-Kousa dogwood anywhere–arrrrggghh. I also ordered 5 Spicebushes from this same vendor (barerooted) and I think they were DOA–I planted the afternoon they arrived, and I’m nursing them along, but I think it’s a lost cause. Frustrating.
Mavis, I love watching your projects and also seeing where you go to eat–I love Pie and Ice Cream too, and road trips for good food–“food quests”. If you are ever in Boothbay Harbor, I can recommend Bett’s Fish Fry–she only does Haddock and fresh cut fries, but boy is it good, super fresh, and the portions are giant. She only does 11-2 (lunch) and it’s picnic tables. I also love Dunton’s Dogs (hot dog stand with seafood, fries, burgers)–it’s outdoor seating too. Glidden Oysters is also great–outdoor oysters and Beer–its’ on the River Road between Edgecomb and Damariscotta. If you’re ever in Alna, the Alna General Store used to have some of the best Mexican food–not sure if they still have the same cook. I was a caterer before I retired and had Hispanic employees who were excellent cooks, so I was really surprised to hear that Alna Store had great Mexican food, and sure enough, they did, at least in 2019! Keep up the good work!! Garden On!!!
suzanne says
Lovely! I can’t wait to see the progression. I love mass hydrangea plantings. That’s a lot of spinach. Mine has already bolted back here in the pnw. I think I’m going to give up the spring plantings and try a fall planting instead. Grew Mache for the first time this year and loved it. Small plant so you need a lot. Unfortunately it’s not really a cut and come again leaf.
Rebecca in MD says
Can’t wait to see what color the peonies and poppies are.
I just ordered an Itoh Peony (Cora Louise) for planting in the fall.
Diane says
Your garden looks beautiful and tidy, as always no matter where you live! I’m curious why you put the vegetable garden in the front yard. Most people typically put ornamentals in the front and their vegetable garden in the back. Just wondering.
HollyG says
Your garden looks so pretty. I hope the weather cooperates and the bugs stay away.
We’ve had beautiful weather this spring in the PNW so the garden is looking pretty good. I pulled the first three strawberries of the year this morning – delicious.
We’ve sowed sugar snap peas, bush beans, runner beans, arugula, carrots, beets, lettuce, mache, zucchini, honey nut squash, kobucha squash, stir-fry mixed greens, mesclun mix, potatoes, garlic, leeks, scallions, shallots, cilantro, parsley, Napa cabbage, watercress, and tomatoes.
The strawberries are back from last year’s big cleanup. The blueberries and raspberries are setting fruit along with the filberts, apples, grapes, pears, and quince in the orchard. The herbs are also doing well – bay, sage, thyme, valerian, monkshood and the 9 foot tall angelica – – – what do I do with angelica?
Sydelle says
The drone picture is AWESOME! It reminds me of pouring water out of a pitcher. Fitting, don’t you think?