It’s been a busy week in the garden with lot’s of small projects.
I spent some time pruning and tying back tomato plants…
Weeding the squash patch…
And working on edging and digging up the grass behind the garden boxes. I still have a long way to go before I can go crazy and plant more perennial flowers, but I’m getting there.
The row of raspberries I transplanted a few weeks ago are doing great, especially with all this hot weather we’ve been having lately. 
The patty pan squash should be ready to pick later this week.
And the cabbage, strawberry, chard and beets are coming along nicely as well. 
The side yard looks SO MUCH BETTER than it did when we moved in. Neat and tidy, just the way I like it. In the fall I’ll plant an ornamental tree of some kind to the left of the blueberry bushes. 
Growing lettuce in the front yard is cool!
Before we bought our house last fall, I told the HH the weird leaning pine tree had to go. It does absolutely nothing but drop oodles of pine needles and giant pine cones every week. I wrote a letter to the snoopervising committee this asking to remove it and replace it with a dogwood or flowering cherry tree. We’ll see what happens.
I am enjoying the garden {and projects} more and more each day now that the fence is up and the puggle princess and I have more privacy. We still get the occasional lookey loo trying to talk to us while we work in the back… but since the fence has been installed, it’s much more manageable.
Keep calm and garden on, right?
Have a great Sunday everyone,
Mavis
This years garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2015 Garden Seed Catalog, or see the seeds I’ll be growing in my garden this year HERE.
Up for a tour? Read about our behind the scenes tour of Botanical Interests Seed Company.
diane @smartmoneysimplelife says
The lettuce in the garden bed adds a nice contrast in leaf shape… has anyone noticed it’s food, yet? 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
Nope. 😉
Stephanie says
Hi Mavis!
I read your blog weekly and love it! I am from Nebraska and we always have bugs eating on our cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. I notice your plants are always so perfect and bug free. What do you do to keep the hungry caterpillars at bay? I try not to spray any chemicals in my garden and landscape because I am trying to encourage more beneficials. I pick them off, but they still seem to be munching away.
Thanks!
Stephanie
Mavis Butterfield says
The only chemical I use in the garden is Sluggo. I personally think it rocks!
Laurel says
How did you transplant raspberries? I’ve tried before but with no success. 🙁
Dominic says
I’m guessing your association doesn’t allow food to be grown in the front landscaping?
I started foodscaping a few years ago, when we lived in suburbia (metro Detroit). My neighbor, a 70+ year old lady who never quite knew what to think of me, came out and said, “You know those are tomatoes, right?” I told her yes, why plant flowers that just look good & die, when I could plant food? She gave me all kinds of weird looks, until I said, “Once the tomatoes come in, feel free to take all you want, we will have plenty!”
Suddenly she loved the foodscaping idea, and wanted to know what else I was putting out front!
Tracy L. says
Could you please give more information on how you prune your tomatoes? And if you add anything to the soil like Epsom salts, etc. This weather has been awesome, and I REALLY want to get higher yields this year. Last year was pretty dismal and I had issues with blossom end rot.
THANKS!
ann in E. oregon says
I have the same question as Tracy L. concerning pruning the tomatoes. I read that Epsom salts are good for tomato plants, too. Looking forward to your advice, Mavis. Thanks!
Mavis Butterfield says
I’ll put the question in this weeks edition of ask Mavis so everyone can see the answer. 🙂
Dan says
The evergreen in your front yard that produces giant pine cones may be a pine variety that can be harvested for edible pine nuts (the white seeds wedged between the scales of the female cones; if the cones are woody in appearance, they’re female). If keeping the tree ever becomes a possibility, it may be able to be transplanted in another part of your property or you could prune it to a shape more to your preference. Pine needles can be used for mulch and also make a pretty good tea.
Seem to recall reading on another part of your blog that you live in the Pacific NW; Oregon … if so and if what you have there is a native pine, it could be a Torrey, Gray, Sugar or Whitebark, among others. If you have a local extension office, they might be able to help identify it.
I can’t help but thinking the person(s) who planted this tree may have had some stealth edible landscaping of their own in mind!
Thank you for writing this blog and keep up the good work; you are a major inspiration.