Too Busy to Blog & Garden Update

Yes, everything is A-OK.....I've just been too busy with work, life and the garden to blog!!! "The Italian" and I had a lovely vacation in May. The garden is doing great and work is busy as usual. I really appreciate the inquires.

As you can see the plots are bursting with growth! We had one heat wave already in late May. Other than that the rain has been consistent and the heat wave didn't seem to hurt the spring crops.

Plots from the front

The Eggplant were getting nibbled, but the new growth is good.

It looks like they are going to be OK

 

The Peppers are looking good and so are the potatoes (on the left)

The Broccoli is forming heads!!!



The Asparagus is finished for the year. We harvested about 3.5 lbs this year.

 

The Squash are coming up.....and we have Peas galore!

There are Snow & Snap Peas at the plots and Snap & Shelling Peas growing in the Home Garden. To date we have harvested more than 5 lbs. of Peas.

The Tomatoes are Happy!

 

The Cauliflower has yet to form heads. But, I'm sure they will be forming soon!

The Cabbage is starting to form heads.

 

The Blackberries have lots of blooms....so do the Raspberries!

 

The Strawberry bed has to be kept covered due to the birds.

We've picked more than 17 lbs. of strawberries so far this year!!!

Overall the garden is looking great and we are happy gardeners!

 

How's your garden growing so far this year???



 

What's Growing On at The Plots mid-April

I've been spending a lot of time at the plots on the weekends. Due to the weather, some garden is behind compared to last year.....but, it's looking good and I'm happy!!!

View from the front left

Bed #1 with newly planted Broccoli and Garlic in the back

The Broccoli was planted over the weekend and it's looking good!

I put the pots around the plants to protect them from the windy weather we were having

 

All of the Garlic came up.

It's not as tall as last year. But, that's due to the dry weather. I'm sure it will catch up with some nice rain and warm weather.

 

I've been working on the Raspberry Trellises

It's hard to see from this pic. I'm adding some T's and wire to the posts to support them. I will finish them up this coming weekend.

Blackberry & Raspberry Bed

I've planted onions around the edges of the blackberries and in every location that I have room. Hopefully we will have a good onion harvest this year.....unlike last year

The Jersey Supreme Asparagus is coming up!

It looks like we will be having some asparagus for dinner this week!

 

The Purple Passion Asparagus has yet to pop up

 

I finally made a decision on Tomato Cages.

These are from Burpee. They had great reviews and I got a great deal! I found a coupon code for 25% off and then another coupon code for free shipping! I purchased 18 cages for around $200.

These cages are 5' tall before you put them in the ground and they fold up!

I hope they work as well as the reviews say they do!

There are Snow Peas & Snap Peas planted in two locations. They've all popped up since the rain!

The Strawberry Bed has been cleaned out.....

and they're looking good!

 

Another view of the plots.

You can see some additional Broccoli plants and onions planted in Bed #5.

I stopped by the plots on Monday and saw this pretty Bluebird. I think I spent 15 minutes taking pictures of him. He's a beauty!

 

I also took about 100 pictures of the Community Garden. Most of the gardeners have their plots ready to go. That's another post! 

  

The Word is Out.......the best

bird seed in town is at our place! Well, at least the Gold Finches think so! Last week I went to the Bird Store to purchase some Nyger Seed for the finch feeder outside my kitchen window. A Finch Feeder is the only feeder I can have here in town because of the #$&!!ng Squirrels!! They had a new blend that would work in the thistle feeder which has fine sunflower chips in it. I thought I would give it a try. Boy, do we have a busy feeder!

It's tough to get good pics through the glass and screen.

                              

The feeder is loaded with finches all day!

We also get some other visitors to the feeder. But they don't stick around long enough for me to get a good picture. The finches are quite aggressive with other birds!

There's even a waiting line on the window sill and sometimes on the screen!

This gal was looking at me like.....when do I get a turn??

It's starting to look like a Garden!!

The plots are really starting to look like a garden. Despite the weather, planting is getting done and everything is growing very well.

Beds 1 & 2.

Bed #1 will be planted with dry beans as a second crop as I pull the first crop plants out. Bed #2, the potatoes are doing great, the snow peas are finally growing and the Three Sisters is just about completely planted. You are supposed to plant the beans after the corn. Due to the fact that I am planting special beans  in both Three Sisters, I started them at home. They will be put in a couple of days as soon as this heat wave ends. The space between the Three Sisters and small bean plants will be left empty for some fall broccoli. I also planted watermelons at the one end of the potatoes and in a space between the two varieties. I got the idea from the book Carrots Love Tomatoes. The early potatoes will be done before the melons get too big.

The potatoes are starting to bloom and the potato beetles are under control! I have been picking the bugs, removing eggs and using DE on them. The gardener behind us is doing the same thing and it looks like it has worked.

Beds 3 & part of 4.

Most of the tomatoes have been staked in Bed #3 (Tomato Alley). Bed #4, the Three Sister has been planted the same as in Bed #2.

One variety of the cantaloupe has been planted in Bed #4. I put the stakes in at the ends which will hold the supports for the melons. I also have another variety of cantaloupe and korean melons to planted in this bed.

The Sugar Magnolia Purple Snap Vine Peas are finally growing in Bed #4. I even saw a couple of flowers on them! Maybe we will get some of those beautiful peas after all!

Beds 5 & 6

A zucchini has been planted at the end of Bed #5. I will sow another zucchini seed behind this plant shortly. Nasturtiums have been planted throughout the beds where needed as pest control. They also add a lot of color to the garden and the flowers are great on salads!

The Little Marvel peas are growing and blossoming in Bed #5. Most of the tomatoes in that bed have also been staked.

The Fava Beans at the end of Bed #6 (Strawberry Bed) are growing nicely. They also have some flowers on them that are ready to open.

The Blackberry bushes are loaded. I have to remember to pick up some bird netting to cover them before the birds get to them.

The older Raspberry bushes that were at the plots are loaded with young berries. These also need to be netted soon.

Well, that's a little bit of what is going on at the plots. There is a lot that I missed....but there will be more posts and pictures in the near future.

The Plots at the end of May

I've been a little MIA this week. I've been very very busy with the gardens and helping my dear friend move.

The weather this week did a big turn around and the gardens are changing from day to day. Here are some pictures that I have taken at the plots this past week. I will do a separate post on the home garden.

Radicchio & Leeks. This picture was taken this past Tuesday. They are much bigger now. The raddichio will be done before the leeks get very big.

Blackberry blooms on Tuesday.....the bushes are loaded with blooms today.

Tomato Alley yesterday. This coming week the plants will definitely need to be staked.

Beds 5 & 6 today.

I had to cover the strawberries today since I found that a couple had been nibbled by the birds. I put some stakes in bed 5 for the tomatoes the other day. Now I need to get them wired up. All of the peas have finally started growing. What ever has been nibbling at them has finally stopped. I have been putting DE and BT on them. These peas (right side of bed) are the Little Marvels.

You can see why the birds want to nibble. The sun has been out most of the week and the strawberries are finally starting to ripen. "The Italian" is one happy guy! He just loves his strawberries for breakfast!

  

My little Alien plants, Kohlrabi. I planted them because I thought that they were the most fascinating looking plants. Some of the white variety has been harvested and purple is not far behind.

The purple cabbages are so beautiful and forming heads.

Raspberries bushes are forming buds.

I planted 3 varieties of cauliflower this spring, Early Snowball, Silver Cup and Igloo. The Silver Cup are 40 day variety and are the first to start forming heads.

Savoy Cabbages are forming heads as well.

The former gardeners of our plots had planted some perennials in the front. I have no idea what these are. They are quite pretty. Does anyone have a clue?

Oh, they updated the new rules at the plots. We are allowed to have a water catching system as long as it isn't higher then 4'. I have no idea why they changed the height. I haven't talked to any of the gardeners for a few days. I have been going there early in the morning before it gets too hot out and before helping my dear friend with her move.