We did a makeover of the east garden on Tuesday night. On Wednesday after work we found that the squirrels had a heyday with the strawberry plants, as they have been known to do before, so Kate had to do a lot of replanting. That made me not wait for the weekend and I stopped off after work today and got a bag of straw. We use straw to protect the small plants and roots over these cool nights and ultimately winter. In the spring we remove as much as we can and put it in the path between the gardens to inhibit weed growth.
Anyway, we got home tonight and amazingly the garden was untouched as far as we could tell. Still, Kate put down some straw to maybe help keep the critters away by hiding the small plant sprouts. And besides, we're probably not too far away from the first frost.
My wife and I bought our first house in the spring of 2009. The next spring we built and started up our very first garden. This is the tale of that garden and our amateur attempts to grow things.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
East Garden Re-Do
Last night we put some work into the east garden to get ready for next season. It may be a little early, but that should give the plants some time to establish themselves after replanting.
Here is the final product, replanted and watered. Also with bird netting in an attempt to keep the critters from digging in it. It didn't work, Kate had to replant about half the strawberry crowns today after work and we lost a few. Damn squirrels.
See the whole thing, start to finish, after the break!
Monday, September 23, 2013
September Onions Plus
These pics were taken during the day yesterday. Afterward, Kate harvested all the onions and some peppers that were ready. Two notes: Kate says this type of onion does not grow large bulbs and the peppers that were drying were taken down about a week and a half ago, except for the red one which required more drying time.
The east garden will be getting a major overhaul very soon. We have strawberries to plant and also move the raspberries. The trick is that we have compost and soil to add to this side so we will have to replant the strawberries that are there now, the raspberries will be totally removed and replanted as well.
The east garden will be getting a major overhaul very soon. We have strawberries to plant and also move the raspberries. The trick is that we have compost and soil to add to this side so we will have to replant the strawberries that are there now, the raspberries will be totally removed and replanted as well.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Still Growing
What is here is mostly still growing well. There are both kinds of peppers, cucumbers, parsley and even a few tomatoes in the west garden, top of picture here taken yesterday. In the east garden onions are still growing as well as some new lettuce and oregano. The raspberry plants and strawberry plants are still alive, not doing a lot right now. Our thoughts are already turning to how we will prepare the gardens this fall for the next season.
And the peppers that were brought in to dry (because that part of the plant was dying) have been out for just over 2 weeks now.