New Plants Arrive

Kate has been receiving plants in the mail a bunch lately and they needed to be planted soon.  We are not quite ready to plant them outside. so yesterday she put them into planters temporarily so they continue to grow.  We put these planters in the porch that we should have back soon from the little construction project going on out there. Most of these were flowers, I believe.  Day lilies, cone flowers, and Lily of the valley among them.


While she was doing that I got as much hay out of the strawberry bed as I could.  (You can see both the chives and garlic chives from last year in pots in the upper right of the pic.)  For now it will line the path between the gardens - not the easiest place to trim the grass or control weeds.  I think Kate may go throught it later this week when she plants the garlic and get some remaining hay and also thin the strawberry plants that are starting out almost as out of control as at the end of last year!

Pea Sprouts

Peas are starting to sprout at the top of the west garden!  This row of peas we feared the squirrels got the best of so Kate planted another row just beneath this row, but there are many of those first seeds coming up now.  Also, in the lower right corner radishes were planted last week when she put the second row of peas in.  Much more to come on this side yet.



In the east garden, the strawberry bed, you can see several of the plants poking up through their winter cover.  We have not taken the hay out yet because of all the rain but we shall have to do it soon. Perhaps next week won't be so soggy. 

Peas, Please

By yesterday afternoon my wife had the west garden looking a whole lot better.  She put the regular chives and the garlic chives in pots and got rid of the dead parsley.  The sage and thyme plants in the middle were left to grow back.  Since the dirt had settled we added six more bags of topsoil before Kate planted a row of peas at the top of the garden.

The east garden we haven't touched yet, and probably won't until we're pretty sure it won't frost again.

Hello Spring!

If I remember right, tomorrow is the official first day of Spring!  and with that my wife's mind turns over from the 'planning' stage to the 'action' stage.  She wants to pot some of the plants from last year and plant the peas, which I found odd as it might snow again as early as Tuesday.

Here is the west garden, untouched since last year.



And here is the east garden, the strawberry patch, also untouched since last year.

Now is the time to continue what we started last year, and after letting the strawberries establish themselves last year I'm looking forward to eating those berries!

A Day Before The First Snow

This may be the last post this year about the garden, unless I make it back there for some reason after it snows.  These pics were taken last night after work knowing that we will be getting our first snowfall of the season tonight.  I've heard anywhere from 2-6 inches when it's all done, so I guess we'll just see.  In the west garden the chives, thyme and parsley have been left for dead.  I'm not sure what will come back next year, but whatever does will probably be potted and controlled a little more than running wild in the garden.

The east garden, the strawberry patch, has been mulched with hay for the winter.  I did take the string trimmer out and we cut the tops off the plants, careful not to cut too much or damage the crowns.  Then we covered it in a layer of hay for the imminent winter snow cover.  It didn't take much, only 40 square feet of garden, so maybe half the package we bought from Ace.  I'm not sure what we will do with the hay in the spring.  I guess we'll see what it lookes like in the spring.  I'd like to say 'have a happy winter,' but I hate it too much.  So how's this; I hope you survive winter well!

Waiting For The Frost

I may be late posting but I did have my wife take these pics a few days ago, on the 16th.  I'm not sure how much longer I will continue these bi-monthly updates.  Maybe until I can walk out there myself, or snow...

Again a close up pic of the strawberry bed.  I'm becoming fearful that Kate doesn't want me to see the runners that have hit the lawn.  That's all I need, they would be like any other weed in my lawn.  I hope my leg finishes healing soon so I can walk back there myself.

Early October

Tis October and officially autumn now.  Kate has dried tons of herbs but there will be much gone to waste.  The chives are especially hard to dry.

The strawberry bed still looks lush and green.  That may change very soon.  If it didn't frost last night then it probably will tonight.

Nights Are Cooling

It's mid-September and the herbs are looking a bit overgrown.  Kate said she was going to pick the rest of the basil tonight.  Temps will be in the upper 40's overnight the next few nights.

The strawberry bed is still healthy.  It may be time to look up the best way to winterize the area.



Welcome to September

While I may be a bit incapacitated right now, the blog must go on!   Kate went out and took the pics for me this time.  As you can see it is nothing exciting, it's all just a bit bigger if anything.  The food dehydrator is working on a full batch of basil right now and earlier this afternoon (after these pics) a friend left with a big bag full of stuff.

The strawberry bed in the east garden is still looking good for next year.  Updates have been rather boring lately, but I'm still glad I'm doing it.  It's our first garden, after all.  I will probably continue this somewhat next year.  I'm sure we will be doing things a bit differently in the west garden, perhaps early and late yielding plants as well.  And the strawberries, well, I'll predict right now a bumper crop!

Not Much Change

The middle of August is here and, well, there hasn't been much change.  The herbs may be a bit bigger, still a rediculous amount.  I think Kate has a food dehydrator picked out to save a bunch of it for future use.  Perhaps we can give some away for the holidays this year?  I'll have to suggest that to her.






The strawberry plants continue to thrive and multiply.  I hope this is a real good sign for the spring.  When I think back to how we started with plants in a grid and squirrels constantly digging them up, I am very pleased with their progress.



Below is a close-up pic.  Kinda looks like a jungle in there, huh?