"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Update on the edibles.

I've been keeping an eye on things in our "side yard".  This is where the majority of our fruits, vegetables and herbs are grown.  I've found seeds sprouting, buds opening and new growth appearing.  Almost everything is looking very good so far.
facing south

In my daughter's raised bed I've found that the red onion sets
and bush peas are sprouting.
She just replanted her sugar snap peas since the first batch never grew.
In the next bed down, the blueberries are all continuing to put out lots of flowerbuds.  I don't think the last cold spell we had damaged them, so that is a relief.  These are the flowers from 'Misty'.  It is usually evergreen and has the prettiest blue-green leaves.
I've got lettuce planted at the front of the beds since the bushes give that area bit of shade.  I noticed that the romaine lettuce is starting to sprout. 
In the next bed down I just planted some broccoli 'Early Dividend' starts.  I wasn't going to plant it this year, but saw the starts and decided I might as well.  In the front of the bed I planted the garlic that I got at the SAGBUTT meeting from Molly of Life on Tiger Mountain.
In the next bed is a fig tree 'Dessert King'.  It's supposed to be a good one for the Northwest.  I'm not really that into figs, but my husband really wanted to try.   I've got strawberries under it right now, at some point they may not get enough sun.  For now the strawberries are usually  pretty far along by the time the fig leaves get very large.  
Something else my husband really wanted to try was hops.  He's been known to make his own home brew before.  In fact he made a special batch for our wedding reception.  He thought it would be fun to try growing his own and see how they turned out.  Last year we had a cool summer so they didn't really do much.  I was surprised to see them popping up out of the ground here.  I told him he needs to put something together for the hops to grow up, since they can get quite tall.
The herbs are planted in pots and in other random places in the side yard.  The chives are looking good, the rosemary, oregano and sage look pretty beat up.  I may have to replace them this year.  
There is a pot of mint that is just coming back to life.  I've got basil started inside that will also go over here.  The tomatoes and zucchini will also end up in this part of the yard, and I'm beginning to wonder where they will all go.  I may try some tomatoes in large black pots this summer.  My Poppa (grandfather) always grew them in pots on the deck of my grandparents condo and always had good luck with them that way.
  facing north

Now we just need some sun and warmer weather and we'll have lots to eat!
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16 comments:

  1. The warmer weather will come, Catherine: we've had a taste of it today, not hot, but at least spring-like, and I hear the sound of snow melting out my windows. Seriously. :-)

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  2. Your raised beds look great for your vegetables. They look quite high - that must be quite comfortable for gardening too!

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  3. This is an amazing garden you have. Are you able to harvest a lot of produce?

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  4. Everything seems to be coming up nicely. How high are your beds? I keep thinking ours should be taller? The fig tree sounds interesting. Have you gotten much fruit from it?

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  5. Your side rise beds are amazing. I can't wait to see them full in the summer.

    Happy Spring.

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  6. How cool to make your own beer and grow the ingredients. Very neat! Those beds look pretty great.

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  7. Your boxes are sure nice- I bet they are great to work in too. I was wondering if you can tell me about your experiences with the winter sowing idea from wintersown.org- wonderful idea- email me!

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  8. Looking good, Catherine! I'm ashamed to say that I have yet to put Molly's garlic in. I hope it's still okay, I vow to do it tomorrow rain or shine. Love all that you have growing, and the ones that don't bounce back from winter will just have to be replaced. The herbs you mentioned that are looking ratty are the same here. Strangely, most of my thyme came through fine, I thought that would get hit for sure. Oh, I just read something about not cutting back daphne hard even if it has dropped leaves. Did you resist the urge?

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  9. Hi Catherine

    Give those hops some room. They don't hang about once they get going

    Rob

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  10. Wow, your raised beds look great and you have so much to look forward to. I've got a couple of containers of tomatoes, one of bell peppers, and others of various herbs.

    Enjoy watching everything come to life.

    FlowerLady

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  11. It is certainly easier to manage beg in raised beds but do you not find they need a lot more watering in dry weather?

    They certainly look nice.

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  12. Everything looks promising in your veggie patches, Catherine. How great to have a family full of gardeners! Blueberries! I, in fact, asked a friend of mine to bring these seeds when she came to India (she's in States right now)

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  13. It all looks great around your place. Keep us updated on the hops and the brew making, that sounds like fun to me!!

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  14. Thank you for all your comments! I will definitely keep you updated, especially on the hops and if he gets any for his home brew!
    These beds are probably 2 or so feet high. They are great to work in. They actually don't dry out too badly. I think they are big enough and it helps to retains the water that way.
    The fig produced a small amount last year, but I think once they are established you can get more than you can use.

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  15. I have been thinking about growing a fig tree. I am rather fond of the green skinned variety of figs.
    Your raised beds sure are nice.

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