Garden Update – June 27
I’m just giddy at how well my garden is doing! It’s almost like cheating to have brand new raised beds and fresh blended topsoil. So far we’re eating all of the lettuce varieties and I’m very impressed with the curly red-leaf variety from Al’s and, of course, the Romaine is always a favorite. Not sure about the Chinese cabbage though. It’s enormous and almost too much of a good thing. I’m thinking it’s too aggressive for a raised-bed space. Ben’s also chowing on his favorite Nasturtiums. He loves the spicy stuff.
We’ve also been taking advantage of the basil and cilantro. You just cannot beat fresh pesto. And, while I was shopping for some new cilantro plants for a little succession planting, I discovered a red leaf basil at Al’s. It smells absolutely wonderful and I can’t wait to make some purple pesto. Love it!
More garden news:
– Curly green lettuce (from seed) is ready for cutting
– I’ve got my first zucchini 🙂
– The ever-bearing strawberries have been a real treat (for me and the deer*)
– Lots of green tomatoes and peppers
– Sweet snap peas are climbing high on the “tomato” cages with peas almost ready for eating. My planting secret: Dig 1/2 inch deep, 1 ft diameter circle, throw in 10-12 pea seeds, cover with dirt and plop a tomato cage in the middle. It works fantastic. The deer* have found my peas as well this year, but so far have only nibbled the tops off of one cage (I have 4).
– Bean plants and lemon cucumbers are looking good, but no fruit yet.
– Onions are tasty and growing great. I planted a lot so I could use some as babies and some as full-size later.
– Pumpkin plants are growing big, but no flowers
– Potatoes are proving hard to keep up with. I think I’m done mounding on the dirt for this year
*Deer: We do not have a deer fence this year, since we had to move the garden. It’s a risky game we’re playing, but so far the damage has been very minimal. I’ve received a lot of advice and here are my favorites: have the boys pee around the garden, hang nylon socks full of human hair around the garden and scatter dog poop around the garden. I think I’ll try the hair since the other options will make me want to stay away too!
