Showing posts with label bale garden 2017. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bale garden 2017. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Straw Bale Garden - June 27th

Good day! I took some pics this morning so here is a quick update. :)



My huge mess of a garden is continuing to grow! (At least we finally mowed the lawn, am I right?!?!?!) You can see that the tomatoes are growing up the trellis to the right, falling into the lawn in the middle, and that zucchini, squash, and cantaloupe are taking over the right side of the trellis.

I should note that we did tie up the fallen tomatoes in the middle shortly after I took this picture. 

I'm not sure whether you can tell or not, but you can see a couple of the random "accidental" plants growing in this picture. Those are the plants that came up from the seeds my little Koala dropped around the place. Especially visible is the zucchini in the middle of my yard just above the cabbage in the center of the picture. 

There are also bean plants growing to the bottom right of those center tomato plants. She dropped those on the ground in front of the tomato bales. Apparently, those seeds like it there. ;)



Here are some of the plants from the right side of the garden. There is no trellis here. Maybe next year!

Spaghetti squash is across the back. Carrot seeds are to the front left. Bush beans (long green snapping beans) are center front, and the leaves of my broccoli plant are visible to the right. Not pictured are the potatoes which live deep inside the back of these bales. This is my first time planting potatoes. They have not come up yet. Fingers crossed!!



This looks like absolutely nothing, am I right? We mowed over several of the zucchini plants growing up out of the yard. Two are left. This is the second. There are also baby tomato plants in there. Can you see them? Those are probably also going to get mowed over. For now, they were gone around carefully with a weed-eater. 



My bell pepper plants (emerald and also california wonder) are finally growing for real. They seemed to struggle this entire spring. I have not yet figured out what to place in the bale beside them. I am looking for a good companion plant. (Hopefully something that will do well but will not vine off into my neighbor's yard!) 

You can also see that the different varieties of spinach are growing well in the foreground. ;) Giraffe planted those herself! They are in the planter we first grew tomatoes in on the small deck of our second story apartment. :)



My herbs are doing alright. The basil bolted, of course. Then a heavy rain came through and knocked it over sideways. :/ 

There is another plant growing in that straw between the green basil and the purple basil. It looks like a straight stick with greenish-reddish leaves. I have no clue what it is. I should probably pull it but I am curious to see what it grows into.


This is my Giraffe's tomato plant. She planted it in this bale away from the trellis. It got quite tall and heavy. now it has slumped forward down onto the lawn. I really need to get on it and stake the poor thing up somehow.

I didn't take a lot of pictures this morning. The strawberry is doing well. We planted it over by our lilac starts (which are also doing well). 

The lettuce varieties are all continuing to produce delicious treats. 

The celery continues to grow, unmolested and with little attention paid. We water and fertilize but otherwise leave it alone. 

Cabbages are doing great. The pumpkin and watermelon (or is it cucamelon) are growing. 

Cucumbers continue to disappoint. The vine is still single and the produce has been quite small. I need to seed in more of these little guys. Last year, we were up to our eyeballs in cukes. 

Spaghetti squash is off and running, with many little guys growing on the vine. The squash borers have already gotten to this vine. :( :( :( I'm hoping that it can put down additional roots in the grass and save itself. I am not sure that it can. :( 

Butternut squash has been planted for my Dad/in his memory. We have four wee plants setting root into bales right now.

I have yet to see the carrots sprout but I am sincerely hoping that they will. If not, I may have to give up on them for the year. I do know that bird are *really* fond of carrot sprouts. It is entirely possible that they are getting to my carrots before I am out to see if they've sprouted. I haven't been able to get a mesh plant cover yet. I really need to.

Anyway, that's what is growing in our neck of the woods. :) I have long since quit naming each variety of every plant that we have. If you are curious you can always check that link here

Happy summer, everyone! :)

Monday, June 19, 2017

My Big, Fat, Sloppy Garden - June 19th, 2017

I'm going to jump right in, okay? I planted my garden this year, in part to assuage some of the intense grief I have been experiencing. That same grief has made me lazy about doing what I need to make it a beautiful garden. For instance, there are posts and trellises which still aren't up. I need a new soaker hose installed and have yet to buy one. I need to tie tomatoes to the existing frame so they grow upward, rather than fall on the ground. 

Additionally, I sort of know where my plants are and sort of don't. The kids put them in so only the tomatoes are 'where they belong'. lol Add to the grief the fact that my blood sugar is wildly off. I have been crazy-dizzy and sleepy trying to bring it back down. There is a lot of work to be done and I have not had the oomph to do anything but let the dern thing grow! Hence the title, "My Big, Fat, Sloppy Garden". It is just that! Yikes! See for yourself!

A view from the front reveals tomato plants simultaneously growing up and falling over. Yipes! You can see that giraffe's zucchini (in the back bales) is massive. The spaghetti squash are growing down the side of the bales. Yes, even the lawn needs mowed! I couldn't afford it two weeks ago. I hope to this weekend but that is iffy.
This side is Koala's. She has cucumber, watermelon or cucamelon (we're not sure which is growing, since only one plant showed up), cucumber, zucchini, and beans. Giraffe's pumpkin is growing out to the rear right of the pine tree. That tree was tiny when we first moved in! I've been dropping our produce scraps under it every garden year. You can see it has taken off!
This is a rear view of my messy yard and garden. :) There are more tomatoes, zucchini, spaghetti squash, cantaloupe, zucchini, pumpkin... a variety, basically. I do not come down the hill at all. Giraffe 'owns' this entire side of the garden. :) She is quite proud of her work. Really, who can blame her? We started nearly all of this from seeds!







Our herbs continue to grow... even if our basil has completely bolted. You can see here that Giraffe's wild flowers are growing, as well. There are too many in the pot but they are pretty to look at, even so.







My cauliflower is pretty much covering everything small that I would show you in this photo. You can see that we have been hit with cabbage moths, butterflies, and worms. They are full-on happy to be living in our yard, let me tell you!

To the left is a green bucket full of lettuce. They are all up by the house because they need shade. Our sun is relentless from sunup to sundown. 

In front are two smaller buckets. The gray holds green romaine lettuce. The blue (under the cauliflower leaves) holds celery. I also have a tub full of radishes growing around the cauliflower plants.

This bucket was only supposed to hold my green acre and red acre cabbage. However, it is fairly obvious that my little Koala saw fit to tuck tomato seeds in there! I keep telling myself that I will murder this tomato plant and get it out of there! Then I take a look at the stellar thick stems and I lose heart. How can one murder such a strong plant? 

My three red acre cabbages all have these beautiful little heads now. They are (in my opinion) the most beautiful members of my garden!! 


The green acre cabbage is just now growing. I fear they will not have a good chance to really take root. The cabbage bugs have been brutal. Also, this morning when we were seeding carrots into an empty bale, I saw my little pie sneak a few into this container! CHILD!!! lol
You can see that my planter of spinach has really boomed over the last week. They so enjoyed the rain! I am clipping them off as I need them. I truly love baby spinach! 

You can barely peep my pepper plants in the bale behind the spinach. They are finally growing better. Fx'd!


I am including a couple of photos of my basil. yes, I know that it has bolted. Even so, you can see that a fuzzy bumble bee is happily pollinating each flower. 







Such a happy little guy, no? :)




This pic is a closer look at my red acre cabbage. Can you see the beautiful baby head? :) I have three total. They bring me *such* joy! The dirt in these planters were dead when I got them. I prayed for them to revive as I tenderly fertilized and worked the soil in each. My heart blooms like the plants each holds. I'm so glad that I could use them! I love you, Dad! I miss you! <3 
I know that I did not cover all of the varieties of veggies and fruit again. Let's be honest; that's not going to happen! lol Maybe I will get the energy (or stop being so dizzy) and go out to hit you with one plant at a time later. At this rate, I doubt it. My garden this year has a mind of its own. The plants are mixing and intertwining. Their only thought is to grow. Who am I to interfere with that? 

I'll leave you with this. It is the picture of only one of the zucchini plants growing 'wildly' in my yard. By wild, I mean that they do not belong there. haha My little Koala helped seed directly into bales after we had placed our other starts out there. Both zucchini and tomato plants are now adorning my lawn here and there. What did I expect to happen from one so small? Yes, my garden this year has a mind of its own. I am 100% okay with that. :) <3 :) <3 :) <3 :) <3 :) <3 

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Straw Bale Garden 2017: So it Begins

Take one look at my very spring-y, messy backyard and you will know it is true: we are at it again! :)

Straw bale gardening is underway at our little home. Spring 2017 limped into view but is now fully underway. 

See that mess, folks? That's pure joy and contentment right there.
Happy little garden sticks poking up out of the dirt smile at me through the glass all day long. This little guy (and his companion) came from the local Dollar Tree. That's a buck well spent, I think.

These buckets and planters are extra-special to me. My husband brought them home from my parents' home after my dad passed away and right before my momma moved out-of-state for good. 

The little ones and I intend to plant lettuce, spinach, and possibly also cabbage plants into these planters. For now, they've been fertilized and watered.
Things are sprouting inside the house, as we speak. :) This year, I purchased a 4' long grow light so my seedlings could grow better, faster. Pictured in the forefront to the left are my little Cherry Belle radishes. I will be adding more seeds to bales when it is time to plant, of course. :) 
My cucumbers are really taking off. It is going to really upset me to thin them out. I probably should have by now but oh, how I hate to do that!

These guys prove that my long little grow lamp is doing its job. Any other year, these would be tall and wiry instead of having thick, strong leaves. I am so pleased about this!
Giraffe is most excited about the zucchini. She has high hopes for a massive, productive plant again this year. 

Her plant did beautifully last year until squash bugs attacked. We had no clue what was happening, having never experienced this particular pest previously. It was an awful experience!
B.R.O.C.C.O.L.I.... just sayin'

If the broccoli plants survive thinning and continue to grow, this will be the first time we have grown them from seed to harvesting. We are all pretty stoked about this possibility! Steamed, cheesed, or on a cold veggie pizza, all of us but the hubs love eating the small trees of this particular plant. :) 


This lone sprout holds large tomato hopes and dreams! :D Known as the 'Brandywine', it produces sandwich-sized pink, fleshy tomatoes that have a rich, deep, practically-perfect-in-every-way flavor. I would have to call this the "Mary Poppins" of tomatoes! 



Don't let these two unimpressive sprouts fool you. See the name on the stick? Steakhouse tomatoes, baby! Look it up! :D These wee sprouts purportedly grow into monster-fruit producers! Seriously, pop on over to the Burpee website and look at their photo of the magnificent Steakhouse tomato potential! Eeeekk! I can't wait!


Last year, we had *such* luck with our spaghetti squash that we simply *had* to have them again. In fact, at the beginning of April, my mom still had a small spaghetti squash left from our 2016 garden! These guys grow well, quickly, and mass-produce delicious buttery-tasting squashy innards we cannot wait to devour!


One of our 'newcomers' for the 2017 garden season is cauliflower. It is true, I also need to thin these guys out. It is just so hard to do!

We have never grown our own cauliflower but we *do* love eating it. Grow little guys, grow! :D

---------------------------------------

OKAY... I have a million more plants and only a dozen or so more pictures. This blog post is already running long so I will try to list out what all else is in seed trays or on the docket for the season. :) I believe we have around 35 this time.

Tomato Varieties
Early Girl (My favorite 'tangy' tomato from last year... very acidic!)
Steakhouse (The hopefully monster-sized tomato!)

Big Rainbow (Large like a beefsteak, yellow/red/orange in color.)
Sunrise Bumblebee (Tiny like a cherry tomato but yellow/red striped.)

Mirabelle Blanche (Tiny yellow/orange, very sweet)
Red Cherry (large fruited cherry tomatoes)
Brandywine (large pinkish-red hue)
Beefsteak (the original big bad boy)
Abe Lincoln


Squash
Spaghetti Squash
Butternut Squash (growing in honor/memory of my dad)
Dark Green Zucchini Squash
"Big Max" Pumpkin (supposedly huge *and* edible)
Small Sugar Pumpkin


Melons
Congo Watermelon (Supposed to be huge!)
Hales Best Cantaloupe 


Cruciferous Veggies
Snow Crown Cauliflower
Waltham Broccoli
Cherry Belle Radish

Golden Acre Cabbage
Red Acre Cabbage


Carrots
Tendersweet 


Peppers
Sweet Emerald Giant (green bell
 pepper)
Sweet California Wonder (mixed colors)

Cucumbers
Tendergreen
Muncher
Straight Eight


Beans
Top Crop Bush Beans (long green beans for snapping)


Lettuce
Black Seeded Simpson (we grew this last year with great results/flavor)
Arianna (new to us... can't wait to try)

Summer Bibb (named such for its tiny bib-shaped leaves)
Red Romaine (thought it was high time for some color)

Spinach
Bloomsdale
Giant Noble

New Zealand

Strawberries

Potatoes
Russet
Red


This is more than we have ever attempted before. Almost all of it is organic. I believe that my dad would be proud. <3