Garden and project updates – May 14

So the garden is coming along.  Things are looking much less gloomy produce-wise than they were in April, and it looks like we may actually harvest something sometime.  Maybe. Here’s a picture of the north bed.  I just planted some pepper plants (a jalapeño and a bell), and we’ve got some spinach, romaine, and a few other lettuces growing.  The radishes are doing fantastic.  Remember how I only had a few random sprouts in there last month?  Well, I don’t know what I was thinking, because they’re not radishes AT ALL.  Now that those are growing, I don’t know how I could have ever mistaken the one for the other.  Obviously I’m still a noob at this sort of thing.  I think they must be green onions that never sprouted last year, but they got a new lease on life when I turned the soil to prepare for this year.  It will be fun to find out!  Some things are taking longer to sprout than others because they just weren’t getting enough water.  I spent part of yesterday afternoon doing some very technical work on the soaker hose—also know as “sticking a needle in the soaker hose to make more holes to make it soak just a bit more.”  It seemed to work pretty well and it looks like all of the squares are getting saturated now.  And here’s the east bed: The oregano is TAKING OFF.  Seriously.  Does anyone need oregano?  It’s yummy!  I’ve got beets, sage, arugula, chard, green onions (that I actually planted), carrots and basil growing in this bed.  I’ve also planted beans and watermelon, but I forgot to put a mesh cover on them, so I hope the birds don’t get them before I can get around to doing that. Flowers are doing great.  Here’s the north flower bed: And the other angle: Someone’s adorable kid wanted to be in the picture.  The salvias have already gone through their first bloom, but they’re still attracting tons of bees.  I only have one Jupiter’s beard blooming at the moment.  I lost 2 due to the freeze, and the others were divided to get me free plants, so I have to wait until they get a little bigger.  It’s too bad, because they’re my favorite.  I moved all the penstemons around since they weren’t performing very well, and I’m pretty sure it’s because they were too crowded.  Sure enough, as soon as they got a little space, they took off: The guy on the top left is one of the penstemons.  He’s about twice as big as he was a few weeks ago.  Also in the picture are daylilies (newly divided), a mum, and a few other new guys to fill things out a bit.  Should look really good next year.  Question: at what point do you pinch back mums?  Mine are already budding.  Is it too late to do it now? Here are a few more detail shots of the north bed.  Everything is xeric, which makes me want to give myself a pat on the back since we’re in the middle of a MAJOR drought.  If we have to cut off water, we shouldn’t lose too many of these plants.  Lawn, yes.  Plants, no.  And that’s good, because it’s a lot easier to reseed a lawn than plant forty thousand perennials. Yarrows, catmint (love this filler plant and it attracts TONS of bees), and artemesia. Jupiter’s beard, daylily, blanket flower, hummingbird trumpet, echinacea, and sedum “Autumn Joy.”  You can see the post of our bird feeder.  We get millions of birds and this thing is empty in a day.  I’m going to have to start buying bird seed at Costco. A bird of paradise that I think might be dead (even if it’s not, it’s coming out because it takes way to long to leaf and flower), agastache (in the background), artemesia, mum, tickseed, and hummingbird trumpet.  Obviously most of these are not blooming yet, but they will.  Oh yes they will!   Forsythia, catmint, salvias, daylilies, and tickseed. Our grapes seem to be taking off this year.  We even have tiny little grapes growing!!  I’m so excited for the pergola to be covered in gorgeous grape leaves and juicy fruit. The east flower bed finally got some plants this year, thanks in part to a Groupon for High Country Gardens. Drip lines are all installed, and the mulching is waiting on cucumber plants to be planted.  You can see the charcoal remains of a near disaster on the right.  Aaron used hickory while his was smoking the ribs, and then forgot about them the next day when he grilled steaks (gotta love the grill in the summer time!).  It’s precarious, because you’ll remember that right now our grill in situated like this: Except now there’s even more stuff on the cement: a slide, a teeter totter, a sand and water table, four bags of mulch and all the kid toys.  So, yes, it was a fire hazard.  The kids came screaming into the kitchen that the grill was on fire, and there were huge flames coming out of the back of the grill.  We were afraid that the grill cart (the blue thing on the table, which is where grill carts are obviously supposed to go) had caught on fire.  Fortunately not, but it did provide a lot of excitement for our otherwise lazy Sunday afternoon. I don’t have a picture of the west bed, since there really isn’t much to see yet.  The rasberries and blackberries are leafing out, and I’m hoping that we’ll have a huge delicious crop this year. So there’s the garden.  Patio updates will be forthcoming, since I’m taking a break from the patio, and Aaron is out there working all by his lonesome.  So back out I go…

Garden Update—Beginning of April

I wish I had some great photos of happy seedlings to post.  But I’ve got a big fat nothing.  I ordered my seeds, and they took FOREVER to arrive.  (Note to self: no ordering from Pinetree Garden Seeds next year!)  I was NOT happy.  So I was finally able to plant seeds in the middle of March (grrrr…).  And here’s my handy dandy little diagram of what I’m planting/will be planting (fingers crossed) for spring: Only problem?  Nothing’s growing except three radish plants, two of which are NOT where I planted them.  The parsley, sage, oregano and thyme all overwintered, so they’re also growing.  So 7 plants out of a bajillion.  Good thing I didn’t plant everything all at once! (My errant radishes) Suspected problems: 1.  Wind.  The wind is terrible here in the spring.  This could disturb any seeds that were planted towards the surface (most of your teeny seeds) and dry the soil out quicker. 2.  Water.  Raised beds drain well.  That’s good and bad.  I think my soil’s drying out quickly, and I haven’t been amazing at watering every day by hand.  I have my soaker line set up, but there are some problems with the main line that it’s hooked up to, and I haven’t been able to turn on automatic watering yet.  3.  Birds.  There have been several fat robins that have taken to digging for worms and other bugs in the garden.  I love the birds, and it’s good that there are worms in the soil, but they’re disturbing the seeds/seedlings. 4.  I have no idea what on earth I’m doing and I’m just pretending to garden.  Very likely. (Sad barren garden with non-operating soakers) Possible solutions: 1.  Mulch.  I’m going to locate some straw (or hay?  I can’t remember which one it is you’re supposed to use) to mulch.  This will protect the seeds from the wind (hopefully).  It should also help with the water problem and possibly with the birds. 2.  Water.  I’m trying to be better about watering daily.  As soon as I can, I’ll get the soakers set up so that it will go automatically. 3.  Floating row covers.  I found a place that makes fabulous row covers to protect from the elements and critters.  Not in the gardening budget for this year, but I want some for next year. 4.  Try, try again. (At least there are a few spots of green in this one.  You can also see that we were one board short in finishing our dividers.  Sad!  Finishing this is somewhere in the list of projects.) I’m not going to put out my second set of seeds until I have some mulch, and I’m hoping to find that by early this week so I can get them in before it gets ridiculously hot around here.  It was 80 degrees this week, so my window of opportunity is narrowing.  And if nothing works, there’s always summer and fall plantings.  And next year!  Anyone know good sources for hay/straw around here?

Time to think about gardening

Last year I was asked by several people to let them know when and what I was planting. It would also be good for me to start keeping better notes of what it is that I’m planting, so here’s a start. (Transplanting some grasses. Love my hat? This white girl needs some sun protection.) Last frost in Albuquerque is generally April 17. This means that there are a lot of things you can start planting in the next few weeks! Yay!!! So start thinking about your spring crops. It’s also a good time to get your plants started that you’ll be transplanting out later on in the year. I’ve tried growing my own seeds to set out, but I’ve had very little success. Our only windows in our house are north facing (except the one in my closet) and those plants don’t get nearly enough sun, even when I have a grow light rigged. And can I tell you how many times I’ve picked up plants off the floor and tried to rescue tender little seedlings after a rowdy game of who-knows-what? So no transplants for me, at least not in this house. I’ll just buy them at the store for now, even though it costs a million times as much as buying a packet of seeds. But now’s the time to think about them and get them going if you are going to be doing that. (Carrots from our fall harvest) Some spring crops to think about: Broccoli—although I did not have any success with this the one year I tried. It grew huge and took over but never got any broccoli from it. Cabbage—never tried this, since I figured it’s dirt cheap in the store. But could be fun if you have extra space. Parsley—transplants can grow in the ground 5 weeks before last frost. I found it tricky to start from seed, so I just bought mine. Definitely worth planting a few of these, since you can harvest throughout the growing season and into early winter. I definitely prefer Italian (or flat-leaf) parsley over the curly variety for cooking. It has a much better flavor. Peas—classic spring vegetable. Can direct sow 5 weeks before last frost. Spinach—I love growing spinach. I’ve needed to protect it from birds when the sprouts are little, but it’s super easy to grow and tastes delicious. Cauliflower—same story as with broccoli. Anyone know what I did wrong? Or is it just tough to grow in ABQ? Lettuce—Another favorite. I prefer looseleaf lettuces to those that form a head since they seem a lot less finicky and you can harvest continually. Cos (romaine) lettuces and buttercrunch are especially great. I’m trying arugula this year as well so that I can make some arugula pesto. Onions—I’ve never tried full-sized onions, but my green onions failed. This was probably my fault. I think it’d be really fun to grow some onions in a half-barrel. And I could do that in the front yard since rabbits don’t like onions. Beets—I’m going to try these this year. I’ve heard that beet greens are fantastic in salad. Carrots—I’ve tried a few times and finally had success last fall. They were delicious and didn’t take up much space, so I think it’s worth the effort. Radishes—tried one year and they were nasty and woody, but I think it was the variety I tried. I’m giving these another shot. Swiss chard—never tried this, but it’s so pretty that I thought I’d give it a go. I’ve heard it’s pretty fail-proof. We’ll see. (Pie made from the raspberries in our garden) I’m putting my seed order in right now, and here are the varieties that I’ve selected: Carrots: Nantes (seeds from last year), Cosmic Purple, Atomic Red, St Valery Lettuce: Buttercrunch, Freckles, and a few variety packets I have from last year Radishes: French Breakfast, Easter Egg Beets: Early Wonder, Golden Beet Swiss Chard: Bright Lights Arugula: the variety isn’t named, but it’s supposed to mature in 38 days. Sounds good to me! (Our square foot garden in early spring 2009. We’ve got wood dividers now, so it looks a little better than that.) I’ll also go through my seeds and plant whatever peas and spinach I have on hand. And you can bet that I’ll be putting in several parsley plants. I’m so excited to get a start on my garden this year!! What are you planting?

Raspberry Picking

I can’t tell you enough how much I love having raspberry bushes in our backyard.  They’re not huge.  They’re not many in number.  But they produce generously.  During the late summer and early fall we can pick some nearly every day.  We love fresh raspberry muffins and raspberry-peach pie.  But raspberries are at there best right off the bush.  I sent Averi and Paul outside this morning to get out of my hair to get some fresh air.  It had been a while since I harvested raspberries, and the bushes must have been too appealing, because Averi decided she was going to eat harvest them for me.  And since she looked adorable in her rain jacket and striped tights, I had to grab the camera.     Do you love her Frankenstein tattoo bracelet?  That thing has been on there forever!  I promise I do give her baths. When Paul realized I wasn’t getting after them for eating all of Mom’s raspberries (yes, they’re MINE, and I choose to share them at my pleasure), he started shoveling them in so fast he nearly choked. Notice the juice running down his chin.  You have to eat a lot of raspberries to get that to happen. In the spring I planted some wildflower seeds in an empty corner of the yard, and we had a few blooms throughout the season, but nothing too impressive.  Then the cosmos burst into bloom in September and provided a refreshing splash of color in the garden, since all the other flowers were going to bed for the winter.  Definitely planting those again!     Averi’s version of stopping and smelling the cosmos.   I love Paul’s expression in the last three pictures.  They are so him. And this is why I plant a garden.

My Garden

I was flipping through a notebook we have, and in it Aaron and I had listed several goals that we had when we were first married. I had to laugh at some of them (I'm nowhere close to playing the harp, and we're not going to Greece any time soon), but there were some I had forgotten about that are goals I still want to work on. I had forgotten that even back then I wanted to learn how to garden. I dabbled last year, and I'm thrilled with how my flower bed is taking off this spring. I used xeric plants that I purchase from High Country Garden, and they are doing so well. My favorite is the Jupiter's beard; one of my plants has gotten so huge and its pink flowers are so cheerful. The salvias I planted are also very nice. They were the first ones to bloom, and they attract a ton of bees. This is a very good thing, as we need bees for our garden and it gives the kids an added incentive to stay out of the flower bed. (This was taken almost a month ago, so it's filled out a ton since then.) I planted several extra filler plants, so hopefully the flower bed will be completely filled out by the end of the summer. And since I used xeric plants, they require very little care! I'm having mixed results with my vegetable garden, but I think overall it's doing pretty well. Here's a rundown of the things I've planted: Lettuce: Looking GREAT!!! I can't wait to pick some! Spinach: Birds ate these when they were young, so I lost at least half the crop. But what's left is doing really well. Note to self: cover for next year! Radishes: AMAZING!! Nearly ready to harvest. Carrots: Nada. I did look this up, and apparently you should cover the seeds when you plant them, so maybe the birds got these as well. Green onions: Fine. They don't seem to have grown much lately, though. Broccoli/cauliflower: Okay, I think. I lost two at transplanting, and I have 2 more that look like they might be on their way out. The transplants were quite leggy since I hadn't figured out the whole "grow light" thing, so I thought they might have a hard time. The other half seem to be doing okay, but I'm not getting as much growth as I would have thought by now. Tomatoes: Something (another bird, I think) snapped one of the transplants in half, but the other 3 seem to be doing okay. Since I grew these from seed, I'll be thrilled if that's the only one I have to replace. Right now I've got an Early Girl Hybrid, an 85/100 cherry tomato, and a Brandywine. The Better Boy Hybrid is the one that bit the dust, but those are easy to find around here. Peppers: My peppers I was growing from seed had a hard time of it (it's so difficult to keep them regularly moist!), so only one of those survived, but the 2 I got from Rachael are doing well, so I've got 3 bell pepper plants that seem to be doing just fine. I just planted some poblano seeds, so I'm hoping those will grow well so we can make some chile rellenos! Cilantro: Just transplanted 3 of these this weekend, so hopefully they'll survive. We use TONS of cilantro. Celery: Totally fried. I'm wondering if the spot they were in was just too hot. Raspberries: These are looking really good. They're starting to send out runners, so I'm really looking forward to having a good crop in a year or two. Radishes (foreground) and lettuce I've still got to put in some beans, cucumbers, zucchini, and a few more herbs, but most of those will wait until it warms up even more.