It's been busy in the MoneyPenny garden the last few weeks.
The garden beds have taken much longer than expected. Of the 8 we have planned, only 3 are complete.
The tomatoes are in now, as are all the peppers, potatoes, and the fruit trees, bushes and plants. Some of our herbs are coming up, others, like the basil plant, got frostbite and died. So our basil will be late this year, the freshly planted basil is still tiny.
We have 5 more garden beds to go. Only one or two more will get done this year, and then we'll prep new beds over the next two years while we plant in the existing space.
We recently made a decision to postpone the rebuild of our small barn in order to finish more of the garden space. Our garden will be smaller than we hoped this year, but a large portion of it will be ready to plant for us next year, and once summer rolls around, we will be able to focus entirely on the barn. We're stopping the barn rebuild after the old building gets knocked down and the foundation gets poured.
My tomatoes have begun to flower in earnest, and there are teeny buds on the pepper plants. Two pumpkins are thriving and blossoming, as well as a couple of melons and acorn squash.
Only one cucumber survived our planting delays, unfortunately, so it's going to be a light cucumber year. Same with the beans. But oh well, there's always next year. The cabbage plants from my Moms are growing strong, along with some asian cabbage we planted from seed - as long as I keep chasing off the cabbage moths.
Add to that the rhubarb that seems to be settling in for the long haul, and it will be a productive garden indeed.
On a fruit front, our apple and cherry tree are turning from sticks into real trees, and the transplanted raspberries and blackberries are budding up nicely. Our strawberries have not survived the chipmunk infestation we're experiencing, so we're taking measures. Right now, just some deterrent, but if they keep eating my berries, and digging up my sweet potatoes, and chomping the herbs, they may find themselves in a more precarious position.
Note to other gardeners: chipmunks are cute in someone else's yard.
We are hoping to begin harvesting a few munchies in just a few short weeks. It's amazing that July is almost here. Summer seems to just fly by.
In addition to the vegetable garden, the flower garden is also blooming. While we worked on our 'garden of eating', we neglected the poor flower beds, which have become infested with weeds, so this past weekend I started working on weeding and mulching the flower beds. We've had 4 yards of mulch sitting in the driveway for about 7 weeks, but really, you can't rush these things. It's slow going, but well worth it.
Something's gotten to our rose bushes, so I'll be taking a few leaves down to the garden center this week for their help and expertise. I love roses, and I'd hate to lose ours.
The first garden bed my husband built was for our potatoes and sweet potatoes. There are three now. I'll add pictures of it's current state when it stops raining.
1 comment:
We've been haunted by the chipmunks, as well. They got all our strawberries, and no new berries are growing on the vines, though they are spreding like wildfire! We're hoping some chicken wire around the barrel the strawberries are planted in will hold them off next year.
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