Sometimes when I'm talking to people and I groan about weeding, adding that "we have a big garden", some people reply, "oh, we have a big garden too." I always feel like saying, "um, you don't understand; we have a
BIG garden."
Our garden has a little over 50 10x3 feet beds, not including the orchard area. Yes, I'm sure there are many people whose gardens are bigger than ours, but it's not usually likely, unless they grow for a living or are homesteading.
I'd like to take you on a little tour today. Here the kids are, helping us spread grass mulch on the plants.
They're in the main fenced garden. In the foreground, you can see the north-side fenced garden where spinach, edible pod peas, and potatoes are growing.
The west end of this north garden has dh's "experiment". He's growing wheat this year, both to feed the chickens and also to use as straw bedding in the fowl hut. It's an experiment because he originally had put in wheat just as a winter cover and intended to pull it out in early spring. He got busy and the plants got too big, so it was on to Plan #2.
You can see, behind the wheat, our greenhouse, one of the chicken tractors that our friends JGTH left for us when they moved back to the West Coast, as well as our shed (and the attached fowl hut).
Another part of the experiment involved digging holes in the middle of the wheat to grow our melons (watermelons, cantaloupes, and honeydews).
A different experiment that dh is trying this year is using grass clippings as mulch. He found and bought a nice clippings catcher for his Toro mower from someone on eBay, and it's probably already paid for itself in making our grass clippings useful.
Here is it, mulching the tomatoes...
and garlic...
and strawberries...
Red Russian Kale was a veggie that ds#2 picked for growing back in 2006, and it's self-seeded itself ever since. Love it when that happens!
Lastly, on our tour today, we'll take a peek inside the greenhouse. To the left, you can see the cilantro flowering and going to seed with broccoli plants among them. In the back, we have onions growing in front of eggplants. And to the right is where dh was starting up corn and edamame - which is another experiment. Usually dh puts them right into the ground, but because we've had such a problem with voles eating the seeds, dh decided to sprout them first, then transplant them.
This last photo is a close-up of the onions and eggplants:"
Hope you've enjoyed this look at our garden. I've not shown you the stuff in the south garden, which includes carrots, choi sum, bok choi, raspberries, squashes, cucumbers, and more onions.
So, next time I complain about weeding, you'll know why! Do you enjoy weeding or do you dislike it?
Hope you're all having a lovely Sunday!
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams
I'm also thankful for our regular veggies. Nothing says summer more than fried squash. These are crook neck squash (until the watermelons come on anyway); we'll have the regular summer squash later in the month. Pre-cooked:
Cooked:
I'd like to wish all my American friends a very happy Fourth of July! For fun, sing the Star Spangled Banner at the top of your lungs in a public place. I just might do that. I love the U.S. national anthem much more than the Canadian national anthem. :)
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