brick edges

I've been doing a lot of work the past few weeks to replace old rotting wooden edges (railroad ties and fence posts) from beds 7 and 8 with concrete bricks to match the rest of the garden. First was all the work to waterproof seal and paint the bricks- two layers each on all sides, with time to dry between and periodic shifting into the house to avoid rain. Then waiting days for another dry spell to do more painting. Finally was able to set them in place. Here's a few work-in-progress pictures.

Bed 7 on the right is already redone, bed 8 on the left kinda out of picture has the old edges pulled off (long sides- the short ends previously had bricks)- and in the corner here you can see my pretty purple clematis!

Bed 8 with the sides removed and the mulch heaped up out of the way-

and complete!

7 done and 8 incomplete-

7 and 8 both done-

Here's bed 8 with lettuces and peas in the foreground (of bed 6)

I finished the job on a morning sprinkling rain but due to thunderstorm heavy in the afternoon- didn't want the raised built-up-with-riches soil to start washing away so I worked in the mud. Thus the bricks got dirty.

7 and 8 redone in the background, 9 in the foreground with young collard greens, leeks and turnips- and rosemary right up front. (It's the only one survived the winter- my other rosemary plant on the opposite end of the garden died).

So nice to have the beds all finally matching! And solid, and will last for decades. They are not perfectly straight, but much tidier than the old bricks- as you can see in some of the photos where the wobbly edge of bed 6 is across the way from bed 8- but that's merely asthetic, not a functional issue and it's easy enough to level them out when I care enough to find time.

Next structural project for the garden is to actually put the fence in- hence the red flags marking where an underground wire lies.

garden update

I thinned beets today.

I started replacing straw mulch on some of the beds- a very light layer, not even a half inch thick- will add more when the plants are bigger. Around the collard greens

and tokyo bekana

and chard.

I have a lot more peas now-

though still all mostly on one side (the left of the 'L' bottom edge- top half of this bed, viewed from the deck, is tatsoi and lettuces).

I didn't put any around the turnips- they still seem too small

some are rather close together but perhaps I will eat them young.

Two bunches of leeks are in the middle of the turnips. Came up on their own.

And a surprise in the greenhouse- on a whim I had stuck that sprouting almond in a pot, weeks ago. I'ts now growing leaves!

posting here

keeps my interest from flagging, so here we are. It's colder this week during the day- sunny but just around fifty degrees, so I haven't been putting plants out. Today I weeded one more raised garden bed, clearing up leaves that had blown in around them, and hauled a bucketful to the compost pile. Most of what I yanked up was purple dead nettle- it's thick through all the beds. Regretting that I let it grow so much. I don't make tortillas from scratch anymore, and never found another way I like to eat it . . . This weeding plus a short walk (two blocks) wore me out. Sigh. 

So here's nostalgia pics from the year before my ankle injury. I hope it will look like this again someday! Full of thriving herbs. I'm sure the tarragon (center here), sorrel (back left) and lemon balm will revive- I've seen green leaves under the leaf mulch on the lemon balm. But the deer have eaten my sorrel.

and the green onions didn't come back- I had replanted some in 2022 but they didn't make it. This pic is from the year before

I miss having good leeks. My best ones were never as thick as you get in the grocery store- but they were fresh and always on hand.

The previous years' leeks in two newer beds were skimpy. I realize now I made a mistake when I put up the last three beds- layering with newspaper shreds and chipped cardboard okay, putting in broken sticks nope. Thinking back now I realize all the plants in those three beds had been sub-par. Wood chips on top of the bed for mulch I think works fine, having it mixed into or under the soil it probably steals nitrogen. At least, that's my guess. 

The garlics that shared the leek bed last year did just okay. One of my daughter's friends saw my small garlic heads on the counter and laughed: "I've never seen such tiny garlics!" Yeah. And they didn't cure properly, of all the garlics I dug up in fall, two-thirds or more rotted. Want to try growing them again, but I'll have to buy anew in fall- none of mine were worth replanting.

spring planting

Carrots and beets are sprouting. Yesterday I planted out into the garden beds shelling peas, yellow snap peas, the collard greens and half the leeks (rest are too small yet). Today planted out the leaf beet chard, swiss chard, arugula, tatsoi and tokyo bekana. Those last two shown here, crowding their seedling tray. Pricked directly out into the ground.

Almost all the beds have something in them, now. And there's a lot more still to plant! But I hope to stagger some of it- tomatoes will go in where the lettuces are, green beans and squash into the beds that have snap peas, amaranth greens where the shelling peas are, and so on.

Delicate little true leaves emerging on my parsley and chervil seedlings. 

The overwintered tokyo bekana in greenhouse bolted- I emptied the pots to re-use. Greenhouse stands empty now ready for the next round of plants- tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, amaranth . . . 

There's a robin been frequenting the messy bed between the pannicle hydrangeas, where salvia and wild chrysanthemum are emerging from leaf litter. He sang short bursts and poked in the litter and eyed me, came pretty close after a while, just across the bit of grass from the garden bed where I worked. Cheering. Even better was to see the perky little wren flit about, I just saw and watched it for minutes. Wren makes me feel happy. There's a cardinal appears to be nesting in the large holly shrub. I can't wait for the return of catbirds, and the skinks.

potted up

My first set of seedlings have outgrown their trays-

I potted them up today. Kale: 

Leeks:

Arugula: 

Collards: 

and Leaf Beet Chard:

first leaves

First true leaves are starting to emerge on my kale and collard seedlings

just barely visible on the chard.

A few more leeks are up now, slender green threads. Only nine so far not the dozen I'd hoped for, so I might sow another tray.

New green is appearing in my pot of chives

and new leaves on the base of stevia plant- 

they sense the coming spring

tiny green spears

The first leeks are coming up!

Also swiss chard 

and the leaf beet chard showing bunches- soon I will thin them 

Nice to see bright green of the lettuces on deck table, on a cool morning (it was above forty all night, so I left them out in fresh air).

That's only half my usual first start for the year, but I am waiting now for a delivery of sterile seed-starting potting mix. The local nursery guy says they start all their seeds in Pro Mix (which is my usual go-to for the young garden plants and houseplants now) but in the past I have not had success with that- I still loose too many seedlings to damping off if I don't start them with a sterile mix. 

But last year at the end of spring I started running low on seed-starting mix so layered my seedling trays with Pro Mix on the bottom. Did the same this time too- an inch of Pro Mix on the bottom of the tray, then a handful of sterile seed-starting mix, blend it gently with a finger, then another inch of just seed-starting mix on top. I hoped the seeds being in contact just with the starter mix on top at first would avoid damping off, while having the Pro Mix layer on bottom would hold more moisture and give them nutrients in the last weeks before pricking out. Although that doesn't exactly make sense as the roots strike down first. Well, they did okay and at least it will stretch my seed-starting mix out until I get more.

Note for this season: I'm doing something different this year. Felt dubious about keeping the blog going except I realized need a record and pictures to compare, if this actually makes a difference. For over ten years now I have been mulching lightly with used coffee grounds, in the hopes that it deters slugs, squirrels and cats. It seems to keep the cat and squirrels off the garden beds as long as I refresh it regularly, but not much use against slugs- the beer or yeast traps work better for that. However, I read recently there is some evidence that coffee grounds retard plant growth, because of the caffeine. If put in the compost pile, that effect is neutralized by the time the compost is done. 

I have thought for many years that my plants are sub-par because the soil lacks nutrients, or I used some poor-quality additives, or there's been too many insects, disease and/or trees creating shade. Maybe it's that coffee grounds are hindering their growth. So this year I am going to quit doing that. Hot pepper and garlic powder also seems to deter the squirrels and cat, I just have to apply it more regularly (at least until the plants are grown enough to cover most of the ground). We'll see if the plants do better.

winter greens

It has been very cold nights, some down into the low twenties, but often warm again during the day. The leeks I left in the garden didn't last, but the few green onions left are still okay, and I can still pick to eat sorrel, winter savory, sculpit, and purple dead nettle in certain sheltered spots. What I tried to grow in my little greenhouse- only part worked out. Nearly all the pots sprouted- but the lettuces are doing very poorly and leggy. Lack of light, or the soil was too poor, or it's just been too cold for them to thrive. Tatsoi I only got one good plant, but that one's doing fine. Haven't eaten it yet because I wish there was more. Chervil all growing but are slow to put out their first true leaves. Dill is okay and I've used some of it. Tokyo bekana is doing well!

A bit spindly, but grew much better than anything else. I actually picked some to eat just yesterday, glad for a bit of fresh greens. 

Maybe if I do this again next year, skip the idea of lettuces (unless I start them sooner) and just do the cabbage and spinach relatives.

blanketed

This past week I did the final work putting the garden to bed for winter. Turned the compost pile- there was less than before, only the bottom fourth or barely third was finished material, but it was very finely done, with a clear demarcation. I put six wheelbarrow loads on eight garden beds, the rue and perennial herbs just got leaf litter mulch. On top of the compost layer went four wheelbarrow loads of finished leaf mould from last year's pile. Started a new one. While it feels quieting to see all the beds flat and dark with their winter mulch, it also feels restful and I sure was satisfied, happy even, to find the rich darkness at the bottom of the piles. It still feels something miraculous and wealthy, to dig up all this goodness from heaps of waste and blanket it over to feed next year's plants. Only green in the garden now are a few leeks, sorrel, winter savory and lavender in the perennnial bed, rue and some volunteer borage on the back wall that brave the cold a little longer. 

All the vermicompost went on the front lawn, when I emptied out the blue bin a few weeks ago (don't think I mentioned it here). The worms were looking a bit poorly but now with fresh bedding and regular feedings again (I had ignored them lately) they're looking better.

The green tomatoes I picked and put on kitchen windowsill didn't ripen, they just got moldy and tossed. Should have tried making fried green tomatoes! Half the cowpea pods I picked just withered icky-looking too, but the rest I am waiting for them to dry and see if the seed inside is any good. Next time must watch the weather reports more closely, and pull them all before the first night the drops below freezing. We've had a few now.

for chicken soup

fresh out of the garden: carrots, lovage, leeks and tarragon.

I used the tarragon from the perennial herb bed- it was great. Thriving. The more tender mexican mint marigold in the pot is also doing well, but I don't like the flavor as much. 

On the cutting board the lovage, tarragon, leeks

end of june garden

Lots of things are thriving now- and the scented plants, rue on one end of the garden, marigolds, hyssop

and wormwood on the other- seem to be keeping the rabbit away so far.

I recently planted out my zucchinis,

cucumbers

and cantaloupe

Peppers growing great

And all the basils- the ruffly one, lemon basil, regular sweet basil, purple amaratto basil

I haven't used the variations on tarragon yet- just noticed the one in a pot has finely serrated edges-

We're eating leeks regularly now, and had first tomato last night. Chard almost big enough to cut now too.

Have too many chamomile plants!

Need to figure out what this plant is! the one I thought a reverted wild coleus? it's getting huge leaves.