Creating an herb garden to accent the yard

 We have been talking for a year about doing some kind of plantings around the oak tree at the corner of our front yard but have spent way more time on the other beds. I did put stones around the tree and put down weed cloth topped with grass clippings and some weedy grasses. Last weekend we finally put down a load of compost/mulch and got it spread out. Suddenly it was plain that if I grouped all the herbs there that they would help water the tree and get a bit of protection from the blazing sun and heat we started getting this week. 

I wound up moving the plant stand too so it would be closer and open up the path area to the chairs a bit more. This may be our permanent grouping or we may move things around a bit more. I'd like to pot a couple of the coleus to get a bit more color in the area but need to monitor the sun a bit more yet for that.  I am getting lots of comments from people walking by on the garden and the mix of flowers and vegetables. The bamboo teepee is attracting a bit of attention now that the malabar spinach is climbing well.

A very bountiful winter

I have to admit that I planted a few too many seeds in my little starters. Never in my wildest imaginings was I prepared for all of them to germinate and thrive. The winter crops have been incredibly bountiful enabling me to share with friends and put some bags of cauliflower and broccoli in the freezer for later in the year. Now the kohl rabi is starting to head up and the cabbage is heading nicely. Should hold us for another 6-8 weeks, maybe more. We even made our first batch of sauerkraut and several batches of slaw--from the cauliflower leaves and bok choi. Fabulous tasting and better than just composting the leaves. My husband says we are on a cabbage diet and maybe we are as we are focusing on eating what I am growing.

The Malabar spinach and new Zealand spinach that did not do well last year both have seeded themselves and are thriving.  Even the regular spinach which we can only grow over the winter and early spring here is much more productive this year than it ever has been. I am also having a bumper crop of peas that I planted last October and suddenly took off with the rains this winter. Chard, of course is thriving and so pretty.

I wound up with 4 different kinds of cherry tomatoes/small tomatoes so they are going to stay in large pots and sit next to the greenhouse. I tried to find tomatoes that would thrive in the heat of our summer and am trying a couple of Porters and Porters Pride, Creole, Heatwave, super Sioux, and Arkansas traveler. I may have a couple of Romas or not. They did so poorly last year that I am about given up on them. I have both Black beauty and oriental eggplant, one that wintered over is blooming to beat the band--now will it set fruit? I haven't figured out where to put the green beans but they are so good fresh that we have to put some in. I am going to put more cucumbers in the greenhouse with row cover to try and avoid the bugs.
If I can find room for most of the plants I will be lucky. Maybe I'll have to share a few of the little guys with friends to turn them on to gardening too.

Cultivation by squirrel and other oddities

 The other morning I went out to the garden and found about a dozen little holes around the plants but didn't seem to be trying to dig up the plants. Judging from the squirrels I see on the fence and tree branches, I think they are my unwanted helpers. I am sure they are burying things I do not need in my garden. I replanted the broccoli and cauliflower they unearthed and find they do not like wetter soil so are leaving most things alone now--or they have buried all their nuts!

 I spent some time this morning transplanting lettuce and bok choy. Hoping for a bumper harvest of both over the winter. I have quite a few red ruffled leaf coming along and the remaining broccoli and cauliflower are doing well. The spinach that I planted in 2L bottle collars is also thriving--not like the plants this spring. maybe that is the key--get them big enough so the little bugs leave them alone. Carrots are doing well in their tubs so should have some to move around and harvest next spring.


I am also beginning to move some of the peppers and tomatoes into tubs to move into the "greenhouse" and extend their growing season should we have cold snaps at night. A couple are against the shed where they will get more warmth and 3 are already inside. We'll see what works best over the next couple of months. Last year putting all the plants so close together inside created a bug problem that I had trouble solving. 

End of summer cleanup correcting mistakes

I thought the garden would do better this year. I put so much work into it and added so much to it that I should have gotten more. Lots of mistakes this year to try to rebuild the garden though: I added a lot of compost/garden soil that made it drain so well that the plants are dying of thirst! I added peat moss for the same reason--more organic matter but it makes the soil dryer and again all the plants are thirsty and cannot catch the water as it goes by.

Yesterday I ordered 2 4 cu.ft. bags of vermiculite to add to the garden and have been lining some of the areas with weed cloth to try to retain the moisture in the garden and keep the weedy shrubs next door from sucking out all the moisture.

I did good with the rain barrels though. I have not used city water once on the garden and I still have about 60 gallons of water in a barrel and a couple of smaller buckets. It is about time to rain again. I would have connected the ones at the end of the line but still am not sure where I want them so maybe by spring I will be sure. I would love to put in the drip irrigation I planned next year. 

My new pickle cucumbers are blooming (corner blue-green pot) and the zucchini seems ready to bloom and has no bugs on it. The peppers are budding up all over the place but no putting on fruit--maybe in a week or so as it cools in the daytime. The eggplants are also blooming as I flood them daily with water. The lettuce and chard on my picnic table is doing well-maybe can go into the ground in September. 

The lettuce seemed to grow fine even with the heat--shady table gave it a high of about 94 instead of the 100+ in the garden. The green beans in tubs are also doing well--the ones in the ground died of thirst. 

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