Each year we have a week-long market with tons of vegetable seedlings, herbs and flowers close to our place. We visited the market last year for the first time and bought herbs that we never heard of. I planted them on the balcony and most of them died off during the hot wave in August when we were on vacation, so we couldn't protect them. We learned from this experience and we will do it differently this year. We didn't buy any seedlings this year as it's too cold to plant them. I guess that we need to wait for about 10 days before planting anything. I'll show you what we bought in a minute, but first let me tell you about our Sunday.
Normally, we don't have any visitors in our garden, but our friends with their kids came to see us yesterday. The kids were so excited to harvest some radishes and leeks. They also helped with watering which was not really needed, but we wanted to keep them occupied. They loved the garden and made plans to come and visit us in summer again. I must admit that I'm afraid of it as their kids are like grasshoppers that will eat everything what will not eat them, so our produce will be in danger 😊 I have never seen kids eating so many vegetables.
We also gave them some rhubarb as it's growing like crazy, and we still have some in the freezer from last year. It's juicer and tastes sweeter as I forced it with a bucket. I will force it each year because it's really better.
We showed them around and they were surprised to see my mustard field. I told them about it before, but they somehow couldn't imagine it. Every time I look at it, it makes me smile. I don't really want to remove it, but I have no choice as it's either this or vegetables.
And this is what we bought on the market this year. It's 1/4 of what we got last year, but as I said we learned, so this time we don't go overboard.
The yellow ones is called Bidens ferulifolia which can be grown as an annual or a perennial. I planted it directly in the ground, and I will see how it will look like in autumn and if it makes sense to overwinter it or not.
The red and purple ones are called Verbena peruviana. They should be replanted every few years. I will see how big they grow before I decide if I will replant them in a few years or not.
And then there are the herbs...
I planted the flowers in the full sun next to our neighbour's garden. He has an old grass mower and when he mows the grass/weeds it flies to our garden. It wouldn't be a problem if there wouldn't be many seeds as well, and then our garden is full of weeds. I spend hours and hours removing the weeds and then he plants them right back. I hope that the flowers will catch most of it (when they grow)...
This is how it looks like from a different perspective...
And as you can see we fixed the green house! We bought thin metal sheets that we placed on both sides of each window. Then we drilled the holes through them and fixed them with screws. It works so far 😊
Last year, we planted the tangerine sage and we fell in love with it. It's a perennial in some places, but here it's too cold, so we grow it at annual. It was the first plant that I put in my basked on the market. I can't wait for it to grow large and strong. The bees love and slugs not so much, so I planted it without the slug protection.
Last year, we had the African blue bush basil which smells amazing, but it's difficult to use as it was too aromatic for us. This year, we bought the green version that is much milder, but we will see if the smell changes while it grows. It's a perennial, but not cold hardy, so if we will like it I will have to overwinter it inside. Yeah, and slugs love it, so I planted it with the protection.
I planted the peas more than a month ago, but it took almost three weeks for it to sprout. They are growing nicely now, so we built a construction for them to climb. I planted some more seeds yesterday as the birds ate those baby plants.
And this is how it looks like. Two rows of peas will lean against the same net. We could have used a net with smaller holes, but we try to recycle what we already have first. Once, when this net is damaged we will buy one with smaller holes 😊
I prepared a bigger patch for broccoli and cauliflower. I will get some seedlings in the coming days and plant them next week.
Our volunteer raspberries are becoming kind of a jungle now. We love raspberries, and since it's behind the house we will not control them this year.
Do you remember when my husband destroyed my hydrangeas because they were in his way? I read that the chance of them surviving was not really high, but here they are! It will take years for them to get as big as they used to be, but I'm happy that they survived.
We had another visitor yesterday..
This lizard was so calm and let me come close. I wanted to remove the bucket, but it would not move, so I will remove the bucket another time.
And the kids found the first gooseberries! They were so excited and made plans to come often to see them grow 😊
Even the old wood gives us signs of love...
Well, I don't know what you see there, but to me it's a clear heart...
Happy gardening and see you next time!
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I fell in love with that mustard field. It's beautiful @plantfuljourney 🤗