A few years ago, I began reclaiming lawn space, building raised boxes, and blogging about my adventures in gardening. I think this is year 6 of the ever-growing garden that officially launches late May every year.
The community that @GardenHive has become is for us green thumbs and I think you should check out the intro post here https://hive.blog/hive-140635/@gardenhive/the-garden-selfie-collection-happy-christmas-to-all-the-amazing-hive-gardeners if you haven't yet. My friends @sanjeevm @thebigsweed @farm-mom and @plantstoplanks are among many in the thriving community and showcasing how they get their gardens to thrive.
This week, I look back at where it all began, and how its going.
Recent Memory
This is about where we left off last summer. Still too much lawn but a decent amount of veggies and berries, flowers and plenty of green. None of the @davedickeyyall style green as I leave that to the experts. I am aiming for a similar picture this year, perhaps with more diligent greens harvesting, fewer tomatoes and more cucumbers.
Humble Beginnings
The winter never kind to the garden. A battered colourless war zone in need of serious care. Big enough challenge already right?
This year, we have inadvertently made it more challenging with the addition of Digdgog. This little twit enjoys gnawing, tearing, ripping and digging everything in his path. Turn your head, he is in they large garden box, where the tomatoes would grow, with dirt flying everywhere. What have we done?
Fortification
2 feet of chicken wire might as well not even have been there so it was time to up the game. 4 feet of garden fence around each garden box is how it had to go down. Not only might this deter Diggy McGee from visiting the veggies, perhaps other adversaries.
These little theives were born right in these garden boxes and surely will return to snack on my tomatoes, or completely eat my cucumbers & pickles right at the sprout.
NOT THIS YEAR RABBITS! I have repurposed this guinea pig cage and am using it to cover the pickle and cucumber sprouts from any birds or other visitors tough enough to make it into green Fort Knox.
Early Blooms
Here is the greens bed a week or so in. Some kale in the foreground, red leaf lettuce, head lettuce, a few other assorted greens and a herculean horseradish returning from last year.
The strawberry patch seemed to have quite a slow start. So much so that I bought another plant to split in half and plant in the thin spots. Potentially not necessary as things are booming and we have berries almost ready for the eating just a couple weeks later.
The pepper box is off to a modest start waiting for the blazing hot temperatures to really get going. A nice mix of sweet peppers, jalapenos, hungarian wax, habanero and ghost pepper again for the third year in a row. I have also planted a couple of the the jumbo jalapenos from seeds produced by last year's wonderful plant. They may be late season bloomers compared to the seedlings I purchased this year.
A half dozen tomato plants take up the end of the big bed again ranging from cherry to beefsteak to roma and some fancy colourful heritage variety. The rest of the big bed is planted from seed and just starting to pop. I will have to show them next edition.
Having just gone to war with some of the invasive weeds, I am now left with more desirable invasive varieties like 3 kinds of mint and spreading raspberry forest. The family loves the berries and often use mint for tea all year around.
Will our preparations be enough to fend off Sir Digsalot? Will those rabbits return for their cucumbercide? Will there be anotyhe bumber crop of green beans and hot peppers? Will I get around to making my dream hot sauce completely from garden veggies? You may have to hit follow and tune into future episodes to find out!
Mom started me along my path of growing stuff when I was a kid. Motivated by so many blockchain blogging gardeners, I figured I would plant and share and learn as I reclaim as much grass space as I can. It has turned out to be a fruitful experience and I hope to inspire others to sow and grow no matter what your location or experience level is.
Then, blog about it using #gardenhive tags as we network and curate the journals of other green thumbs, outdoor enthusiasts and fresh whole foodies.
Wherever you are...JUST GROW!
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Incredible work in the garden! And adorable baby rabbits. 😍
Haha thanks man!
Those cute little shnooks probably gonna return to the place of their birth and eat all my cucumbers, beets and tomatoes! Oh shit I have carrots in there too!
Awesome looking garden.. I think my plantains should be sprouting soon
Can't wait to see that and your ladies growing when you get back home
Looking promising! Those greens look fantastic, and I'm a bit envious that you are just going into strawberry season since they are just about done here. Raspberries, too. I love all the berries! Luckily it is now blackberry and blueberry season now. :)
I just found my first hornworm on the tomatoes this morning and plucked that little bastard off before he eats an entire plant in two days. War has begun...
It is a war of sorts. I used to get all competitive and then thought a while how the garden needs to be eaten by these intruders or it is not part of the ecosystem. Still, have to be able to share some of the veggies with me and the family!
We have blueberries too but they are not thriving yet. Need specific soil PH around here and I am hoping we are close enough.
P2P 2, Hornworms 0 😂
If they didn't mercilessly munch away at entire plants, I'd be more likely to try to co-exist. I've found two small ones so far, but given half a chance they plump up massively as they devour my crop. Buggers are hard to spot, too. We won't use any pesticides other than homemade pepper spray or a bit of dish soap in water as deterrents to the major pests, but these guys I pluck off as I see them and relocate far away from the tomatoes.
I have never seen one of those in my garden luckily but I check daily and will fire them over the fence if I find them ;)
I have repurposed a guinnea pig cage to protect my cucumber spouts from birds and squirrels but that won't help with horned worms will it?
You may get lucky and not have them up there! With our warm weather, it makes for a great growing season but it also means lots of buggies, haha.
That looks like a great way to keep the big critters out. The little critters can still get in, but usually cucumbers grow fast enough that they don't get bothered too much in my experience. :)
Your garden looks great and it seems that you are, or will be harvesting some stuff real soon. We are weeks away from harvesting anything except lettuce which we have been getting for a week or so now.
Sir Digsalot looks like he will have a hard time digging in the garden with all that you have done to fortify the garden plots.
If you can have him dig up part of the lawn, it may save you from having to rototill your next raised plot.😁
Thanks for the mention my friend.
Well, you have a back forty and I only have a back forty feet.
Still, I can pretend I have an awesome rural homestead now and enjoy this urban pretending.
Should be getting strawberries and greens. Hopefully less than a month away from hot peppers!
You've got more going on in your back 40 than most people have on larger plots of dirt.
Plus, your garden is so well kept. I get a kick out of growing stuff and making it look good as well.
Hot peppers, I know you love those things. Your salsa must be ass kicking.
Have a wonderful day.
Yah I keep the picture of the winter wasteland up there to dispel any notion that I keep my garden that well. Just a flurry of work in the spring then short visits with the watering can of rain water every day.
What I REALLY wanna make is a relish with hot peppers in it. My bad luck with cucumbers the last couple years has stopped that and I haven't actually made salsa yet! This year just for you!
The garden is looking really good. I got to say growing your own food at these prices has been amazing. We made a greenhouse this year that is paying dividends.
Ah hell yah nice work.
I do it less for the savings and more for the lessons, fresh food, and lifestyle with the nice green yard.
I suck at greenhousing and growing from seeds though!
It's all my wife I'm good at construction and cutting trees!
The early blooms are encouraging - I mean, looking at those plants itself, brings unmatched pleasure for our hard work. And who does not love mints and berries - that too farm fresh !
Yes so happy to have a plot of green in a moderate climate where this stuff is fun and attainable.
You really can't beat fresh and I love seeing people from across the globe grow stuff.
That's sweet. I fully agree with lawns being a stupid waste of resources. I have been taking a lot of lawn and turning it into garden over the past few years as well. I'll need a bit of grass set aside for pooping but other than that I hope to eventually have all gardens and fruit trees.
Looks like hasenpfeffer is a possibility for a couple of hearty meals this fall.
Baffles me the number of years it takes me to realize things like the futility of a lawn.
Yup. Lawns are absolutely ridiculous. Where I live though, you can be fined for not keeping up your lawn!
Yah supposedly the bylaw officers will give you a warning if it looks like you are neglecting your yard. My front yard is a little overgrown but still has plenty of useless but well maintained lawn.
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