Garden 2012: Fruit

Our first strawberries and blueberries of 2012 came mid-June!  Strawberries are somewhat new for us, but we've had blueberries every year (thanks Dori, for planting blueberry bushes before you left this home).  I am 99% certain that we've never had blueberries before July.  Like I said before, it's been a really strange year.  Incredibly warm and dry winter, with an early wet spring.

Last fall was the first time I'd ever cut down the raspberries at the end of the season.  We do have canes coming back up, and even some unripe fruit, but I don't think we'll have as big a crop as years prior.  It is nice to have the extra room back there to see and get to the weeds, though!

Garden 2012: Herbs

Most of this year's herbs came from the farmer's market, and we potted them on June 2nd.  This year's herb crop includes basil, opal basil, sage, dill, cilantro, and mint.  And tons more basil.  It's almost time for the first batch of pesto!

Garden 2012: Vegetables

We bought most of this year's vegetables at the Friends School Plant Sale again.  We brought our babies home on May 12, and they sat in their little seedling containers for a little over two weeks.  We finally put them in the ground on Memorial Day, May 28.

I'll post better pictures when I have a chance, but here's the basic layout.  At the far east end of the garden, we have the perennials:  rhubarb, asparagus, and chives.  The rhubarb and chives are doing well.  The asparagus looks weaker this year than it did the last two years.  I'm starting to wonder if we'll ever have spears to harvest.

Next comes cucumbers (3), zucchini and yellow squash. We actually bought these later on at the farmer's market.  We put them in the ground on June 2.  I'm trying tomato cages around the cucumbers this year.  We usually just let them grow along the ground and over the wall.  We had extra cages, so I thought I'd see what would happen.

Up next are the peppers.  We bought four varieties at the Friends Sale:  Poblano, Chocolate Beauty, Golden Summer, and Lady Bell.  We picked up some jalapenos later at the farmer's market.

Moving west, Leeks and red onions are next.

And finally, TOMATOES!  This year we planted:

• Bonny Best
• Cherokee Purple
• Gold Medal
• Hillbilly Potato Leaf
• Isis Candy Cherry
• Jaune Flamee
• Nyagous
• Black Cherry
• Blondkopfchen
• Grandpa's Minnesota
• Viva Italia
• Sungella
• Jelly Bean
• Indigo Rose

2012 Garden: First Up: Lilacs and Irises

The first things to bloom this year were the irises and lilacs.  They bloomed around mid-May.  Everything is way off schedule this year, because we had an incredibly warm winter and early spring.  The rain's been pretty good, too.

Unfortunately, the daffodils I bought for my birthday last fall didn't come up.  Not one of them!  Amanda and I even covered them with chicken wire to keep pests away from them.  What a disappointment.

Beneath the lilac tree is my favorite place to pot plants.  You can see all the marigolds I potted above.  We strategically place these around the vegetable garden in an attempt to keep rabbits away.  It seems like it works!