Tag: Garden Update

9/1/23 Garden Update

Wolsey2 Comments

I had a small surgery on the 24th of August, so I haven’t been as up and around as usual. However, my garden keeps on going.

Here’s some update thoughts on where we are at with it.

Glacier Bush Tomatoes from Botanical Interests.

The tomatoes have gone wild. Like I have more tomatoes than I can handle for two of us, especially since my wife has GERD. So it’s really like one of us, and occasional she has a bite. I got these Glacier Bush Tomato seeds from Botanical Interests, and they are a 55 day semi-determinate. They grew strong, fast, and blew up in my 8b area.

I definitely will be using some of these for next year, but less of them.

My cucumbers? Not so much. I just never got them off and running? I got a few cucumbers, but nothing to really brag about. I made a few refrigerator pickle jars, but it just was never enough to fully can them. I only got 2 or 3 at a time.

I got the Homemade Pickles Cucumber Seeds from Botanical Interests. I just don’t know if I know what to do with them much? The ones I did get, were amazing. Like I made some cucumber and tomato and feta salad with rice vinegar and olive oil and I could eat that for days.

I might have to figure it out this cucumber situation for next year. Some of my plants never really took off at all and I don’t know why.

Strawberry plants.

My strawberries also went crazy. I need to research how to manage them because they went wild. My plans for them is to transplant them into the front yard into another blue raised bed. I have the bed, but I have not put it together because my health was not super great that last couple weeks.

I am wondering if I can combine one of these raised blue beds with a raised bed situation and have the strawberries cascade down from above into the bed below? It would look cool, and remove an entire grassy area. I hate lawn grass.

Beets.

I got a misc beet mix from Botanical Interests, and planted that recently. I love beets, and I plan to make pickled refrigerator beets and some borscht with them. I should have enough for roasted veggies as well.

I’ve never grown beets, so I am just watching and waiting.

In all, for my first year here? This garden has done so damn well. I have not really ever had this kind of space and I am shocked at how easy it was, once I got the beds and green house set up.

The only downside, is I have had a squirrel incursion into my garden cage. I am not sure how they are getting in, but I plan to really go over the area once I am done for the season and patch up any holes in my perimeter.

Garden Update – Late June

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My garden is really starting to take off. I am so inexperienced, but I feel I am still doing pretty well.

My cucumbers, above, are doing well. If they all take off I might be buried in pickles, though. I planted a lot of them because of my inexperience and I wasn’t not sure if I’d kill them or not. I will hang some twine on the front brace and train them upwards. The sunflowers are also great. Those are taking off. I don’t know if they will survive the birds, and if I will get any, though.

My sunflowers are doing well, but my herb garden seems slow. I have no point of reference, and I did start direct from seed because my house was so buried in new home projects and boxes and work that I didn’t have the space or mental head room for starting seeds early. So I am hoping the basil, parsley, and dill take off.

The green onions are taking off. The top two big squares are grocery store green onions. the rest are ones I planted. The seed planted ones are starting to work, but they are taking some time.

My broccoli is taking off. I had to add more support ties to my stakes, and take a few leaves off that were overshadowing my green onions.

I also got some unwelcome visitors:

These are cabbage moths. At first I was thrilled with the white “butterflies” in my garden, until I started finding my leaves eaten. Then I looked it up, and realized I have cabbage moths. The bird feeders mean they are eaten pretty quick, but those caterpillars are like crazy greedy. I keep finding them and flinging them away from the garden. I mostly feel tricked and betrayed because I like butterflies. Stupid cabbage moths!

My tomatoes are starting to take off. I did prune off some of the lower branches for easier watering, and I have been training them up the support. My biggest plant already has flowers. I am very excited. I have some good Ball canning recipes for tomato sauces, juices, and whatnot. I hope I get enough to do that.

My red cabbage is also huge. I had to trim a couple leaves that were overshadowing my strawberries.

My strawberries continue to do well. I am even getting a couple of berries. I have been trimming off 2/3 of the flowers like the directions say, in order to force better growth. I won’t probably get enough to do another batch of jam but it’s nice to see them going.

I also bought this garden stool on Amazon. My joints are bad, and I am only 51, so I felt like an old man, but this really helps. I can flip it over to kneel, and I can sit on it and work on my beds. It was very much more comfortable. Worth every penny.

Lastly, to get my plants enough water, I am spending a lot of time every day watering. I think it’s time to invest in a watering system. I was going to do it next year, but this is a lot. I have some bits and bobs coming from Amazon this weekend for the 4th, and I will see if I can get it put together. Even if it’s not a permanent structure, but just something I click the hose into for an hour, that would help. If it does work out, the system has a timer so I will try that too.