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As I started last year with some pics from my garden I thought I should head out there again. First off you can see from my pic above that my hollyhocks are back– I can’t remember if the doubles bloomed last year or not, but the singles are back too! They bloomed again with no help from me! Other than that (new) constant I’ve changed the set up slightly based on some things I learned last year.
Here are the top three things I learned:
Now where did that garden path go?
1. Just because they are beautiful and interesting doesn’t mean your children will want to the eat blue pumpkins you grow.
2. Before you plant every variety of tomato you love, think about how many tomatoes you will be harvesting off 2 cherry and 2 yellow pear tomato plants + 2 other plants– note to self, that would be way too many for one family to eat or even give away– Hello compost!
3. Don’t let your garden over take your walking areas.
So based on these starting points I was sure to do a few things differently this year. First off I’m growing a pumpkin the kids want– jack o’lantern pumpkins. I still did plant one winter squash (amish pumpkin) to try but hopefully they’ll be less prolific and smaller than the queensland blue’s of last summer. I”ve spotted small pumpkins on the amish plant, but not the jack o’ lanterns….yet.
Secondly, I restricted my tomato craziness. I did not start them from seed this year (no time! I had to germinate paper topics instead) and limited myself to 3 tomato plants and only one small tomato, the other two are medium sized tomatoes. We opted for yellow pear this year although we really did enjoy the currant cherry tomatoes from last year. They seem to be coming along, some have green fruit on them, but August will really tell us if this is still too much for our family of 4 to give away and/or eat.
Thirdly, I am being sure to trim the rose bush, the hollyhocks and tomato plants to maintain a reasonable walking area…so far. August will be the true test!
Based on some companion planting research I did I also tried some interspersing of flowers with vegetables this year, tucking in marigolds and nastursiums where I could fit them, as well as some herbs here and there. Most serendiptiously some sunflowers just grew right were I wanted them. I had been planning on planting a few sunflower seeds along the back of one box, but didn’t get to it. Strangely four have grown right there. My friend guesses that some bird dropped the seeds, but I’m not sure. No matter their source (could I have planted them and forgotten?) I am happy with how that worked out.
Another new addition: Jackamanii Clematis
A couple new additions to my garden are 1) a sunshine blueberry bush (I wanted two but only had room for one) that is already producing fruit and is a great treat for my kids, 2) more strawberry plants in one box (that produced a disappointing amount of strawberries) and 3) a lipstick pepper (last year I grew only the chocolate bells, but this year I am growing one of those and one of this other kind of pepper).
Another View of My Suburban Garden!
I haven’t been able to really give it much time this year, but it seems to be humming along. I am curious to maximize my boxes more next year and have been inspired by this blog (randomly found one evening) to look more at square foot gardening as a way to do this. Of course right when I get it all figured out my tree will get bigger, block all my sun, and force me to rethink it all.
But that’s the great thing about gardening… it can (and should) be different each year.
I just wanted to post quickly about two firsts this week- ok three.
The first I am so excited, and I dare say, proud about. My very first grown in my garden hollyhock is blooming! And it was worth the wait. I actually must admit I did not grow these from seed but purchased them as small plants at a local hardware store. The fact that I didn’t plant them from seed is probably a good thing since my zinnia seeds did not come up this year; doubly disturbing because those are the type of seeds a child is supposed to be able to grow! [Just in case you're interested in gardening with children here is another cool link that doesn't mention zinnias (maybe with good reason!) but looks like an excellent resource for gardening with kids. I'll have to post another time about my experiences gardening with kids; hit and miss as is the norm with all my gardening!]
Ok, to come fully clean, I actually planted 3 or 4 of these starters and only one is blooming but I’m calling that as SUCCESS! It is shaped like an umbrella handle, goes straight down and then hooks to the left- I’m guessing the sun exposure directly over the plant wasn’t suffiecient and I’m more then willing to overlook such faults. To me, like my children, it is gorgeous and perfect! And such a wonderful color! Unlike my dahlias, which disappointed me greatly as out of the many many (many many many) I planted ONLY the white ones bloomed, this hollyhock is studpendous. I guess I should quickly explain why the white dahlias were not met with such rave reviews– I had bought the white ones mainly to offset the other colors, but as the other colors did not bloom it is a little blah…. Ah well.
Before I gush on too long about my hollyhock, I’ll move on to my other first. We are joining a CSA! I wrote briefly about this in my first or second post, inspired and reminded by another bloggers post and promptly emailed a local farm about joining theirs. I was initially a bit dissappointed as their CSA is actually so popular there is a waiting list!!! I guess that speaks volumes about the area I live in- which I will take as a good thing- but I was still a little let down. Meanwhile I joined their waiting list and expected a 3-4 month wait until either someone decided to drop out of the CSA or they expanded their plantings. But!!! (of course there is a but, otherwise why would I spend all this time writing about it!) An email!!!
They have an opening on the day I requested and I’ve repsonded that yes, yes we’d like it! So, hopefully starting next week- but I really have no particulars- we will begin picking up our year-round CSA veggies bin. There is also a fruit and/or bread option you can add. I had no idea there would be so many choices to make, but excited about the possiblities and yummy local organic produce we will be having from now on. The nicest thing is that the farm where I will be picking up is not too far from my children’s school so I will probably bring them with me after I pick them up and give them a little exposure to the rich agricultural world of our county.
Last first. (Love how that sounds.)
I finished teaching my first class as a grad student. I’d like to say it went fabulously, but… it went great! I didn’t connect as much as I would have liked to with the students but part of that is my personality and I’m just going to have to work with that. I did however stay fairly organized, on task and impart what I wanted the first day. Second day? No idea! I’ve got a “plan” but really need to look at it. And then there’s the issue of whether or not they will read their assignment. And what do I do about it if they don’t? And so on….. But for today I am feeling good. Glad I’m past the first day with only a couple minor clumsy mishaps in front of the students (rather good for me) and home with out tears (not so surprising since i”m not really a crier, but wouldn’t it have been terrible if I was in tears then?).
I guess today I’m just reveling in all the firsts I can still experience 30 odd years into life! So many experiences, oppurtunities, and plants out there to try. I don’t always feel this way but today I am in awe of all my options. Oh- and ready for a nap.
After finally deciding that my children were old enough this year to give a little attention to a vegetable garden I spent a few cold winter nights last year poring over seed catalogs while bundled under my down comforter. My two favorite catalogs that I ended up ordering from this year were: Nichols Garden Nursery and Le Jardin du Gourmet. Le Jardin was especially fun because they have “sampler” packets you can order for only 35 cents each which have enough seeds for a postage stamp garden like mine but allowed me to order to my hearts content without breaking the bank (because those seeds do add up quickly, let me tell you). We constructed new boxes out front (the only place we get any decent amount of sun) and I ordered and started seeds last spring. And now it is all growing and ripening!
This is what I’m growing in my garden this year: Tomatoes- Stupice, Currant, Yellow Pear, Marmade; Cucumbers: Lemon and Vert Petit de Paris; Marvel of Venice Pole Bean; Summer Squash: White Scallop and Ronde de Nice; Queensland Blue Pumpkins; Melons: Charentais, Crane, Moon and Stars Watermelon; Herbs: Basil, Parsley, Sage, Mint, Thyme; Bell Peppers (can’t remember which ones- purple I think). The only thing that hasn’t “fruited” are the bell peppers (flowers though- could be promising) and the melon plants (again, flowers only). But otherwise much better success then I expected. The cucumbers have not done so well, but they got so over shadowed by the squash and tomato plants it’s really not a wonder.
The other day I picked the first heirloom slicing tomato. The currant (a cherry type) and the stupice (a small salad tomatos) had already been coming in slowly, but they were nothing compared to that one (Marmade I believe). This one oozed flavor (and seeds and juice all over my counter!). Acidic and full of flavor- biting but sweet. Slice, eat. Slice, eat. Gone. I ate the whole thing. Did not share it.
Tonight, Ian and I picked some more. They are all coming ripe at once. We filled 2 times over the the metal strainer I’d brought out front with us. Tomatoes, some beans, and a hiding lemon cucumber. I also found 4 lonely strawberries still good for eating, but those barely made it inside. We shared some tomatoes with our neighbors and then came back and found some more. Ian ate some and was so happy that he could just eat them when he wanted- no strings attached. I picked and hunted through the overgrown plants smelling their sweet scent. The smell of sun and summer. (A smell that lingers- sticks in your hair, so that later your husband will comment on it as you lie in his arms talking.) The garden is a bit neglected as we’ve been in and out of town so much in the last month, but the tomatoes don’t seem to have minded!
Since we ate an early dinner around 4 o’clock, I made the kids an evening snack of scrambled eggs and tomatoes. “More, can I have more tomatoes?”, they asked. Between the three of us we gobbled up 8 or so of the stupice. “Mmmm.,” Thea hummed as she ate. “Are these ‘home’ tomatoes, Momma?” she asked.
Yes indeed. Home tomatoes.
