Start of good eating

Ironically, just as we are ready to leave the garden, we are starting to eat from it. Yesterday we had a great tomato from the garden and the best kohlrabi. We are eating strawberries everyday and big salads. We have also been able to make our first fresh pesto of the year, which always makes Mike happy. The first of the Saskatoons are starting to ripen so I am nervous we won't get to pick any this year as I am from Teela's from the 8th to the 15th. Last year I picked on the 15th, so if I pick as soon as I get home, it might be fine.

The thing I am most excited about right now is the current success of my organic gardening. Last year, my kohlrabi were destroyed by pests, but so far my mesh covering has worked really well.  This time it is one sheet buried in the dirt, the holes are much smaller. I am still worried because last year at this time I had hope, and then the cabbage moths descended.

I have most of my greens in the square foot bed that I grow on my driveway.  Because this bed gets so much shade, my greens and green onions are doing well but not bolting.  I think my spinach will soon, but I am enjoying it while I can. Last year worms came down from the tree and ate all my baby plants so I had few greens, but I covered this bed as well in the spring and it really helped. I have staggered the plantings of various salad ingredients, so I should have various greens for most of the summer.

Vertical Gardening

One of the best tools I have as a gardener is vertical gardening.  Although I have a large yard by city standards, I have a small one compared to my ambition for it. I want to grow most of the vegetables my family eats over the summer, lots of things to store and cut flowers for every week all summer. My children seem to feel our yard should house large play spaces and archery ranges, and I "need" to dry all my laundry, eat, and relax in my yard.  Space is at a premium.  Just like Tokyo, I go up.

I use nets to grow tomatoes vertically and pots to grow them upside down. Because of the added heat these plants get on the south wall of the garage, they are larger and blooming earlier than those I grow in cages or on stakes in my main garden.

I also use nets to grow on the south side of the house, where I grow cucumbers and peppers. Cucumbers and other trailing vines are a big space hog in the yard, because they need a 4-5 foot radius for growing. Vertically, I can grow two plants per square foot of soil, and the cucumbers are really easy to pick because they hang down right where you can see them, rather than hiding covered by leaves.

I also use verticals for my beans and peas to climb and use cages for unruly flowers and climbing roses. Of all my living walls, my clematis walls are my favorite. I use them to create walls in my garden and provide privacy for the play areas. View all my verticals, and some great butterfly pictures from the garden in my June photos.


Currently eating:

• all herbs
• all greens
• strawberries
• rhubarb
• pea shoots

Things are about a week behind due to my start this year. Last year by June 20th, I already had baby cucumbers etc. On the upside, the front bed I started last year is already well established and I am loving all my flowers.

Currently blooming:

• zhuchini
• poppies
• daisy
• lavedar
• iris
• peony
• columbine
• bleeding heart
• viola
• chives
• citronella
• comfrey
• tomatoes
• roses
•  crainsbill germanium
• yarrow
• 6 types sedum
• passion plant

Rain News

It is pouring today, which is a good thing from a blogging perspective, if not a gardening one. Lots of little bits on news (but no new pictures due to rain) to share:

• I finished eating asparagus this week, and have allowed the spears to grow to full fronds
• Currently eating 5 types of lettuces and spinach, all spices, green onions and rhubarb
• Mike trimmed our front tree so I am getting much better sun in the front
• We had 60 plus km an hour winds last week, so I think the main drop of dutch elm seeds has passed. Mike helped me rake them out of the beds and lawn, which will mean less weeding later. 
• I wanted to plant my third planting of beans and peas this week, but it looks like I will be waiting till at least next weekend due to rain
• My squashes and peppers are flowering and some of my tomatoes are starting. I have tomatoes on one larger plant I bought
• Tulips are mostly done done blooming, and the yard is moving into a new faze.  The backyard is currently dominated by Cranesbill  Germanium, purple and pink Lilac bushes and purple Iris, and the front by orange Poppy and yellow Iris. My back wall is especially beautiful with purple and pink carpets of flowers like flox.

More news to come when I have more pictures.