After hobbitizing at a steadfast pace for the past six weeks, things have slowed down a little. With all that was happening at the beginning of our short window to grow our STUFF, I missed out on posting a #gardenjournal last month.
I had taken photos of what we were doing, with the intention of joining in on the fun. But, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, another month had passed. Having not posted last month, I figured that for this month's journal, I would include both sets of pictures.
Although our time to grow as much as we can, in order to put as much as possible into a deep freeze, when the STUFF gets going, the growth from week to week is remarkable.
This year we planted the carrot seeds in one of the new boxes that I built. This is the first time we've grown the carrots in this location. If we get a crop like we did last year, we will be thrilled!
We haven't grown radishes since moving to New York. In the past, we tried growing them a few times but had very little luck. Garden pests always wreaked havoc on the young plants when we grew them on the ground. Growing them in one of our raised boxes may be the answer as they are doing better than ever before. Radishes straight up or sliced thin and added to a salad, oh my.
Rotating our crops always pays dividends and one of my favorite veggies, beets, seem to like their new location. We've already been cutting some of the leaves from the beet plants and adding them to our smoothies.
I think that tomatoes are a favorite of most gardeners. In the past, we've grown so many that we always have pounds to give to our family and friends.
Before planting the seedlings we line the bottom of every hole with a heaping shovel full of organic compost that has been brewing since last year. In addition to the compost, we add a few teaspoons of bone meal to each hole. Bone meal provides calcium for your plants. Calcium improves root growth, encourages strong roots, and helps prevent blossom end rot.
We planted our tomatoes a little earlier this year. The rule of thumb for our region is to wait until after Memorial Day to plant them in order to avoid any frost conditions. Not following these guidelines I planted them just a few days before Memorial Day and that didn't work out too well.
After moving them in at night and outdoors during the day, for a week or so, I figured they were hardened off and ready to stick in the ground. Well, a few days after planting them a frost alert was posted for our area. Digging them up and moving them back inside was not an option. Being that they were still rather small I was able to place a mason jar over all 26 tomato plants and then covered the jars with cloth. My tee shirts and our towels took a major hit, but what the heck, it was better than waking up the next morning to 26 dead plants.
Tomato plants love a consistent amount of water and well-drained soil.
Another new addition to our garden this year is Banana Peppers. The cabbage is flourishing. We planted more cabbage this year than in the past and we will try our hand at making sauerkraut.
Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable rich in antioxidants and other beneficial plant compounds. Consumed raw or gently steamed, it's a farm favorite.
All of the veggies in this collage we have grown for many years and hopefully, they will thrive again this year. We've planted both yellow squash and green squash, pickling cucumbers, and slicing cucumbers.
We'll be trying our hand at growing some cantaloupe. We've never had much luck with growing any type of melon, but you never know.
Like most items one needs to purchase from a store, the price of seeds has doubled from last year.
This year we will make a concerted effort to collect the seeds from as many of our veggies as possible.
What's a #gardenjournal without a selfie, even if it's in the form of a shadow?
