Harvest Monday ... And An Easy Little Trellis

This week saw the start of the pea harvest!  Only a few made it into the house; Mike and I munched a bunch of them right off the plant in the garden : )

Snow Peas : Oregon Sugar Pod II

There was a big haul of  spinach that was destined for the freezer ...

Spinach Bloomsdale Savoy and Everlasting

The start of the broccoli harvest ...

Broccoli : De Cicco

And a lot of lettuce was harvested that didn't get photographed.


I'm joining other bloggers over at Daphne's Dandelions as we share our weekly harvests...it's fun to see what others are harvesting and what they are cooking up with it...check it out!


I've been adding some simple trellises to the ends of some of my raised beds ...

I added another piece of PVC to the bed about 6" back from the one at the end.  Then all I needed was a piece of wire fencing and some twine ...

I cut the fencing to match the interior width of the bed ...

...tied the fencing to the PVC with some twine ...

... trimmed the fencing to the curve of the hoop ...

...and then did the same on the other end of the trellis ...


I planted cucumbers at the base of the trellis.  There are Asian greens on the other side that will be glad of the shade the cucumber foliage will soon supply while the cucumbers will enjoy the direct sun at the end of the bed.


Enjoy!

A Garden Update ...

I've spent the last week "puttering" in the garden ... nothing really big is going on right now; I'm just weeding, feeding and playing with some new ideas.

I decided to try direct seeding of some Asian Greens (Joi Choi, Tatsoi, Chinese Cabage and Mizuna) using Annie's Granny's seed mat/tape method.  And I had an idea about making sure that the paper I used for the tapes would dissolve quickly ...

I also had an idea about using seed tapes for planting carrots ...

I set down the tape with the carrot seeds, covered it with a thin layer of soil, watered gently and then cut a piece of clear plastic sheeting and laid it over the soil to keep the moisture in.  I can see through the plastic to check for germination or see if the soil is drying out.  I also laid a soil heating cable on top of the plastic, just to speed things along.

I've been working on the drip system for the raised beds ...

All of the beds on the right side of the garden are now hooked up ... I still need to add another line for the beds in the front and into the greenhouse.  Aren't my peas pretty?  Look at all those blossoms!

I've also added  drip emitters (the little red thing in the photo below) to 

 the potato boxes ...

These are the potatoes from my potato box experiment.  They are about three times the size of the ones I started without a heating mat ... I need to add a fourth board to the box any day now!

I borrowed another idea from Granny; her "Bottomless Tomato Bucket" method for some of my tomatoes ...

These are determinate tomatoes, so they don't need a lot of caging ... the buckets will keep the tomato foliage up off of the other vegetables planted there.  I'm going to add individual drip emitters to the tomato buckets the same as I did for the potato boxes ...

The sun is shining today ... my garden chores are done ...I'm goin' fishing : )

Enjoy!

May Garden Chores ..

May 1 was Beltane, the Celtic celebration of the mid-point between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice and the beginning of the summer season. Using my "Five Season Garden Planner" it is the start of my early summer planting of the vegetables that need warm soil and longer days to germinate and thrive.

Seed Starting
It's time to start summer and winter squash, pumpkins and cucumbers that will be transplanted to the garden the first week of June.  In a normal year it would be time to be direct sowing pole and bush beans, but because this has been such a cold spring, I have started my beans in the potting shed under lights.  I have also started a dozen corn plants; I'm going to try "Three Sisters" plantings in two of my half wine barrels out in The Garden.  It is also time to start leeks that will be planted in July for Autumn harvest.  The first week of May is also a good time time look at your seed inventory and order any that you will need for mid-Summer and Autumn planting.

Direct Sowing
Carrots and beets can be direct sown (I really recommend using seed mats as demonstrated  here by Annie's Granny) the first week of May.  That is a second crop of  carrots in The Farm as I "pushed" the season with "The Great Carrot Caper" experiment.  Remember those tiny little carrot starts I planted on March 15?

Well, here they are today :)  I'll have to wait until I harvest the carrots before I call the experiment a success, but it's sure looking good (wish I had done the same thing with my early beet crop!)

Under normal conditions bush and pole beans could be direct sown now, but with this cold weather we are having I am starting mine under lights with a germination heating mat.

With our continued cool spring a second crop of brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.) could be direct sown now.  The ones I started back in February and planted in March under cover are looking pretty good ...

Transplant
Tomato and basil starts can be transplanted to raised beds under cover now.

Compost
Lawns are starting to need mowing now (if you haven't ripped them all out for edibles!  We keep a small patch of lawn for our dogs to enjoy).  Hopefully you are composting all those lawn clippings, as well as any portions or your harvests that don't go into a meal.

Enjoy
Carly, Taffy and I take time every day to do a "walkabout".  We tour and enjoy the garden (the dogs are mainly on the lookout for squirrels that could be chased :)  I look for spots that need a little work and think about next year; should I try a different variety?  Plant in a different place?  Please make sure that you take the time to ...

Enjoy!