Monday, June 29, 2020

Vertical gardening in the veggie gardens & enchanting flower gardens

Today, I weeded the veggie garden. Additionally, I hoed more rows of beans for the rows that didnt germinate. I laid out fencing to put up tomorrow around the beans. I put fencing against the rows of cushaw plants. I have rows of corn and cucumber to post and string up as well tomorrow. 
In my other garden, I cut back the weeds around the blueberry plants and started pylling up old lettuce and radish plants. Still, I have much work there to do in order to rotate crops from spring to summer crops. It was a busy day, and it all starts again tomorrow to work. 

Cucumbers in grow bags & potatoes growing in buckets


Potatoes

Corn and beans

Tomaotes 

Corn

Corn

Cushaws tied to fencing 

Tomatoes

Cockscomb flowers








Wednesday, June 24, 2020

My lettuce garden & wildflower haven

In my yard, I make sure to avoid mowing down the milkweed. Now, the milkweed stands growing tall and will be flowering soon. From what I've heard, milkweed is the only food source for the Monarch butterfly, so every year, I'm sure to keep the patch of Milkweed growing just for them.

Also, my patch of wildflowers are doing great. I may fertilize them again soon, but I'm glad that they're growing so that it attracts bees and other insects in the hopes that the insects will pollinate the flowering vegetables or fruit trees.








Grapes getting bigger

Basil

This garden is different from my other I showed you in my last post. It is my permaculture garden which I continue mulching and layering with compost. In the  garden beds here, I planted an abundance of radish, many varieties of lettuce, cilantro, spinach, arugula--and now most of these plants are going to seed. The lettuce will be flowering soon too. I have continued to pick the lettuce for salads, sandwiches, and wraps. I have been giving lots of lettuce away too, but as mentioned, the lettuce will be flowering soon and I will not be able to pick it any longer because it will taste old and bitter.








Cilantro and lettuce

Yarrow flower 

Onion flowers
Lots of onions flowering 


Here I have some strawberries growing too amongst the lettuces but animals are eating them.

Strawbery plant

In my pots, I have squash, melons and tomaotes. I have struggled with these though because of animals digging up plants and making holes. It has been a constant struggle this year with animals, unfortunately.



Today, I composted around the tomatoes  in pots. I brought some pots that animals ate the plants from to my apartment to transplant tomatoes in. It looks pretty good! And I brought compost from my home garden to my apartment garden for the tomatoes!

Tomatoes in pots for apartment garden

Already getting big!

Late June veggie & flower garden


Here are some photos from Sunday when I took pictures of the garden. This garden is at my grandparents. They try there best to maintain it for me since I don't live a mile from them anymore. Grandma waters, fertilizes and adds some soil to the cucumbers in grow bags and the potatoes in grow buckets. She has been fertilizing l, or what she calls "side dressing" the cushaw, tomatoes, corn, beans, and potatoes in the ground.

I have some cucumbers growing in the ground, but these are in the grow bags which I set up a trellis around.

Cucumbers 

Cucumbers in grow bags

Not pictured is the grow buckets of potatoes growing. Theres more than 20 buckets and grow bags with potatoes growing. Potatoes are also growing in the ground across from the beans.

Below are pictures of the rows of cushaw and some corn. I had sowed cucumbers and watermelon in the rows too amongst the corn and cushaw, but I'm not sure if they're growing. 

Cushaw, cucumber, melon, corn

Cushaw, cucumber, melon

Beside the cushaws, tomatoes are tied to tobacco sticks. 

Tomaotes 

Tomatoes 

Potatoes, tomaotes, corn

Beans and corn

The tomatoes are growing closely with the rows of corn. Across from the tomatoes and corn are the rows of beans. Varieties I planted were Half runners, Hidatsa, and Turkey craw. I have the tobacco sticks up to mark off rows for the beans but I still need to put up the fencing for them to grow.

Beans
Here are some rows of potatoes growing in the ground. 

Potatoes 

Lastly, the flower gardens are looking beautifully vibrant despite a hog infiltrating the flower gardens last week. Here are a few pictures that I took Sunday on Fathers day.

Gladiolus 





Wildflower garden

Bee balm