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

Mid June Garden Updates

Last Thursday I fixed the tiller, finally! I was able to till the rest of the garden and sow in beans! So I now have three rows of tomatoes, rows of watermelon, cucumbers, corn cushaw and beans and potatoes. In grow bags, I also have cucumbers and buckets of potatoes.

At my home garden, I have potted tomatoes, cantaloupe and squash that the birds managed to leave for me! My radishes, cilantro and arugula have bolted and bloomed delicate white and purple flowers. I am still picking lettuce from the garden as much as possible and making deliveries to people as you can see below.

Lettuce and radishes in a bag

Lettuce in bags ready for delivery 

Also at the home garden, I sowed 40,000 flower seeds in this small area that I tilled in the front yard. The poppies are blooming and some other flowers. It's such a whimsical little spot.

At my apartment, I was sure to have plants growing too. From my compost bin, I pulled up tomato plants and transplanted them to styrofoam cups and filled them with compost soil. I have them sitting outside my door where theres plenty of sun, good air circulation as well.  

Tomatoes growing on the patio

Lilly from the home garden picked 

Welcome

Veggies and flowers in April garden

Work is never done--especially, not mine! Not only am I transplanting and sewing veggies and flowers in my garden, but also in my grandparent's neck of the woods.

Yesterday I bought my grandparents 6 pansies, a gerbera, 3 tattoo black cherry petunias, a Vermillion rose begonia, and another type of pink rose geranium. I transplanted the pansies today in large pots at their house.

Additionally, I tilled and mulched a flower bed against their house where I also planted 65 gladiolus bulbs. Then I dug up a couple spots where their rose bushes are and planted over 10 Hollyhock roots.

Then, I also worked on the structure for my hardy kiwi plants. I have a male and female and need another female kiwi to plant with them. I hammered in 4 metal posts and tied 4 swing set poles to the posts and then tied fencing up as a support for the kiwis. Honestly though, the kiwis are growing in such a tangled mess, I'll have to full with them this fall by cutting them back completely. I have had them growing here for over 5 years and have yet to see blooms.

All these projects today drained all my energy, but yesterday I managed to buy some mulch and sheet mulch over the mint and oregano patch, including the Hibiscus and Phlox patch, and one of my garden beds. I mulched around the artichoke and okra seedlings and put mulch in 14 potato bags to prep for planting potatoes on Good Friday.

I'll take a break for the rest of the evening and start working in the morning to finish laying the mulch.

Mulched artichoke, okra, hibiscus, and phlox

Mulched mint and oregano bottle garden

The six garden beds are full of arugula, spinach, radish, lettuces, peas, and cilantro, and I have been picking them here and there to eat. I harvested some radishes to make room for the other radishes too. With these, it's important to keep them watered throughout the spring.

Onion and lettuce bed

Strawberry bed

Lettuces 

Compost pile of squashes!

cilantro bed and radish, arugula, spinach bed

Cilantro 

spianch and arugula 

Pineapple sage

Radishes and lettuces 

blueberry, raspberry, and goji berry patch
With plastic sheeting

You might say all these pictures of flowers are repetitive but I am in love! These flowers are my babies! Everyday there are new flowers, angles, the sun hits them a certain way--I can't help but take so many photos...

I transplanted Dahlias too with my mother today. It's the little things like planting flowers with your family and showing gratitude, making memories mean more to them than anything, so dont take that for granted and do something for someone everyday. That's what flowers have taught me in growing them.

Garden harvest dinner photos of Swiss Chard greens & Radish

Some things I have been up to this week in the garden include compost mulching around plants, transplanting tomatoes, sowing more seed, and of course harvesting fresh food for dinners. I harvested blueberries, raspberries, radish and Swiss Chard today. With the Swiss Chard, I sauteed with a little water and olive oil, with garlic, salt, black pepper, sugar, and red wine vinegar. Then I sliced half of the radishes I harvested to eat raw on the side. Then I cooked some golden potatoes (not from the garden) to have with the garden food.

At the beginning of the week, I drove the truck to get compost and shoveled it around all of the plants in the garden. Because I had a truckload of compost, I was able to distribute it on two rows of potatoes growing in bags and compost over 10 rows of plants. The 10 rows consist of hugelkultur mounds in addition to rows of holes dug with compost. Digging holes and adding compost to the holes is the lazy gardener's method, and I highly recommend it! The hugelkultur mounds are also easy to maintain, and I consider them to be perfect for the gardener who don't want to use a tiller. With these rows, of course, you need to consistently mulch. In between the rows, you'll notice in the photos that I have been cardboard mulched between rows and then have a layer of leaves on the cardboard.

hugelkultur mound of Zucchini & crookneck squash

mound of crookneck squash

 Because the hugelkultur mounds tend to lose soil because of wash off, I have composted around the mounds three times so far this year from early spring to late summer. This week I have also started collecting long thick pieces of wood to contain the soil around the mounds.

Cherry tomatoes

Cucumbers (left) & Tomatoes (right)

squash & cucumber on trellis

cucumber/pumpkin/artichoke

watermelon/cucumber (right) & honeydew melon & butternut squash (left)

row of cucumber/butternut/acorn squash

 This was a picture of the mound of greens before I took out the radish, mesclun spicy mix and collards. I wanted to get the radishes out because some were splitting. And the mesclun and collars were getting eaten by beetles and worms, so I took them out to replace them soon.