The homestead thus far. With all this rain, it's a jungle out there. |
The last week and a half have found me outside quite a bit more. We've had some gorgeous weather which allowed me to get V and a friend out in the woods as well as really zone in on my garden.
Girls being girls. |
My early seeds have sprouted and are well on their way. I can nearly taste the salad greens and have already used many herbs. Last year we didn't do much with the garden because we'd just come off of our kitchen remodel and were drained in many ways. I guess now I'm making up for that lack of garden expansion. We've incorporated a lot more perennial foods this year. We replanted asparagus (for the third time, which will be a charm, right?), planted a Nero Aronia bush (which I THOUGHT I read was a.k.a. chokeberry, but now I'm not finding that information) which should fruit this first year, planted a variety of hops (the gateway crop for my husband to join me in urban homesteading)--our trellis/hops crop a few years ago was ripped down in a wind storm so here's to a second try, started some hardy kiwi (also planted for the third time--another charm), added more rhubarb, and put in more strawberries to join the golden raspberries, elderberries, gooseberries, thornless blackberries, red currants, grapes, sunchokes, tart and sweet cherries, and heirloom apples already in place.
Sink full of muddy, soaking sunchokes. |
Mt. Hood hops beginning to vine towards the trellis. |
Three-year-old blackberry bushes join our already prolific 6-year-old bushes. |
Grapevines really starting to leaf out this week. |
Enterprise apple blossoms |
Sunchokes already proliferating |
Red Lake Currants |
Original rhubarb patch |
Strawberries and Golden Raspberries on the ground and new strawberries in the raised bed |
The big project this week was to finally--after 3-4 seasons of procrastination--dig up our parkway (or as some call it "hell strip") and plant edibles. I chose some sturdy rhubarb, red and green cabbages, broccoli, flowering kale, and perennial lovage. I currently have it blocked off with a little garden edging (in white, which I'm not crazy about), but am hoping to keep dogs off of it at least until it's more established. I knew I was taking a risk when I did this--the city can also tromp on it without notice or compensation if they need access. It's a risk I'm willing to take in the name of food production. At least I won't have to drag my rotary mower to the front now. There's a tiny strip of grass on the north side of our front steps that I also hope to turn into edible space someday. For now I can trim that with a manual hedge trimmer.
Before |
After--I'm not crazy about the white edging, but it works until I find something better. At least it's a temporary visual for dogs and people. |
The path I created from some pieces of busted concrete we had from a pathway project in the backyard a few years ago. Creeping thyme will hopefully fill in the cracks in a couple of seasons. |
I'm also having fun with more container veggies this year: determinate tomatoes, peppers, and mixed brassicas.
Lacinato and Red Russian Kale, Red Orach, Treviso Radicchio, and Baby Mustard greens add color and texture to the front stoop. |
V's upcycled clementine boxes with chamomile, nasturtiums, radishes, bachelor buttons amid some little ceramic friends we found at a church rummage. We'll see what actually has enough depth to grow. |
Potted Curry plant, French tarragon, and Italian parsley |
Arugula, radishes, and peas on a trellis upcycled from my neighbors' broken and discarded drying rack |
V wanted to grow some popcorn near her garden. We'll give it a shot, but only under protection from the birds. |
View from the greenhouse |
We're looking forward to the beginning of summer and relaxing a lot in our backyard sanctuary. Everyone have a safe and happy holiday season.