On Bramble Hill

There has been a whole lot of this going on over the last month…..
Lots of yard renovation, dirt, weeding, composting blah blah blah blah…lots of it!
As promised…how about a beginning of June garden update?

Let’s start with the squash and cucumbers…
These plants are 2-3 weeks out from seeds in the ground!  After the tropical storm this weekend they are now twice as big as this picture!  Although I have my concerns how well anything in the garden is going to do after all this rain!  Around 6″ in less than 24 hours…and more storms tonight…ugh!

The tomatoes are looking lovely…we are up to 30+ tomato plants all over the yard now….very little ryhme or reason to where I have them placed.
In the beginning the plants I grew in my little green house went into rows but then I had “leftovers” and didn’t have the heart to toss them in the compost pile and so I stuck them in with the flower beds, pots and well…anywhere I could sneak one!
I have been doing a good job, so far, this year of keeping them suckled and the bottom leaves off the ground.
I also planted the garden batch with Epsom salt and crushed egg shells…God Bless Pinterest!  I will let you know if this method works at the end of the Summer.  So far they are huge!  They also seemed to have doubled this weekend!

The Swiss Chard is lovely….although I am fighting cabbage moths (grrrrrr)

It’s coming along!

I need to get a better trellis for the cantaloupes and cucumbers.  In a garden this compact “up” is the only way to go with vines most days!

“My helper” was so helpful planting sunflowers, zinnias, okra and strawberry popcorn.  So helpful he went back to try and dig up the seeds….
Silly baby

“What mom!  I’m helping!”

This week I will be pulling up the radishes and some lettuce and putting in the Winter squash plants I have started in the little greenhouse.
So far so good.
Grow garden grow!

Number one question this year…why do you start from seed rather than buy plants already started at the store?
First answer is I “prefer” plants I have started either in my little miniature green house or in the garden from seed but this doesn’t mean I don’t purchase an heirloom tomato here and there when I can find them at small greenhouses.  I am absolutely addicted to the 75% off rack at Lowe’s for dead and dying perennial flowers and shrubs.  I have yet to pay full price for those sorts of plants.
Second answer….when it comes to veggies I ALWAYS have better luck keeping a plant from disease if I DON’T get it from a big box shop.  Those plants, especially the last 5 years or so, seem to just be riddled with blights and issues from the start.

It is worth the extra time and patience for me to start my plants myself.

I also figured out that the big box shops carry really boring plants.  Really.
I mean how many varieties of hybrid tomato and pepper plants do we really need?
With seeds I can grow some really odd things each year and test out new veggies.  So fun!  Last year we had Lemon cucumbers  purple pole beans, pink lima beans, zebra tomatoes and several other heirloom variations I had never heard…it’s an adventure!

This year we expanded our kitchen garden with about another 6′x30′ and then we added two new huge “flower beds” which have tons of herbs and some veggies hidden in amongst the flowers.  Gotta be a bit sneaky in the HOA neighborhood
So how about a peek at the May garden…I know I am behind but we have to start at the beginning!

It started off looking like this…
Lovely orange clay soil…ugh.

So in it’s place we put a grapevine!  This should be interesting….
A few things about this next picture…first you can see the grapevine…grow baby grow!
Second I get asked alot about why I put hay on my garden.  I have been doing this for years although until the whole living class out at Forrest Green I had  been using straw.  Now I know better (Thanks Rob and Krista!)…I shall be sticking with hay and giving back nutrients to the soil.
I also put newspaper under it to keep the weeds down.  It will also break down by the end of the season and just get tilled back into the ground.
More on this when I post about my last two Whole Living Classes.

Ok see those gorgeous squash, zucchini and cucumber plants growing?
Those are 2 week old, straight from package to ground, plants.  Patients.  4 weeks out and they have doubled…pictures in the next post.
An extra plus to the seed in the ground method?  It’s far cheaper.
I have this pet peeve right now with growers doubling prices on their flower packs and taking them from 6 cell packs to 1-4 plants per pack.
This drives me nuts.  Probably because I know how easy it is to get 4+ times as many plants from a $2 seed pack.
Don’t get me wrong….seeds don’t always work.  But once you get the hang of growing seeds you are hooked!

And for those of you who follow the gardening chronicles each year you are probably wondering where my peas are?
I was too….Check out my poor pea plants!

Disease?  Bugs?
Nope…”Stewie”  aka the baby bunny living in my day lilies!

Why “Stewie”?  Because we know with 2 cats and 2 dogs in this yard…his days are probably numbered and he will be someones dinner.
The circle of life goes around even in the burbs.
But until then….I will share.

Tomorrow I will try and get the June pics up to date.
We have been eating lots of lettuce, radishes, eating/drying/tincturing tons of herbs, bok choy, swiss chard, carrots, celery, onions, mustard and turnips.  It is amazing how much such a small space can provide!

PS~  Not even close to too late to get out there and start some plants!   What are you waiting on?