A Look Around-April 2012

This is really just for my records.  I want to record how our garden grows throughout the season this year.

The oregano bed was planted a couple of years ago and just keeps going.  It was covered in leaves throughout the winter and is looking great.  I'll be adding lots of fresh oregano to our salads and drying some as well.  I also have a four by four bed of lemon balm that will need a few more plants added to it.  For some reason it is not doing as well as the oregano.

This is a new bed that Jordan recently built for me.  I had transplanted my mint into another bed and it didn't do very well.  Now I have transplanted most of it to this bed and will be adding more plants as I find them.  We love peppermint tea and I would love to have this entire bed full of peppermint!!  I also have pots with lemon mint, apple mint and chocolate mint.  I am hoping to get some four by four beds built soon to fill with each of those mints. 

Our older blueberry bushes are covered in berries!   Last year was the first year we really were able to harvest much from them and we only got a couple of gallons.  We have several more planted, but it will be a while before they are very fruitful.  Thankfully, we are just a few miles from a huge blueberry farm and can pick all we want there!

I think this bed is a 12 x 4.  It is full of everbearing strawberries and we will be getting a good bit from them this year.  This bed was started last year from the babies of the mother plants that I purchased 2 years ago on clearance.  I spent about $15 for a dozen strawberry plants and we have two beds full now.  We'll be seperating these before next season into two other beds.

Birds like strawberries, so we have to keep them covered or there won't be any for us!

This is another 12 x 4 bed full of squash plants....and one lone marigold.

Another 12 x 4 is ready for a load of soil.  We still have cucumbers, watermelons and green beans to plant from seeds and I have started tomatoes, leeks, more squash and lots of basil that will need to be planted soon.  We need more beds built!!

Yesterday we purchased more plants to add to these beds.  We now have early peas, tomatoes, various peppers, and squash planted here.

This is a muscadine vine that was growing near the garden.  Jordan is training it to a trellis.  Last year he foraged in the woods and got gallons of muscadines and we made jelly.  Yum!!

To the right we have marigolds planted alongside onions started from seed. To the left are chives and more onions and marigolds.

We are mulching with leaves this year hoping to keep down the weeds and to retain moisture.  When the leaves break down they will enrich the soil.

This is the first year that our little plum trees actually have plums.  There won't be enough for a big batch of plum jelly, but we'll have enough to eat fresh.  And we also have apples!!   So excited about this!

Around three groups of felled trees we have huge mounds of wild blackberry bushes.  Last night when I was taking pictures, they were covered with bees.  If we only had beehives.....

More marigolds waiting to to be planted...Marigolds help keep the bugs away.  As these die down we will save them to scatter around plants next year.

This bed has sage and thyme.  I harvest them in the fall and the sage grows back up to about 3 feet high. 

                                                                    

Knockout roses are looking beautiful!

I had to put in a picture of Caedmon.  He had already had his bath, but ran out while I was taking pictures.  The azaleas at the porch railing were beautiful this year, but are at the dying out stage and look slightly frazzled.  

That's a look around here this week.  Hope to see you soon!

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