Garden, it is. Appropriate, too. It's raining today. Thundering, too. While I've gotten all the irrigation tuned up by now, the timers haven't all been set, yet, so this rare (for late June around here) rainstorm is a lovely gift. After a wild and crazy winter, with precip totals at about 90 inches for the year (average is around 55), summer arrived a couple of weeks ago with a sudden THUD--like those cartoons of the old days that show "nightfall" as a stage curtain with stars and moon crashing down from the rafters. One day, it was sweatshirts and long pants; the next, shorts and flipflops.
The garden. I'll make this quick (stream of consciousness- no particular order).
Started everything in peat pots from seed in early April. Most of us up here planted late because we had the late hard frost last year (end of May) that killed everything. Finally got it all in the ground by early June. I worked in a new wing (photo above): in addition to my two half-barrels of strawberries, I added a large metal tub for another bunch. Behind them, I terraced off a couple of new sections for corn and zucchini (What's wrong with me?--I still have five bags I grated from my neighbor's plants last year.).I planted three kinds of podded peas--only to discover they are favorite fare for our new garden guest: Mr (or Ms?) Vole. Tom and I actually observed our little friend from the deck. Lots of little holes, too. I am crafting a (humane) plan of elimination. No dynamite. Yet. So we have less than half the pea plants I'd hoped. Asparagus is looking great and will be ready for harvest next year, I believe. Pulled the artichokes. Too much space for too little reward. There are five or six leeks left from last year.
I might have a tomato problem. I'm growing 26 plants. Most of them are unique varieties, though I've doubled up on a few of the cherries. I just can't resist. I'll do better next year--only faves. The vole is also the likeliest culprit responsible for the sheered-off broccoli (1/4-inch stems!) and the loss of the entire row of chard. And my beans! Only half of what I planted is left and none of the yard-long kind. But I'll try again--plenty of time still.
The lettuce has also been decimated, but there's still a nice selection of cos, freckles, red-leaf, and gourmet mix to harvest. I was going to thin them, anyway (photo at right shows lettuce with empty chard row in middle). We'll just have to see how the peppers, eggplants and tomatillos do. In past years, they have floundered. Might not be hot enough? Poor soil? Well.
New this year are two grape vines (at left in photo to right--tomatoes everywhere else). They seem happy now. A red and a black (real names later). Again with the three-year wait for fruit. Already we've had quite a nice crop of strawberries, but we've had to share them with others--voles? birds? I'm not sure, but I have my suspicions. Most of the half-eaten berries have deep grooves. That says "bird" to me.
We have a long row of berry plants (black, boysen, rasp) that looks very good this year (photo). Jury's still out on the blueberries. Another front in the bird battle looms, I fear. It is said that whatever method one chooses as a deterrent, it only works for a week or so before the little gluttons get wise-so timing is everything. I'm planning my strategy. I'm not as generous about sharing berries as I am broccoli.
Then there are the trees. The peach (four varieties in one) still has two years before we should let it produce anything. Next year, for the cherries and apples. I'm cheating a little with the apples--I'm letting a few stay on the trees--just for fun.
All this in one little fenced-in area. It's getting quite crowded, really. Once I get the compost bin built, I think that might be all we can cram in there.
We're just getting to the time of year where tending the veggie garden is more fun. Less hard labor, more puttering this 'n' that. I'm anxious to see if the soil has improved at all. I've still got a compost pile to sift and add, as well.
Yes, this is almost the fun part...
