never really got going on my garden this year. Well - I did but it was too early and most of my plants died in a cold snap or were eaten by the horrendous swarm of inch worms we had hatch in the cherry tree out back. The whole house was COVERED in the worms and their silk tails.
The strawberries (3rd year plants) survived - mainly because I thought they wouldn't survive the winter so had buried them under a lot of hay....which they liked oddly enough.
The strawberries (3rd year plants) survived - mainly because I thought they wouldn't survive the winter so had buried them under a lot of hay....which they liked oddly enough.
One crop is doing very well - our potatoes. For the last 4 years I have tried to grow potatoes with little success. This year I did a few things differently:
1. Planted the budded spuds in bags of potting soil
2. planted the spuds bud up
Yeah, until this year I had no idea the buds go up - I thought the buds were roots! You can see it made a huge difference!
1. Planted the budded spuds in bags of potting soil
2. planted the spuds bud up
Yeah, until this year I had no idea the buds go up - I thought the buds were roots! You can see it made a huge difference!
Originally we planted 2 bags with red potatoes and 2 with yukon gold - then soil went on sale so I planted two more of each.
These two in the center are yukons and already have potatoes in there! nice sized ones even. I am very excited and can hardly control myself! I so want to dig in the bags and see how many taters I have in there!
These two in the center are yukons and already have potatoes in there! nice sized ones even. I am very excited and can hardly control myself! I so want to dig in the bags and see how many taters I have in there!
Potato blossom!
Beautiful!!
Beautiful!!
Click to learn more about bird house gourds. I planted 5 bird house gourd seeds.... looks like 5 million. I had no idea the vines would grow so thick and long! Little flowers are scattered in among the leaves and the vines are still growing - they extend over the fence and down past the end of the beds.
Gourd!!
This year I tried something a bit different in my raised beds. I added a tube made of chicken wire into the center of the beds that I use as a compost bin. Each bed has one and I throw the compost-able materials directly into the bed and let the worms move the nutrients around. I got the idea from a post on African Key hole gardens.
Click to open site I don't like bugs or excessive heat, so next year I am considering building a green house. I found these great plans for growing plants in a bucket - a guy does this in Alaska! They are free, check out the article and free plans. http://alaskagrowbuckets.com/
I am thinking this type of system hooked into a aquaponics system would really be a healthy, happy plant heaven type of situation. And then in the greenhouse I could grow plants year round!
How is your garden growing? Remember to stop and smell the roses (or potato blossoms!)!
Thanks for reading, Millie
I am thinking this type of system hooked into a aquaponics system would really be a healthy, happy plant heaven type of situation. And then in the greenhouse I could grow plants year round!
How is your garden growing? Remember to stop and smell the roses (or potato blossoms!)!
Thanks for reading, Millie
