Saturday 11 June 2016

... kitchen garden construction continues

Hello everyone,

Sorry to have been away from posting for a while but we have been taking advantage of this unusually cool weather to get as much done in the kitchen garden as is possible for two people to accomplish.  :)

I have lots of photos to show you so you can see what we have been doing and also some to show the various veg beds and how the plants are faring.

We have been building a lot of new beds in the garden this Spring. We have now completed the 2nd row of beds. The last bed is yet to be filled and of course I still have to clear the pathways and lay down the landscape fabric and the pea stone.


We have also begun work on the 3rd row of beds which is in fact the center of the garden. Because I feel that a garden must be food for the eyes and the soul in addition to the stomach I wanted this center section to be a bit more decorative. Accordingly we are placing a long bed at the top and bottom of the row but will have a diamond shaped bed in the very center with two long beds running in the other direction at the top and bottom. Far less beds but much wider pathways to navigate with barrows and such. I am also hoping to put some sort of pergola over the two long wide beds to create a tunnel effect to grow climbing plants like cucumber, beans like Scarlet Runners and also squash plants. As you can see here in this photo the center bed is in and we have just cleared the ground for the first two long beds. They are 11.5 feet long and 4 feet wide each. That width is a bit more than I have used for all the other beds but I can just reach into the center to planting and weeding so it should be OK.


The center bed has already been filled with garden loam and planted out. The very middle of the bed is filled with red Gladioli and around the perimeter I have planted out Pineberries. These are completely new to me. They are white strawberries with red seeds that are said to have a taste of pineapple. They have started to flower and I am tempted to allow them to produce just a couple of berries for a taste. This will not be there permanent home but I needed somewhere to put them for now and this new space was available. As you can see from all the stakes and strings all over the place, we are attempting to get everything lined up properly and evenly.



The 4th row of the garden will spend another year covered in multiple layers of tarps to kill the weeds. Row 5 of which I did not get a photo is somewhat weedy but Frank is in the process of digging them out and that area will be planted with surplus tomatoes and squash as the soil has been amended quite a bit with compost in that area.


And now a look at how the plants are doing this year. This is a photo of the garlic bed. I have removed the mulch in order to get in there and remove the unbelievable amount of weeds that had grown. The beds are now nice and clean. Garlic does not do well with competition from weeds so it is important to keep the beds clear.


This is a new one on me. Broad beans or also called Fava beans. Never grown them before but they are certainly growing a treat. They have begun to flower. I will need to tie them in to their cane supports before they begin to flop over. I cannot wait to try them.


This is one of the beds of carrots. I am growing 4 different varieties and I did find that germination was somewhat spotty. I have since gone back and planted more seed in the gaps. The same was the case with the parsnip which is at the other end of this bed. Germination was just terrible so had to plant a lot more and hope to fill in the spaces if the germination is better this time.


We have planted out three full beds of tomatoes this year. Quite a lot of them are Roma types as we are hoping to do a lot of canned tomatoes this year. We have also spaced them a bit farther apart. I have interplanted lettuce down the center of a couple of the beds. It will be used and out of there long before the tomatoes need the space. The determinate types are in the round cages and the others have been staked.


I have planted out one bed with peas which I am training up this galvanized pea support that I purchased from Veseys in PEI. I only bought one to give it a try but it is working very well and they are grabbing on with their little tendrils to climb up. Will purchase a second one next year. As the pea fence zigzags it's way along the bed it leaves behind triangular shaped areas that I have planted out. I have already harvested an area of arugula and radish and quite a lot of spinach. As you can see this little spot is filled with lettuce and more spinach. The little bare spot in front was radish that I already pulled. As soon as a space is harvested I re-sow it with something else. It is working brilliantly.


These are the two leek beds. I had already done a post on Eliot Coleman's method of growing leeks and so far it seems to be working quite well. All the little holes are completely filled in and the leeks are growing happily.


Since transplanting the rhubarb last year it has taken off and has been exceptional. I have been harvesting from all 4 plants this season and it continues to grow full and lush. This shows the benefits of soil that is tailored to meet the needs of the plants.


This last photo is of the early June bearing strawberries. When I planted them last year I noted in my posts that I was removing the blossom and the runners from these plants in an attempt to have them produce a bumper crop of berries this year. The strategy has worked wonders. Just have a look at all those little beauties. All the plants are just like that... absolutely loaded with fruit. Now the key, especially in this drought we are having, is to give them ample water. There is really no problem with sunshine as we have barely had a cloudy day which of course has caused the drought problem.


Just as I had just noted that we have had uninterrupted sunshine for some time now, in fact, it is completely overcast today and softly raining. I hope it rains all day long but I doubt that it will happen. We really need a week of rain to try to catch up.

That is all from me for today. I think that I will go and run errands today and let the rain do the garden some good and give me a day of rest. :)

Thanks so much for visiting with me today. If you ever have comments or questions, please do leave me a note. Cheers.

 ~ Melanie ~