From Winter, to Summer

I've been so busy with work, Captain and focusing on the gym, that I've neglected posting to the blog. Fortunately, I have not neglected the garden, or taking pictures of it. Here are a few pics of what it looked like about a month ago, back in late April, 2012.

The 8 feet tall Sugar Snap Peas, from seed,...and Captain.

Kohlrabi, from seed, I should have thinned.

Mache, from seed, young sweet baby greens, one of my favorites

Artichoke plants clustered together, came up from last seasons root transplant.

An entire winter of arugula (from seed). It's still good, even after it bolts. I just cut off the flowers and keep eating

The new compost pile consists of grass clippings, food waste, garden trimmings, and duck poop and her straw bedding.

5 heirloom varieties of tomatoes, from seed

Leeks, from seed

Spinach, from seed

Red Onions, from sets (small bulbs that were seeded last year, and will flower this year)

Garlic, 2nd year. I started garlic last year from a single clove and then used one of the new bulbs clove to plant these.

Lettuce, from seed

Yukon Gold Potatoes, from planting spuds

Container Strawberries, from rite aid lol. I don't start strawberries, and find it impossible. I should try again, but I haven't.

Rain, Rain...Grow Away!!!

As soon as it started raining last week, my veggies took off. They have been getting plenty of winter sun, but this is my winter crop, they don't LOVE sun, the LOVE water. So as you can imagine, they are pretty content with the current cloud burst. Here is what the garden is looking like, 5 weeks after laying the seed, with the exception of the artichoke. It came up from last years failed transplant from my ex-neighbors yard that never survived, I guess the roots did!

Totally new to me, Artichokes!

Radishes

Spinach

Kohlrabi!!!!

Growing into Swiss Chard, I missed you last season!

Pea trellis'

Carrots growing between the peas

A whole new crop of Arugula! 

Spinach

Yummy lettuce

Elephant Garlic, started with one of last years bulbs

Red Onions 

Yukon Gold Potatoes

Germinating 5 varieties of heirloom of tomatoes from seed 

The Waiting Game

All the hard work is done. I prepped the beds with worm and chicken poo. Tilled last years mulch under. Cleared out all the old dead plants from last year and thew them into the new hot compost pile. And laid the seed for my winter crop. Planted about 15 different patches of vegetables altogether.

It's been awfully warm around these parts, we have not had a cold or wet winter at all. Although my water bill does not appreciate this, it also makes for rapid seed germination. It's the waiting game at this point.

Ready. Set. Grow.

Most of the seed packs I used for Winter, not including potatoes, onions, peas and beans

Swiss chard

Pea trellis

Pea sprouts

Baby Carrots

Kohlrabi

Stella Bell the Duck

Radish

New gardening station/germination sun table for this warm winter. Germinating tomatoes for March transplant. 

Artichoke

New compost hot pile this year: All food scraps but meat and dairy, Stella's straw soiled bedding and grass clippings

Photobomb.

Side bed, arugula seedlings at base

Back yard raised bed

5 Elephant garlic, used the ones I grew last year to propagate new ones for this season

Red Onions, 60 of 'em

Good 'ol Yukon Potatoes 

Fallow

fal·low

adjective /ˈfalō/  (of farmland) Plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation or to avoid surplus production - incentives for farmers to let the land lie fallow in order to reduce grain surpluses

SORRY ... I have not been posting, because since late August, nothing has grown and the garden has gone fallow. I decided not to do a fall crop because I was so busy with the new dog, Captain, but I am really looking forward to getting my fingers back in the soil this winter to start growing again. 

I just purchased my winter crop seeds. I am going to start out with mache, sugar snap peas, spinach, beets, turnips, rainbow Swiss chard, lettuce, carrots, and a few others that I may be forgetting. I would also like to start some garlic and potatoes, but I have not bought them yet. 

I will probably start prepping my soil in about 2 weeks. This will entail buying probably four or five '2 cubic feet' bags of high quality, organic vegetable gardening soil that has NOT been sterilized, and a bag of spent/composted chicken droppings. I will also be adding some 'black gold' or what non-farmers call worm poo. We made it right her at home and its ready to go into my soil this year, finally after a year of waiting. Lastly, I will just adding some of Stella Bell's (our duck) poop along with some of her straw bedding. Once mixed together in a wheel-barrel, I will simply add it to the top of my beds, and chop it into the existing soil with a shovel and hoe!