Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Plant It and They Will Come


Hard to believe it's not summer yet when our garden is exploding and I've already got the pressure canner going. Going to be a very busy season!

We have three vegetable gardens this year.

The kitchen garden just outside the looney bin door is filled with herbs, eggplant, cherry tomatoes, peas, kale, zucchini (and other salad stuff) plus flowers for cutting and pest deterrence . The photo below is our view out the bathroom window. Annual flowers are just beginning to bloom. It's fenced in with old wire pig panels and chicken wire. Not pretty but keeps the fowl out. 





Beyond that, on the other side of our main electric pole (center of the top photo above) is a bigger main garden.



It is filled with 16 more tomato plants, beans, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, onions, garlic, rhubarb, asparagus, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets and brussel sprouts. I also recently added a scarecrow. I don't believe they do much to frighten birds away, since I've seen robins perched on her arms, but still; she adds a little character and color to all the greenery. 




Some have suggested she needs more in the bosom area. Critics. Everywhere. Obviously, she's a work in progress.

This space is enclosed with electric chicken wire fencing which is not electrified. Our chickens still avoid it.

Our beets grew very fast this spring and I managed to can a few pints, both plain and pickled. Seriously feels like summer when you're manning a hot pressure canner on a 95 degree day. We've had lots of 90 plus days in Illinois so far this year. But, as I write this it is raining cool and fresh. Alleluia! (the version by Leonard Cohen is my favorite by the way)






Our third veggie garden is the corn garden located just behind the area where our broiler chickens are kept. When the corn is higher the broilers will be allowed to forage in there for bugs and grubs. We have planted both sweet corn and popcorn in this area which has a sturdy wire paneled fence surrounding. This will keep broiler chickens in and our other free range layer chickens out.




W
e don't run the two groups together since it's too difficult to catch the broilers when its time for butchering. Plus they receive a higher protein feed than the layer chickens do.

Scattered about in the veggie gardens, and a few planters close to the grain bin house, I do have a solid array of flowers.. I hated leaving so many of our perennials at the old farm and it's taken me four summers to build up the flower gardens here. But finally, they are all taking off.















The bird bath above is located in our kitchen garden and the Thumbelina zinnias surrounding it were only supposed to get 6 inches tall. A tribute to our excellent homemade compost used this year.

I should be soaking my feet in it. I have my own height issues. 




18 comments:

  1. Beautiful, lush gardens - I am beyond jealous - not enough time this year to get ours started here at the new ranch. Sigh, farmers markets will be my source of food this year. Donna your green thumb is awesome!

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    1. I was born with a concrete thumb. Had no idea how to garden until I met Keith at age 33. Now most of my lunches are taken standing in the garden, green juices dripping off my chin. Give yourself lots of time with the new place, I do know how frustrating it is to start over!

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  2. hi! new to your blog! And that's one amazing garden you have!

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    1. Hello and welcome! I'll be checking out your blog very soon. Love the pic of you! Self portrait? Did you do it?

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  3. Wow - you've had some tremendous growth. I was late getting my garden in. It is very dry here, so watering is a must at the moment (not a sprinkler, I just do "spot watering"). Those beets look wonderful! -Jenn

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    1. I've watered often too. Also only spot watering, our well won't support willy nilly sprinkler watering. :)

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  4. Your place looks absolutely wonderful. The zinnias are huge! Ours don't look like that until around August.
    You should totally add a couple of "Dolly Parton" heirloom tomatoes to the lady scarecrow's chest area and see how long it takes everyone to notice.

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    1. Really/ Dolly Parton tomatoes? Not aware of that variety but I so love Dolly. She is totally real about her fakeness.

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  5. Your garden is gorgeous! Have you heard "Hallelujah" by kd lang? It's one of my favorite songs, and I loved Leonard Cohen singing it best till I heard kd lang's version...it's on you tube...here's a link...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE

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    1. I used to listen to her a lot. Then lost track of her. Will certainly check out that video. Many thanks.

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  6. I love it when the veg' patch starts to really produce. It's only just started to feed us! No veg' buying now until October at least.

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    1. Today we Harvest and cook up the first green beans. I'll serve with one of our hams. Oh the eating is SO GOOD in summer!!!

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  7. What a beautiful collection of photos! Gosh, but I love seeing your place. It makes my heart happy. I really like your idea of letting your chickens into the corn garden once it's solidly established. We don't actually free range our chickens any more, but I'm always on the lookout for ways to keep them thriving.

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    1. Hiya Leigh! I feel the same way when I see your place. My trick this year to keep chickens out of a few flower beds was to mulch with paper, cover with chicken wire in between plants ( a great way to use up those irregular pieces of chicken wire) then cover that with our bark mulch. The chickens scratch a bit then hit the wire and move on. No plants are harmed. I do have to sweep the mulch back into the beds bow and then but much better than replanting.

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  8. Absolutely beautiful pictures. The earth is full of blooming life this time of year, in our hemisphere. Thank you for sharing the bountiful pictures. Blessings, Andrea

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    1. Thank you. They are taken with my older Android Razr phone which still does a fair job, as long as I remember to wipe animal debris from the lens now and then. Our pigs are major mud slingers!

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