This time of year, things are growing quickly and it’s so fun to be outside working in the garden or around the orchard. It isn’t miserably hot yet. The weeds are still under control but any day they could take over. I’m seeing a few grasshoppers but not many. Let’s hope we don’t get as many as we had a few years ago when they ate everything .. including the screens on the windows.
Garden
There are water hoses everywhere. We’re so blessed to have a good well.
Water Hoses
I need to get some color coded tags and put on these hoses. It’s a guessing game to see which one to turn on.
Water Hoses
We have the drip hoses set up for the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. I’m still working on dam building to keep the water going on the plants and not running down the aisle. Once I’m certain the dams are right, or the tomatoes are big enough that their roots have spread out a little, I’ll add the mulch. You’ll notice I’ve dumped egg shells around the tomatoes. I boil the egg shells first, sometimes I crush them, sometimes I don’t. I’ll eventually hit these with the back of a hoe and crush them somewhat. Do they help anything? I don’t know but I feel better doing this than throwing the in the trash.
Drip Hoses
We have soaker hoses for the potatoes . .
Soaker Hoses
Speaking of potatoes . . I see blooms beginning to form.
Potato Blossoms
. . the peas and the squash (no photo of the squash).
Soaker Hoses
We have parsley, which came back from last year . .
Parsley
Soon we’ll have garlic. It’s very pretty this year. There are a few volunteer carrots in the garlic patch.
Garlic
We have yacon, which will not be harvested til fall.
Yacon
Look how quickly the artichokes are growing! They’re the first plant I visit each morning.
Artichoke
Oca is a new vegetable for me to grow. It’s planted in pots since everything I read said it doesn’t like heat and it doesn’t like drought so I have the pots under a shade tree where I can easily keep them watered.
Oca
Before we planted last year’s garden, we had the high fence put in and expanded the garden to 100′ x 100′. This is all that’s left that didn’t get planted this year. I’m going to guess that it’s about 20′ x 20′ but I’m a terrible guesser. Maybe next year we’ll get that area ready and have the entire space planted. Looking at the fence posts, maybe it’s 30′ x 30′. Whatever . . I’ll be happy to have more planting room next year.
Unplanted Area
In the orchard, we have blueberries that have yet to begin to get ripe.
Blueberries
We have strawberries beginning to get ripe.
Strawberries
We have blackberries that are thinking about forming blooms.
Blackberries
The peaches are growing so quickly!
Peach
There are grapes on both the grapevines from last year.
Grapes
The pears are growing nicely. It looks like the only pears that are going to bear fruit are the Asian pears. Not sure why but there’s no fruit on any of our other pear trees. There were lots of blooms and they just fell off. I need to read up on that . . maybe because they’ve only been here 2 years but so has the Asian pear. I’ll figure it out before next year I hope.
Asian Pear
We also have a few plums, no apricots, quite a few crabapples. The persimmon is just starting to bloom. The figs will come later in the summer. If we’re lucky, we might get a few pomegranates this year.
I’m sure I’m missing a few things but you can see why I enjoy spending so much time outside. This is an exciting time around the garden!
Joyce says
Your garden and orchard are making me hungry! Everything looks great. I have never heard of oca or yacon. I’m going to have to look them up. Oca looks something like clover in your picture.
With all of the hoses, I’m afraid I’d mistake a snake for another hose…I’d be eyeing them all very closely…I don’t mean to spook you though.
JudyL says
Thanks for that little bit of info that will be running through my head every time I’m out there. Seriously, I have jumped at the sight of more than one water hose around here.
Laura says
I hadn’t heard of oca or yacon either. Glad I’m not the only one. 🙂
Rebecca in SoCal says
Joyce wrote what I was thinking…my mouth was watering by the end of the post!
Working in your garden now = anticipation
Judy D in WA says
Your hard work is going to pay off in no time. It’s a beautiful sight.
JudyL says
It is so pretty right now but once it starts producing and I’m trying to keep up with the canning, then I don’t have time for all the weeding and the weeds very quickly get out of control. I wish Chad lived closer. I’d put Addie to work in the garden! 🙂
Pamela Johnson says
That is a beautiful garden/orchard! I understand why you love being out there so much…….:-)
Swooze says
What? You’re not at Aldi’s? Lol
Joan says
My heavens, Judy, the photos of your garden and the prices at Aldi’s have me almost convinced to pack my bags and move from Alaska to Texas! My tomatoes and peppers are still under lights in the house as the greenhouse was down to 34 degrees this morning. Twenty-nine cents for a cucumber? Try $1.50, $3.00 if you get the hot house ones! But then, I remind myself that we don’t have any snakes or scorpions, and I garden in complete daylight until 1:00 am during the summer. Grow and be happy where you’re planted, I guess! Love hearing about your experiences!
Terri in BC says
Beautiful garden – I hope to get some raised beds built this year, and have a small garden next year. About your fruit trees not producing, do you have enough bees in your area? The blueberry farmers in my area bring bees in to do their pollination and local gardeners are encouraged to have mason bee homes, due to the decline in the bee population.
Dottie N. says
Your garden and orchard look FANTASTIC! Thanks for sharing your photos!!
Kate says
ha… I thought she was just typing badly and meant to say ‘ocra’, but given her Louisiana heritage, she surely knows how to spell ocra… so, I will join the group that never heard of yacon or oca !!! Judy, you are educating us all… LOL
Darla says
Judy, it looks like paradise! You are so inspiring with all the things you are interested in. Never a dull moment!
JudyL says
Here’s how I look at life . . every minute that passes is a minute gone . . never to be had again so I plan to enjoy every minute that I can enjoy and make the best of even those minutes I don’t enjoy.
The garden is a lot of work but it brings me great joy.
Rosalie says
I put my eggshells in the garden also…and under my rosebushes. I keep a stainless steel bowl in the oven and put the shells in it and then they heat up when I preheat the oven. When the bowl is full, I take them outside and crush them a little or a lot and spread them out. Had not thought about boiling them…what does that do?
Linda Steller says
It looks lovely! Around here, the eggshells help to keep the slugs at bay. If they crawl over those sharp edges, they’re done for. Your artichokes look great. I’ve been eating them for the past few nights – Costco had a bag of four of them. I’ve got a Brandywine heirloom grafted tomato almost ready to go out into the garden, and I’ve got grapes and kiwi growing up my arbor.