Someone asked me how the garden was doing yesterday so I thought I'd share a little update on the state of things out back. I half expected the birds and squirrels to destroy my hard work but after gleaning the strawberries they've kind of left it alone. Every now and then I'll see where a squirrel started digging but they must have short attention spans. I have yet to get that netting situation taken care of but my raspberries are starting to form so it will have to be soon. No way I'm losing those to the birds.
Speaking of raspberries, they are growing faster than anything else out there with bright new leaves every day. The young berries are forming underneath those buds.
Our pear tree didn't produce last year save for a single pear, which I thought was odd. This year it looks like we'll have another huge crop so I'll have to haul a few people out there to shake the branches into a sheet so they don't spoil on the ground. We gave away bag fulls our first Fall and still there were thumps every half hour or so as a pear would hit the roof and bounce to the ground. The squirrels, birds, and bees loved feeding on them and we raked the rotten fruit into a big pile to compost. It sure smelled sweet out there. If you have any pear recipes send them my way!
The plant that has been taking it's sweet time is the broccoli. I've got six plants and only two of them have shot up with one of those being chewed on by something. Caterpillars? Next week I'm going to have to take out a few things that have shriveled up and replace them with more strawberry plants. I don't think we'll ever get tired of strawberries.
I've got an old refrigerator drawer than I've been using as a planter sitting next to my raised bed. I planted extra onions in it but there was lots of room so when the helicopter seeds from my huge tree in the backyard flew down into the bed they took root and shot up over night. I've weeded them all out of the raised bed but decided to leave a few in the smaller one to see what they can do. They sure are potent fellas!
What about you? How does your garden grow? Have you been surprised with early blooms or is it still too soon to tell?xoxo,
Rachel
p.s. The top photo is my little herb garden. The chamomile must've grown five inches overnight!
31 comments:
looks thriving to me! :)
My garden is doing well despite MO's weather trying to kill it off. I have things sprouting and it makes me happy.
Next up is finding spots for the 75 plants i ordered via missouriconservation.com It was $30 for 75 plants (OMG). I have blackberries, elderberries, and 9 bark on their way to me now!
ooo it would be amazing to be able to pick strawberries and raspberries in your own backyard! i really want to start an herb garden because i loooove using fresh herbs when i cook. i should probably get movin on that!
The things eating on your broccoli are most likely slugs. Sprinkling a little Epsom salt on and around the plant should take care of that problem. Or you can also "get them drunk" by putting a shallow container of molasses and water (2 parts molasses and 1 part water). The slugs drink the mixture, get kinda tipsy, fall right in and drown. Change it every few days and empty out all the slugs.
The garden looks pretty successful so far. Happy continued gardening. :)
Pear/cinnaman pie!
pastry for 2-crust pie
* 5 peeled, sliced fresh pears
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup flour
* 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 2 tablespoons butter, cut in small pieces
to do:
Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry.
Add the sliced pears.
Combine sugar, flour, lemon peel, and seasonings; sprinkle over the pears.
Drizzle with the lemon juice then dot with the butter.
Make a lattice top; flute edges. Cover edge of pie with a strip of foil. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake about 10 minutes longer.
AMAZING PIE!!
<3
Since it is almost winter here in Oz, I don't really know what is going to happen to my plants.
Something came for a visit the other night and at the green sprouts off all my carrots and the leaves off my sweet capsicums. I was NOT impressed.
My tomato berry plant withered in it's pot: I don't know if it is because I took too long to plant it or if it is the cold. But it did produce two little green tomatoes, and I am hoping that it survives now that it is in the ground.
Other than that, I have a strawberry coming soon (that's right, ONE) and my chives seem to be holding up!
Hope your raspberries do well! What are helicopter seeds?
:)
Justinee,
THANKS! I've already sent it to my SIL who is famous for baking pies.
Annie,
Here's the link: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/TRC/Aeronautics/Maple_Seed.html
Maple seeds that twirl to the ground like helicopters. ;)
Victoria,
I saw your herb table and loved how industrial chic it was!
I love seeing your plants grow! It's still to early to tell here; in fact, to early to plant, we have snow coming this week! oi!
My initial thought was that your broccoli may be falling prey to cabbage butterflies and their larvae.
For the past couple weeks we've been harvesting mesclun and radishes. We also have onions, garlic, carrots in, and should be planting the rest of our stuff (tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, eggplant, potatoes and herbs) in the next week or so.
If you like asparagus, you should try growing it. It's essentially no-maintenance, and comes back every year. We've been getting a few spears daily for about a month now. It's fun to see them popping their little heads out of the ground.
Today was the first time in a long time I have been able to get out into my garden. I found some wonderful winter bulbs sprouting despite my garden neglect. It's Autumn in Australia but thats my favorite time in the garden! Unfortunatly this summer I lost two apple trees it was a harsh one, I am hoping on a pear and cherry trees soon yours are so inspiring.
Rachel my girl, I can well recommend Pear and Cinnamon flapjacks! Just make ordinary flapjacks but add some chopped pear pieces and a good sprinkle of cinnamon to the mix. If you want further recipes details let me know and I'll email them, love Sylv x
For someone who has a pear tree, and probably, TONS of pears, a good way to use them up is make "pear sauce" (like applesauce). It's SO delicious, and can it to have it last throughout the seasons. Just make sure you peel them before...we learned the hard way :)
This also looks pretty darn good, and hey, you'd only need to supply the oatmeal! : http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/oatmeal-pear-and-raspberry-cake-coffee-cake/
Sarah M
Oh, I'm so jealous of your berries! I hit the market too late to get any, but our garden is thriving. The only downside? I'm sure Husband thinks I should really should be cleaning my house instead of outside picking at the plants!
We just harvested some of our broccoli last night, the Florida heat and rain really sprang this stuff to life. I am sure yours just needs some hotter sun? I just did a big garden post this morning and was happy to find yours in my reader this morning. I would love to be able to grow pears. I hope you keep up the garden posts, keep em coming.
Wow! Well done girl! :) I'm very impressed and inspired! I'm hoping when I get a fence put around my yard next year, I can join in on the gardening fun. :)
Also, something I do with pears (and is also good for beginning table food for babies) is to skin and steam them. Then purree for a lovely "pear sauce". Like applesauce, and super yummy. Its also nice to spread on toast!
it all looks so good! i've heard birds prefer mulberries and planting some near your other things will keep the birds from snacking on the good stuff. just a thought!
Your garden is so great! I'm still trying to figure out how to take care of the plants that were here when we moved in, but these crazy winds and rains that Kansas City has been having lately are kind of destroying my beauty. :(
Im sooo excited to see everything grow. My green onions sprouted so wuick and seem to be doing that everyday. and just yesterday I notice little leaves sprouting from my cilantro. And my Tomatoes are grwoing HUGE too!!! No fruits yet to pick but im paitent :)
Gorgeous! Those berries are going to be amazing. Being an apartment dweller, I only have an aerogarden growing right now, but it is chock-full of herbs. Now I just have to keep the basil from overpowering everything else, haha.
Great Garden!
I have not tried anything that I can eat in my mini wanna be balcony garden, but I have managed to plant a bunch of succulents and 99% of them are thriving!
oh yay rachel! it looks so pretty! one of my favorite things ever is to grow a garden. this year we have started out plants indoors and will be transplanting the starters into their pots tomorrow. we have no 'ground' to put them in so we're going to try our hand ... er, thumb... at pot gardening. i'll share pics on my blog tomorrow. but i totally know what you mean by plants shooting up inches by night. how funnnn!
xo.
You're plants look so pretty! I wish I had a garden right now, but I'm living with roommates in AZ, and I'm torn about investing all of that time in something I might leave soon.
I had a pretty little garden last year (for a class I took: Intro to alternative agriculture!), and oddly enough we had ants eating our broccoli! Check around your plants for hills, and if you find some you might want to look into some organic insect deterrents.
Good luck! And enjoy the pears!
My mom has had a huge raspberry patch for 30 years and never been bothered by the birds. Just bees and wasps! Oh and she always seemed to have a few children that would sneak into her patch when the berries were just ripe enough to eat. :) Pesky kids. (Of course not me though!) Good luck! Are you going to make jam with your raspberries?
Hi Rachel, just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy reading your blog. It really makes my day :) Sarah (in Australia!)
Have you joined in on the fun at The Inadvertent Farmer? It's so fun to see everyone's gardening progress!
http://sweetgrace.typepad.com/
My entire backyard is nothing but gardens (almost), and every year I have to chase rabbits out of the gardens with a broom like a wild deranged woman.
It seems to work, I suggest you try it :)
And by "you're" i meant "your" >_< !
I love growing chamomile! Our garden is thriving, we already have a tomato on one of our plants! And some mini strawberries waiting to ripen
Your's looks great! I am organizing a community garden at church and went to water last night and found three tiny little peppers growing on one of my plants! Good luck!
Margaret
your garden is looking GREAT! ours is getting a good start. i am trying to be reasonable and plant only things that i will actually eat . . . tried chamomile last year and ended up doing nothing with it. how do you use it?
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