Monday, June 22, 2009

Progress In The Garden

When the Metropolitan Park District gave me an additional garden plot at the end of April, I scrambled to get the plots organized, trenches dug, and seeds planted. In some cases, I purchased small 'sets', vegetable starts from the local nursery. I had to start my corn this way, giving it a head start...right now it is shooting up phenomenally, due to the way I planted it, with rows of compost and manure between rows, and banked with grass clippings.

Many Russian ladies garden all around me, with some plots devoted entirely to potatoes or tomatoes. They garden communally, with all of the ladies tending everyone's plot. Three sides of my plots are bordered by the Russians, and I appreciate this because they are very good gardeners, keeping their plots neat and clean. In this photo I'm squatting next to my wild borage. It went to seed in my garden last year. I saved the volunteers, so I can add the leaves to salads.

Thinning my beets; I pull the largest leaves off the plants and use them in salads. Last year little mice ate through most of my golden beets, so I didn't plant them this year. Cilantro and basil seedlings are just starting to sprout in one of the inner rows. Night-time temps have to routinely hover around 50 degrees to get these sprouted.

Kids and families are frequently walking along the nature trail bordering the garden. People stop to visit, and several people have asked if I'm planting the dahlias that I planted last year. Old people from the retirement home stop by to look at the garden on their daily walk. Many of them have windows overlooking the garden - they keep an eye on who comes and goes.

I weed and water different parts of my garden every day, spending at least two hours a day on the project. Kale and mustard seedlings in the front here. The mustard has club root, so I've not thinned them out. Once this fungus gets into a garden it is difficult to grown cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, etc. The soil must be dormant for five years to eradicate the pest. Our garden co-ordinator says that a soup made from boiled rhubarb leaves can be poured on the planting rows before setting seed, and that it helps to kill the fungus.

My kale seedlings....so pretty when a water spray covers them in the morning. I'll be doing a second crop of these in the fall, so I have winter-overing plants. Then I'll pick them all winter.

I've planted just a few flowers to attract bees for pollinating my zucchini. They are planted in compost that has been layered in grass clippings. This is a way to extend a growing berm, and the grass decomposes throughout the summer.

Collards are doing great. The fuzz in the background is sweet fennel.

Rows of curly mustard, broccolini, onions and lettuce. I have 26 tomato plants this year, for sauce and drying.

We spent several weekends hauling in horse manure from the riding stables in Spanaway. The stuff is free, u-haul.
I've spread it along all my pathways to provide mulch. It makes for some soft walking! I'll dig it into the soil into the fall, letting it deteriorate through the winter. This pathway serves my leeks, onions, summer and winter squash, green beans, eggplants and corn.