Garden: July

 

Barn #9 completed. . . Only three more blocks to go.  Be sure to check out Lori's other Quilty Barn blocks.

 

It has been about a month since I updated pictures of the garden.  It has been so unusually dry here.  WATER, WATER and more WATER is what the garden is calling for.   We have harvested so many wonderful vegetables like arugula, romaine lettuce, cilantro, snap peas, bush beans and cherry tomatoes.  This year my goal is to keep track of all that we harvest to see if it's saving us money on our grocery bill.  Even if it were not, I would still do all of this just because it fits into my goal to be more self-sustaining and to provide the family with the most nutritious food possible.

 

We are anxiously awaiting more of the late summer vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, onions, carrots, and squash.

 

 

 

 

 

 
I have been diligently saving our plants from the cucumber beetle and cabbage moth.  It's been a lot of smooshing and sprinkles of wood ash around the base of the plants.  My companion planting plans has not worked out as well as I hoped, but the marigolds look amazing.  Our greenhouse has earned it's keep as many of my plants are bearing fruit already. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look who I found wandering into the garden today while I was trying to take pictures.  He's my strawberry eating boy - one of the many reasons we have only harvested one small quart bag of strawberries to save for the winter.



 

 

 

  
And his partner in crime - she loves snap peas and carrots  - so watch out for her in your garden.  Some of our boxes look rather empty, but that is because I've already replanted arugula, carrots, lettuce.  I started seeds this weekend  - more broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage for fall plantings. Our raspberries are done - I laugh thinking about the 20 or so berries that we harvested for our second year.  I suppose that is not too bad for only two really good canes.  We added 6 more this year.  Next year, I'm going to add another bed.  The General Manager has his heart set on raspberry jam so I need more raspberry canes and better eyes to catch those sneaky fingers stealing my berries.

 

 

Happy Gardening!  This blog post is linked up to New Life On A Homestead's Barn Hop.