March 10, 2013

And, the Rest of the Garden

Last post I showed you my strawberry bed. This post I'll show you the rest of the garden, though there isn't much to see except for the daffodils.

There is a big bed of daffodils at the top of the garden.

I planted quite a bit last fall but it was late going in. Much of it didn't grow, likely due to the long dry spell during October and my not watering enough. The rest of the garden looks like this....

Coming along: creating new pathways and forming new beds.

I'm still working on the new beds and pathways as you can see. I'm still mulching too. The ground is still very wet, however, so going is slow.

No-shows were sugar beets, table beets, carrots, collards, cabbage-collards, celery, and broccoli, except for a few stunted plants. At least my garlic is coming along nicely.

Garlic bed with over 100 cloves planted.

I also have a small seed crop of hull-less oats.

A small patch of hull-less oats. 

I hope it does okay. I'll save all the seed and keep replanting until I have enough for a good sized patch.   I tried a patch of hull-less barley last summer, but it didn't make it.

My peas and turnips did well and they've all been harvested except for a few turnips. I'm getting a little lettuce and a little kale and the multiplier onions are coming along too.

Lettuce grew sporadically, but we get a salad now and then.
Those are multiplier onions planted in the bed with the lettuce.

I also get a few parsnips now and then; the volunteers grew so much better than the fall planted ones. I'm also getting a few mangels for the goats.

Besides the strawberries, I've been transplanting the asparagus.

Last year's stems of transplanted asparagus plants. 

I hated to do it because this would be its third year, and we could have gotten several nice meals from it. But, it was originally planted in a companion row with the strawberries that I had to move because of the wiregrass. The asparagus had to be moved too. At least it grows tall enough that I'll be able to keep it well mulched and the wiregrass at bay.

The one thing I'm not happy to see are the numerous deer tracks.

Deer track in the garden. 

Our deer are funny. They are selective. One year it was only the buckwheat that they'd eat. Another time it was the beet tops. Last year they went for the sweet potato vines.

Our last expected frost is around the middle of April. Then I can start planting in earnest. I have seed potatoes ready to go in and a few cabbage plants I started from seed. I'm really looking forward to that.

And, the Rest of the Garden © March 2013 

22 comments:

Ngo Family Farm said...

Oooooh, green stuff!! We're getting buried under another foot of snow here (not complaining, we really need the moisture), but to see green of some sort when everything melts will be such a welcome sight. It looks like this is going to be a great gardening year for you!
-Jaime

The Cranky said...

I'm forced to confess to a bit of 'green' envy; our last expected frost date is mid-May and the weather forecasters are saying we may still be getting snow in April.

Bleagh!

Tami said...

I'm out working the garden area this weekend too. Sorry to hear that your fall plantings were a fail for the most part. Mine too.

I've got cardboard rotating everywhere trying to suppress the weeds and grass until I can get to that particular patch.

When did my garden get so big?

As always it's nice to see what's happening at your place. Nice to have a break in the rain too isn't it?

Leigh said...

Jaime, good to hear from you! We were fortunate this year in the snow department, only about half an inch total for the year. But the rain! If that had been snow the house would have been buried!

Jacqueline, around this time of year it gets like that, doesn't it? I don't envy your April forecast!

Tami, is your ground still muddy? I reckon that's a benefit of raised beds. Our neighbor had a huge pile of wood chip mulch that he told Dan to help himself too. I'm putting that over the cardboard!

daisy g said...

What is the advantage of growing hull-less oats? I'd never even heard of that before.
Your garlic looks great!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this. I am going to live vicariously through my online friends since I don't even know if I can do a container garden at this point with the move.

thewovenspoke said...

Your garden sounds wonderful. I think I might plant a small garden agsin this year, my garlic us about 5 inches tall right now. I can't plant root crops, the Javelina root everthing up.

Kris said...

Love the early daffs! Hate the deer tracks. A bunch came through 2 nights ago - tore off netting AND baskets from the yews and ate them, ate down daff shoots, tore up sedum clumps. Not even spring here and already I'm disheartened. Black squirrel population, though, is -- less.

Your deer seem picky. Mine are just devastation on 4 legs...

famousthecat said...

I am SO JEALOUS of your green things! Nothing is really poking up yet for us - our garlic have one or two tiny shoots up, and that's it. Thanks for the tour!

Woolly Bits said...

the ground is pretty wet here, too, but at least I don't have deer in the garden! the rabbit from last year was quite enough to do serious damage... I hope he'll have moved on, but taking no chances, all the new plantings will be covered with small tunnels - or old curtains! what a mess, last year has been the first year with rabbit damage - which I put down to the dog not being able to patrol properly with her injured hind leg... maybe we need a 2nd dog?:))

good luck with your garden - my seed boxes are still waiting, but we've snow and frost again in the forecast, so they'll stay where they are for now:(

Leigh said...

Daisy, they're supposed to be easier to thresh. :)

Stephanie, I never did well with container plants (which is why I can't muster enthusiasm for potting all my strawberries). Some folks though, do great!

Thewovenspoke, thank you! Seems like we all have our gardening challenges, depending upon where we live.

Kris, your deer sound like my goats!

Kristie, aw, your turn will come. :)

Bettina, dogs do help keep many of those critters away, or at least under control. We've been talking about getting another dog, though we'd have to fence in the garden for that.

Lynda said...

Your Daffy's are wonderful ....mine are already spent ...now I'm waiting for the tulips.

Anonymous said...

Nice to see the daffodills! It is still way too early here to do anything in the garden. There are still piles of snow and frozen patches everywhere. Did get to start my seeds indoors today so I feel like I am getting somewhere albeit slowly. Zone 5b here what zone are you in?

Cassandra said...

Your garlic looks great! Good luck with the asparagus. I've been meaning to plant some but I never get around to getting the bed prepped a year ahead of time. I hope the oats turn out better than the barley. :)

DFW said...

Those daffodils are beautiful. They don't do well here. They try to come up during a warm spell then die back when the little cold spell comes along. I think I'll try some anyway.

Leigh said...

Lynda, I think I only have one tulip on the place, but the forsythias are blooming!

Martha, I'm in zone 7. And today was actually spring like! Very welcome but I know it means hot weather is right around the corner. :(

Cassandra, thanks! I was reluctant to transplant the asparagus because it takes at least 3 years to get good and established. But this is better than losing it to wiregrass!

DFW, that's tough. We have the same problem with our peaches. They bloom and then die back due to frost. So sad.

Unknown said...

I'm so amazed to see other gardeners' growing conditions - your soil is so warm coloured and your challenges are different. I'm not sure I've encountered wire grass before and there aren't any deer here. Instead we have couch grass, pheasants and rabbits to fend off.

Shame about the asparagus Leigh but maybe you'll get a crop if you're really gentle in lifting them?

MTWaggin said...

You are going to be one busy lady in the garden and hey...nothing wrong with photos of daffodils...some of us don't even see that yet!

Renee W at Shooting for Frugal said...

Im so looking forward to planting my garden, unfortunately here in CO the last frost date is not until mid may. We moved recently and now I have more room, though not as much as you!

Unknown said...

How exciting. delighted to have found your blog and so envious over the daffodils! XX

Leigh said...

Tanya, that is so true and is what really makes reading others' blogs so fascinating.

Sherry, I can't think of anything else I'd rather do this time of year. :)

Renee, I readily confess I'm happy to have an early planting date. In the swelter and heat of summer, however, I'm not so happy and neither is my garden! LOL

Rebecca, welcome and thank you!

Unknown said...

I'm so jealous! Daffodils! My crocuses won't even be popping for a while. My chickens are still dealing with 16 degree nights. Upstate NY is beautiful....but very very cold.