The garden is growing! Ah, this week has been a full one in there, harvesting just the earliest of things (herbs still mostly, though some early radishes and small greens have made their way in too), but mostly working on thinning plants, staying ahead of the weeds, and tidying around. We've been greeted by the first pests of the season - the tortoise beetle and the three-lined potato beetle on some potato and tomatillo plants. They're manageable by handpicking at this point, so we'll do our best to stay on top of it and keep it that way.
I was walking around my garden with a new gardener this week and we were discussing mulch. Looking around with different eyes for the first time, I could see why someone might be puzzled. It's a little bit all over the map, our mulch use! There are wood chips, last year's leaves, straw, pine needles, black plastic, and even leftover wool bits from shearing the sheep. It is certainly a case of 'use what you have!' around here. Like scrap pieces of Denyse Schmidt quilting cotton as ties for the cattle panel when we ran out of zip ties? That works!
Excitingly, we got an easy rainwater catching system set up both in the garden and in the pasture. Using the 50 gallon plastic drums, some gutter pieces on the end of the metal roof, and a spigot in the drum - it's making watering an easier experience. Though thankfully, and knock on wood, we've been getting a nice balance of sun and rain this week.
With most of the garden tucked in, and fairly under control for the time of year, I've been able to step outside of this fence a bit and give some attention to the berries. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, winterberries and elderberries (oh my!) all needed some attention and love, and are getting it now. This will be the third season for most of those, and I'm hopeful we'll start to see some results from that time and love they've had.
And I can't forget Annabel's corner of the garden, where there is a whole lot of fairy house building activity, and a walkway and shade garden being added with plants Adelaide is finding in the woods. There is talk of a sandbox being built by her big brother. It's all so good. And I love having them in the garden with me each day.
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If you're keeping garden notes and photographs and want to share it with the rest of us, do leave a comment with a link so that we may take a stroll through your garden too! It's a delight to see what and how things are growing all over, and to read the comments with such great gardening wisdom! Thank you all for continuing to share in this little project.
