Somewhere around the 6th year of The Pickleman Family Garden on #hive. What started as a reclamation of lawn and repurposing to a simple garden veggie box has become and expanding and perpetual yearly tradition of exploration.
This edition, we are being blasted by a late spring heat wave, have had a couple days of predominant sun, and I am taking some close ups after a thundershower.
Last Update
The last update, I had the seedlings in the ground, waiting for them to grow and tackling other garden chores between showers.
As mentioned, we are half way through a hot snap where temperatures were forecasted to be above 30 Celsius every day. Garden waterings each morning so that the veggies would grow through the heat and be inspired to throw up some blooms on their way to producing. I saw 34 Celsius on the thermostat this afternoon then a thundershower darkened and opened the sky.
When the sun returned, it had cooled 5 degrees, and a rainbow in the eastern sky told me it might be a good time to hit the garden for some post-rain close-ups.
Tomatoes
Those yellow little flowers generally foretell tomatoes if you have knocked off the first couple that show. This is a cherry tomato that has grown a nice stalk, survived a little aggressive lower branch pruning, and is preparing for a handful of over a dozen on this little cluster. I will have to save this shot for the before when the after has a lot more red in it.
My little one brought home quite a few varieties of tomato from the highschool plant sale. I think this one is a beefsteak which are my favourite. If so, I may have big fat tomatoes to slice on every sandwich in about a month's time. I am such a nerd I took a little brush and pretended I was a bee and pollinated all the other tomato blooms.
Squash
A good part of the garden is dedicated to squash. Spaghetti squash is the greatest hit for the neat dishes we like to cook with it. Green Italian squash is also known as zucchini and we have a couple of those ones as well.
They grow so well in the spring and the blooms which will become veggies are so much fun to observe up close.
Cucumbers!
I planted a row of seeds with Slicer cucumbers beside pickling cucumbers. For obvious reasons, I am determined to grow and process pickles. It looks as though the slicers have popped and started to grow while the pickles were either duds or just late bloomers. Can't lose faith! the lemon cucumbers are growing like mad and I can't wait 'til these close ups are all kinds of baby veggies.
Berries
We have pulled about a dozen small strawberries out of the patch so far and I believe we are competing with rabbits who might enjoy them more than we do. Still, they are tart and small to start the season and I can see dozens starting to form as the first round intensifies with the heat and rain.
I haven't mentioned them yet this season but the raspberries are growing like mad too. We actually had to prune back some of the expanding crop early in the spring for fear they would completely take over the flower bed. Between that and the mint, we have to knock them back or all the rest would eventually be choked out.
Blooms
Flowers became more than just ornamental flashes of colour to me as I grew to appreciate their value to the pollinators and their importance to every living thing. Now, I am a steward of my blooms and really love how the ones I have in my gardens seem to take turns blooming. The tulips and peonies may be done but up next are my neat little wild roses. Scattered in a few places, they come up every year and take the late spring spotlight
I don't even know what these ones are or recall them blooming in past years. I have zoomed in to make them look otherwise but each little bloom is no bigger than a dime. So neat to see the tiny little flowers fight their way through the rest of the green for their place in the sun.
The Meadow Knapweed is popping up again as expected. It is known to take over wheat fields if not kept in check but I like the little flowers it throws up all year and it hasn't out competed much in my flowerbeds yet.
Another flower that was planted before I moved in but has come up every year are the hydrangeas. I battled a little caterpillar infestation early in the year but these little white puffs seem to be doing well. They too seem to be a little early this year but that might be because of the ample precipitation and the stops I make with the watering can on dry days. Perennial allstars and it will be neat to see how big they grow this year.
So far so good.
So far, it seems to be a strangely awesome year when it comes to heavy sunshine balanced out so regularly by rain. Nothing like rainwater as opposed to the hose and strange to have so much sunlight between the rainy periods. The veggie corner of out garden seems to be doing well at the outset. Berries, flowers, herbs and veggies are taking hold and I am hopeful for a big year of growth if this persists!
Thus ends this chapter of the garden update. I am still waiting for the huge clear-out sales at the nurseries before getting into hanging baskets and other fun annuals. So far so good indeed!
Mom started me along my path of growing stuff when I was a kid. Motivated by so many blockchain blogging gardeners, I figured I would plant and share and learn as I reclaim as much grass space as I can. It has turned out to be a fruitful experience and I hope to inspire you to sow and grow no matter what your location or experience level is.
Wherever you are...JUST GROW!
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