Posts
I thought I better make my garden blog look like I have a garden instead of only a chicken house or two. Here are a few current pics of the raised bed garden.
My broccoli is so puny. The plants are beautiful and big but the florets are tiny. Does anyone know why this is? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I amended all of the beds with mass amounts of compost this year so fertility should not be an issue.
The peas are not nearly as tall this year as last year. It got hot here early and stunted their growth. There are lots of peas on though, and all they need to do now is plump up. In the right hand corner of this picture you can see a sad and weedy looking bed. There are beets growing in there, I promise. I think I weeded out some of the actual plants early on. That will teach me to wait until I am sure what they look like before I weed anything. The other bed of them is growing a little better. They aren't big yet and I don't know why but this is my first year growing beets and I will just have to wait and see.
Here is a closer picture of the lettuce bed. I thought I would get decorative with the planting this year and that may have been a bad idea. It looks kind of silly to me and now some growth is disproportionate to the others. We did have our fist salad out of the garden last night and it was very good. This is the lettuce that my daughter assured everyone that came by was the best ever grown. I am glad she likes homegrown lettuce.
And finally I have a shot of the potatoes growing in bags. These were slow to get going but they are growing great guns now. I have 3 different kinds; Red LaSoda, Yukons and Red Norlands. The Yukons were the slowest to start and I was sure they must have rotted. I added a lot more compost to each bag today and will continue to do so until the end of summer.
Last year the summer was cool and everything in the "cool weather crop" category was a major grower. I was so excited as most of it was new to me. This year the heat hit early and hard and I can see the reverse is true for my early season crops. If you don't like the weather in Idaho, I guess you just wait for the next year. They are never the same twice in a row.
Your disappointment is understandable--from your own point of view--but from mine, I think you're being a bit hard on yourself, Heather!!
ReplyDeleteYou've worked hard and you are seeing many positive results. I know you wish for larger crops but I'd be thrilled to have what you've succeeded with thus far! I do hope the broccoli will triple it's size and the peas fatten up--but to me, it all looks great!! I like your lettuce creativity...it adds some 'whimsy' to the garden!! Hang in there;-) Jan
Your peas look good -- mine just died, perhaps it was the heat here, too! I have given up planting broccoli and cauliflower for similar reasons -- I just never could seem to get the heads large enough to make it worth my effort!
ReplyDeleteOMG Heather! Your gardens look AWESOME! I like the decorative indeed and all is SO neat. How do you do it?? It's truly gorgeous. I think with the broccoli you should let it mature it a bit more and maybe you'll get some bigger heads. Seems it takes a bit of time for that, but I also had smaller heads here last year. No luck with it this year at all. ttyl and have the greatest day!
ReplyDeleteI like the laettuce bed. I think it looks great
ReplyDeleteYour raised beds look FANTASTIC! Our lettuce is always so puny. Love how you have it planted in the frame!
ReplyDeleteThe lettuce looks lovely to me, very painterly. And why are beets so hard? I always wonder if I'm too reluctant to cull some of the seedlings. I'll be anxious to see how yours come along. And your chicks are beautiful! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteHeather... very presentable, neat, orderly and systematic... my assessment of your veggie bed.
ReplyDelete~ bangchik
Your garden is looking very good to me. I have never grown lettuce but I will next year. It is looking real good.
ReplyDeleteThis may sound dumb but what is the wire on top of the beds for?
Hey again - I just read the post about receiving your baby chicks. Congratulations. I am not so happy to hear of the problems with your order. I am expecting 6 - we'll see.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen potatoes growing in bags! You are sooo cool, Heather!
ReplyDeleteEverything looks very, very nice, I am proud of you! Keep up the good work!
No doubt the heat has played a role in the size of your broccoli....it is hard to grow into nice size heads without a long cool spring.
ReplyDeleteMy lettuce has already turned bitter from the heat, so I am planting some asian greens to grow for summer salads.
Those potato bags look like something I would like to try. Let us know how your harvest is.
I agree, you're being way too hard on yourself. Your garden looks great. Good for you for trying and succeeding in making your lettuce look so pretty!
ReplyDeleteOh you have broccoli!! My plants are nice and big but no broccoli as of yet...
ReplyDeleteYour raised beds look great. Our peas are really behind this year. I just started noticing flowers. I like how you planted the lettuce! Hope the weather starts to cooperate with your veggies!
ReplyDeleteI think your gardens look beautiful! Just as attractive as a flower garden. You've done a very nice job. So kick back and enjoy!
ReplyDeleteHey yesterday you said buying flowers to make ya feel better was right up behind buying new underwear. Then you said just joking. I meant to comment NO YOU AREN'T !!!!! lol Too funny!
I think it all looks great Heather and wait until that lettuce fills out more, then you will see what a great idea it was that you had!
ReplyDeleteAs I'm sure you're well aware, Heather, you've got a big job taking care of all of this, in addition to the rest of your life. It's evident that you're a hard worker. Everything looks wonderful.
ReplyDeleteEverything looks so awesome! You are definitely too hard on yourself. I would be happy to have my garden turn out half as nice. The peas looks incredible and I love the way you have the lettuce growing - its beautiful! Thanks for the tour! -Jackie
ReplyDeleteHeather - you may want to check out my blog today "The Sneaky Cauliflower" post - my cauliflower looked like your broccoli! Give it time. It was the first year I've ever grown cauliflower and I can't get over how huge and prehistoric the leaves are compared to the actual vegetable, edible part. Amazing. I'm betting your broccoli is going through the same thing. Stick with it! Love your blog.
ReplyDeleteSeeing your beautiful raised beds makes me want to have more of my own. They look (and perform) great. I also love the creative lettuce planting! Every year I tell myself that I want to be more creative, but every year everything seems to end up in straight rows. Nice work!
ReplyDelete