Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Dirty Work

These days of mid-spring, they are so very magical, aren't they? Everything is out of the ground, growing up so quickly and giving so much sensory stimulation. We've been out moving and digging and building and watering and planting and so. much. more in the garden, each and every day. I thought I'd show you a bit of what we've been up to.

1) The pea trellis (first and second photos) is going like gang busters. I adore peas, so here's hoping we have a massive crop to eat fresh and freeze for later use.
2) Hubs built these risers to keep the tiny Englishman off of the pots, as he was sort of leap-frogging from one to the next across the garden. These 12 contain our sweet peppers (there are a mess of hot peppers planted in the raised beds; since Hubs would put hot sauce on top of a jalapeno, we can never have too many hot peppers for making hot sauce).
3) We added on to the pea trellis, making a long bed for trellising pickling cucumbers beside it. There's 15 cukes planted there, and another 6 in a raised bed. In a few months, I plan to be swimming in cucumbers, and up to my elbows in vinegar and pickling spices.
4) The raised lettuce beds we made by appropriating plastic bins left by the previous owners (our property used to house an organic flower and herb farm when Hubs purchased it back in 2005, two years before we met). We drilled some extra drainage holes in them so that water wouldn't pool inside when we have serious drenching storms. Having them raised also keeps both slugs and the tiny Englishan from easy access (see #2).
5) We're excited about this sorrel bed. We figured we'd give it it's own space, for perennial purposes. Can't wait to make some sorrel and potato soup and enjoy all that lemony-flavored, nutrient-dense green goodness.

There's also been some tomato trellising going on, which I'll share with you soon. And, currently in the works (as in, right this very minute, as he's out there with drill and wood screws and wood planks in hand), Hubs is putting a raised platform and pergola beside Huxley's sandbox. The plan is to put our wrought-iron cafe table and chairs there and grow some native vine-ing edible something or other up the posts, creating an edible shade on top. If you've got any suggestions for something  that grows fast, produces prolifically, looks good, and tastes delicious, I welcome your feedback. And I'll post some images as soon as it's photo-worthy.

So much work. So much fun. Soon the dog days of summer will be upon us and we'll be ready to just sit out there, watch the chickens peck, the dogs pant, the baby play, and the plants grow. It'll all be worth the dirty work incurred to get it to that place.

19 comments:

Meesh said...

Nice work! Looks like good times. Pergola suggestion: hops! Then make your own home brew... yum!

Kristin Marsh Shepard said...

Oh my--so beautiful!

FrancesVettergreenVisualArtist said...

So beautiful! I have a teeny tiny version of your container garden on my teeny tiny inner city lot, but it's still early spring here.

What about pole beans on your trellis? I grow scarlet runners, Kentucky Blue Lake and a purple Italian one. Lots of busy bees, hummingbirds if you're lucky...

aubree said...

how about runner beans--so many different varieties (we're growing sunset and painted lady runners this year) with such sweet little flowers and yummy harvest to boot!

Casey said...

So beautiful!

Just picked up Home Dairy from our library and feeling incredibly inspired.

Anonymous said...

Such nice garden design ideas, and so tidily executed! You have a gift.

Indio said...

Hops are indeed fast growers, if you keep the caterpillars off of them. I just put in kiwi vine. I'm not sure if it's fast growing, but it should be tasty. I'm thinking of adding goji berry and pawpaw to the food producing yard.

Kira said...

Hops! Make beer!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures. I love container and raised bed gardens...

Anonymous said...

your very own 'salad bar'...diggin' it...hope your mom is doing okay....

Kim Peck said...

wow...your garden is so gorgeous!!! oh i just love it!!!

spike said...

How about Passion Flower vine? I don't have any myself but a neighbor grows them. They grow very fast, have BEAUTIFUL flowers, smell like passion and the small fruits are yummy! I can't even imagine all of the wonderful things you would cook up with them.

Anonymous said...

hardy kiwi vine for the pergola! you need to make sure to get a male and female plant for fruit production.

Apseed said...

So much inspiration! And those raised lettuce beds look simply beautiful and genius.

Courtney said...

OOooh it's already been said, but I was going to suggest hops. My husband is rather obsessed with the idea of growing them (apparently there's some kind of 'hops shortage' in the world right now?).

Wear Your Wild said...

Love your garden pics! (I made my way over here from Wayward Spark.)
I can't think of any native vining plants,so I think you should plant pole Lima beans. They grow like crazy and will make a lot of shade during the summer. I didn't know that I liked them until I grew them one year. Now, they're a staple. There are so many varieties to choose from. And maybe throw in a Moonflower seed or two.
Looking forward to watching your gardens grow.

amanda said...

no helpful suggestion here regarding a wonderful vining something-or-other.... but I'd love to know what your favorite pea varieties are~ I try new ones each year and haven't settled on one yet.

ashley english said...

amanda-the peas shown in the photos above are "mammoth melting sugar peas" from local seed supplier sow true. i love them!

Sarah said...

I'm impressed with your setup.... I've only got a few dug raised beds going. Your cove seems to get more sun than my little corner (2 acres not quite in Fairview).
What do you do about rabbits & deer? While I love living back up against 200 acres of woods, and having bear swim in our pond, a few moments of deer browsing demolishes 2 months of lettuce planning. Pie tins? Getting husband to 'mark' the garden after homebrew? Or do I have to fence?