Garden Update: June 2020

Inside:

     I don’t have much going inside. Just a few cucurbit (squash, cucumber, pumpkin) seedlings that I started just in case my other ones bit the dust. I do however, have quite a few random odds and ends leftover outside on the greenhouse shelves. I’m contemplating selling them for cheap, if anyone local is interested.

Outside:

​Well, it is June, so everything is starting to take off.

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• I’ve harvested several cuttings of lettuce. Yum!

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• The peas are FINALLY flowering. Should be rolling in peas shortly. I feel like they took forever. No joke, I planted these the week before St. Patty’s day.

Pretty peas

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• Carrots have been thinned out, and are growing well.

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• Strawberries and blueberries are just about ready to pop. Can’t wait to fight the birds for those! Lol

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• I put several bunches of celery in the ground. Not gonna get my hopes up too much for them.

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• The chickory died, for some reason. Maybe we picked too many leaves? I’m gonna leave it in the ground and see if it comes back next year.

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• Calendula is popping up everywhere. I’ve been transplanting the sprouts because I didn’t get the chance to save any seeds last year.

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• Green beans are taking off. Actually, after saving some from last year, I think I might be able to use these for dry beans as well. Gonna try it out at the end of the season. Luckily they produce a crazy amount so we can do both. Love it!

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• I put peppers in the cold frame. Six red peppers, two jalapeños and a cayenne, if it survives. Can’t wait to try the jalapeños. I’ve only ever grown black Hungarians and they had varying levels of heat. It’ll be interesting to see the difference.

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• My squash is kinda piddly at the moment. Not sure what I’ve done wrong. I’ve never grown squash. I mean, the acorn that I sun-scorched by putting in the ground before hardening off, surprisingly, came back. But I’m on round two of butternuts that aren’t very happy. And my melon isn’t thrilled either. It’s hanging on, but I can’t say that it’s thriving. I guess we will see.

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• My planter potatoes are growing like crazy. Not sure if it’s just green growth, but I’m hopeful to get a few taters.

Potatoes outgrowing their pots

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• The tomatoes are growing like crazy as well. I have four paste, one slicer mix and one cherry. The plan is to can the majority of these babies. Was just saying to Caveman the other day, this is twice as many tomatoes as I’ve ever grown, all on a wonky makeshift trellis. It makes me excited! 

This tomato is starting to bloom already

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• The mulberries and raspberries in the back are getting ready to fruit. I’m hoping to make a mixed berry jam (black raspberry, blackberry, dewberry, mulberry) but we will see. I tend to eat the berries up as soon as they get inside since they make great additions to salads and oatmeal.

• I have a planter of spinach that seems to be taking hold. Another new thing for me, so we will see if I can keep em going. ​ I have plans to plant more this fall in the cold frame and see how long we can eat it fresh this winter. 

• And pumpkins. I’m thrilled to be trying pumpkins. I’ve got a few seedlings in a planter that I’m gonna let run. 

Pumpkin!

Sage bud

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• Oh!  We can't forget the herbs. My sage is huge despite the major cutback I did this spring. I actually cut back all the established herbs- yarrow, lemon balm/mint, oregano and bee balm. And they’ve all sprung back with vigor. I put some rosemary straight into the ground. Fingers crossed it makes it over winter. The thyme I started from seed both went into the ground. I think round one got sun scorched but is hanging on, round two just went in. I’m really hoping they do well, I miss fresh garden thyme. We use it so much. Last but not least, Goomba's new favorite herb, lavender. Also got that in the ground this week. 

This fall is going to be full of canning and preserving. I cannot wait! ​

As for everything else...

     I’m ramping up my crochet game. Getting started on some new things to offer this fall. Might as well get it done now while I have the time right? ​

     The 5k my friend and I were going to run was obviously cancelled. That means I’ve stopped training. But, I’m hoping to pick it back up. I haven’t stopped walking or working out, but the running has stopped. Partly because my favorite running spot was closed for a while, partly because I didn’t have a clear goal. That’s one of my many flaws.  My brain tends to say why bother if there isn’t a point.  Maybe this summer I’ll get a couple runs in. For now I’m gonna stick to walking 5 to 6 miles a day and strength training. 
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     My dandelion wine is just about ready to finish in bottles. Can’t wait to share that with you guys. And at the same time I’ll make a micro brew of mead thanks to Practical Self Reliance. When the berries come in I"m gonna try doing mulberry mead. 
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​     The new, bigger compost bin worked, until Goomba stopped shredding newspaper for it. Then we got fruit flies. BAD. Needless to say it went outside on the porch. Sat there for several months as we added mostly coffee grounds and egg shells before I dug a hole in the outside compost pile and dumped it. Still think it was overall successful. Gonna try again after the small bucket gets full.