We were blessed with several inches of rain over the past few weeks, which, combined with pockets of intense heat and humidity, has contributed to amazing garden growth! As I walk around the garden, I feel so much appreciation for the miracle of plant life that sustains us and brings so much joy and beauty into my life.
Mornings have taken on the same routine as last summer: Morning chai tea (this brand is my favorite), breakfast, and then a garden walk with the kids. This is honestly one of my favorite times of the day. I love that as we walk the garden paths, Everett, age 3.5 pauses to say, “Look mama, a native bee on the cucumber flower!” or that Ella, age 6.5 knows how to hand-pollinate squash. It makes my heart burst with mama pride.
(These trellises are made out of cattle panel and are a super-simple way to train tomatoes or cukes skyward. I wrote about these and other trellising systems here.)
The upper garden, my experiment in tilling, is doing quite well. Above is a photo from mid June, followed by one taken this morning:
The winter squash and corn in the foreground of the photo are not as dark green and robust as I would like them to be, but all in all, plants are growing! We’ve even harvested our first okra!
I was surprised to see squash bug nymphs already present on some winter squash leaves. I squish them by hand and hand pick adults and eggs as I come across them.
Down in the lower garden, this volunteer winter squash is the most vigorous squash I’ve ever had in my garden. I’m guessing by its fruit (and what I know was in my compost pile) that it will be a spaghetti squash (or at least part spaghetti squash!).
The sheet mulched beds continue to amaze me with their tilth and ease of planting. For anyone starting a new garden, I really cannot recommend the lasagna gardening method highly enough.
The photo above is from last year, in late July. Not too shabby for a first year garden, but now look below at a photo taken this morning…
The garden is a veritable tangle of lush green growth!
What is happening in your garden right now? Please share in the comments!
Tracy Brown says
PS, I saw this post via the Grit and thought it might be interesting to you. 🙂
Low-Cost Lasagna-Garden Beds: http://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/low-cost-lasagna-garden-beds.aspx
Teri Page says
Oh, thank you! I’ll check that link out!
Tracy Brown says
Your garden is fabulous, Teri! Wow!
I had a little chuckle, too. The fifth photo down, under the bug one, has the hoop fencing over your plants – but it took me a minute to actually realize where it was located. My mind registered it as being “in the distance,” and for a moment I thought: Whoa.. that hoop is bigger than the building! What in the heck are they planning to grow there? 🙂
Then, of course, I realized the hoop was MUCH closer to the camera and over the plants. Silly me!
Such a great garden though. Thanks for posting up your pics!
Teri Page says
Photo taking in the garden is so challenging for me, for exactly that reason – it’s hard to capture the depth and perspective accurately! My cucumbers are taller than my head now, though!
Caitlin | belong with wildflowers says
Teri, your garden is looking great! I’m impressed by how much growth you all have had in a short amount of time. My garden is doing well — just a bit slow. I live in MA + our LFD this year was 5/1, but it actually got pushed back to around 5/15. It’s been slow going because of that, but I harvested my first cucumber last night, so that was exciting!
Teri Page says
Thank you! I didn’t know you were in MA. That’s where I grew up – outside of Boston. We had a later frost this year too, but luckily, nothing too tender was planted – only potatoes got wiped out and they bounced back.
Caitlin | belong with wildflowers says
I’m outside of Boston too — South Shore living 🙂 It’s funny how many bloggers I come across that either live in MA or grew up here.
Blake says
My entire garden is currently being wiped out by what appears to be verticillium wilt…a depressing turn of events indeed, especially because that garden has given me so much happiness. But what can you do? I’m glad to see picture of your garden flourishing, though. It is beautiful. 🙂
Teri Page says
Oh no! Is there anything that you can do about the wilt? I’m not familiar with it. I’m so sorry to hear that!
Kim says
Wow, looks great! We were blessed with rain for two whole days at the beginning of the week, so happy about that. You can take a peek at our gardens here http://www.motheringwithmindfulness.com/2014/07/around-garden_9.html
Teri Page says
Your garden looks beautiful Kim! Look at those golden raspberries! Can’t wait to see it in another month!
Kari says
This is my first time gardening in raised beds with our very own compost. That stuff if miraculous. My beefsteak tomatoes plants are taller than me and the fruits are huge! And the golden rod tomatoes are so plentiful that I envision lovely pasta salads and sautes and caprese galore! Would love to have a large garden like yours, but our citystead garden is just right for me now.
Teri Page says
That is the magic of compost! And you’ll find that over time, as you add more and more organic material to your beds, that you can start to plant things closer together and fit even more into your citystead garden!