Amazing Garden Realizations

This year, we're putting a lot more effort into our garden.  It really shows - we have over FORTY edible species in 1/20 of an acre. I can't imagine how much food we'd be able to grow on a whole acre!  Given this realization, I wanted to take stock of the plants (edible, medicinal, or ornamental) that are up and growing right now, not including things planted but not sprouted.

June-Bearing Strawberries

 Solomon's Seal

 American Holly

 Violets

 Ostrich Fern

 Radishes

 Carrots

 Cilantro

 Lemon Thyme

 Thyme

 Sage

Greek Oregano

 Chives

Plantain (Good for bug bites)

 Hostas (Did you know they're edible?!)

 

 Sempervivium (Hens and Chicks)

Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus

 

Sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes)

 Comfrey

 Soon to be Royalty Purple Pod Beans

 Snap Peas

Rhubarb

 Alabama Crimson Trumpet Honeysuckle

 Asparagus

 Celery and Corn Salad (Macha)

 Mr. Stripey Tomato and Marigold

 San Marzano Paste Tomatoes

 Purple Potatoes

 Lovage

 Stinging Nettle

 Jalapenos

 Blackberries

Raspberries

 Mister Lincoln Rose

Spearmint

 Crones (back) and Culinary Dandelions (front)

 Elderberry

 Black Chokeberry

 Blueberry (Patriot)

 Blueberry (Jersey)

 Hops

 Parsley

 Scorzonera

Ever-Bearing Strawberries

 Mint (Spearmint, Peppermint, Chocolate, and Pineapple)

Watercress

 

 Our Little Backyard

 

Our first non-greens harvest of the year!

New Year, New Garden

*B* is in his last year of graduate school, so the garden is mostly my project this year.

Every year we plant a ton of snap peas.  They grow really well, and they're delicious.  But this year, when we planted them, only three peas out of a whole 7 foot long raised bed sprouted!   And they don't look too healthy either:

So I planted another batch.  Best case, they all sprout and we get some great succession plantings.  Worst case, at least we have three that came up.

In between the rows of snap peas, I broadcast carrot and radish seeds together.  I read about it in this book we bought, Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg Way.  The radishes help loosen up the soil, and the carrots fill in when you harvest the radishes.

We did buy two types of seedlings, jalapenos and celery.  The jalapenos went into our brand new beds

and the celery went into our cold frame.

*B* is really into perennial gardening, so we have some plants making a comeback.  We have stinging nettles

parsley on its second year

and mint is a perennial favorite in our house (ba dum sh).

 Thyme might just be my very favorite herb.  It's hard to see here, but it's thriving.

We got eight raspberries last year.  I'm hoping for at least ten this year.

This is scorzonera.  I don't know much about it, but it's one of *B*'s perennials that didn't do well last year.  Now it's three times the size it was last year.  Apparently, the leaves and roots are both edible.

And this little one is my lilac.  *B* bought it for me last year as an (almost) mother's day present. It's so very small that I thought it wouldn't last the year, but it's back!

We're planning on doing pumpkins, muskmelon, popcorn, squash, purple royalty pod beans, and tomatoes in the next few weeks.