Rebuild Time Part 2

Last spring, we replaced half of the old wooden beds in our garden with metal ones. This year, we finished the job. There were still two 4-foot by 11-foot and two 1-foot by 11-foot wooden bed to replace. One of the smaller beds was filled with asparagus, which we relocated outside the garden. Part of the other smaller bed had horseradish, which we pulled out and deposited along the back treeline. After that, there was just a lot of dirt moving to do.

Garden bed rebuild in progress.

It has been a very wet spring. Because of that, and my lack of enthusiasm for hard work, the rebuild took several weeks to finish. My husband really did most of it. He built the six new metal beds, shoveled tons of dirt, added compost, and relaid the stone paths. I helped by decided which type and how many bags of new soil we would get to fill in and I added those bags to the beds. And finally, it was all done.

All the bed replacements finally finished!

But that was not all of the rebuild. For the past couple of years, the deer have been making themselves at home in the garden. Beyond the nibbled plants and obvious hoof prints, we got photographic proof last fall.

A taller fence was obviously needed. Our original fence was four feet tall. We got a couple more rolls of 4-foot wide plastic mesh fencing and 6-foot long bamboo poles for fence posts. The process of adding height to the existing fence actually went more smoothly than I expected. I had a plan, of course, but was still surprised that the plan worked so well. We wove the bamboo poles through the mesh fencing then lifted them up and zip-tied them to the fence posts that were already there. Then I went around and hand "sewed" the seam between the two fences so there wasn't a gap.

"Sewing" the fence seam together with some garden twine.

The result is an 8-foot tall fence all the way around our garden (except for over the gate).

Let's see those deer jump over this! (I know they could so please don't.)

With the garden now better protected, I got the rest of the seeds and plants into the ground. I had planted the hardier seeds - radishes, arugula, pak choi, chard, and peas - and the direct-sew tomato seeds (as directed) before the average last frost date and before we finished the fence. 

A lovely row of sugar snap peas.

After the fence I planted the bush beans, turtle beans, rattlesnake beans, blue Jarrahdale pumpkins, and glass gem ornamental corn. I also transplanted pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, and cucumber plants.

The young plants hardening off a few days before transplanting.

The spring rains continued and I mostly stayed out of the garden. Yesterday, I finally thinned out the seedlings. I also added a fence for the peas. Everything is growing, though much of it is unhappy with the large amount of rain. 

Corn and radishes before thinning.

This poor little cucumber plant isn't well.

One other thing we planted outside the garden was some luffa plants. We had very good luck growing them a few years ago. We still had some seed left and they were still viable, so now there's a tall teepee in the back yard near the new asparagus bed. There is also one long pie pumpkin plant under the teepee. 

I don't know why I didn't take a picture of the whole teepee.

You grow, luffa!

So far, the pumpkin and luffa plants have been left alone by our backyard wildlife. We'll see if that lasts. 

Oh deer, oh deer.

A sweet, fluffy bunny.

 

Let's Get This Party Started

Okay, so it was actually herbs that got started, not a party, but I'm just as happy. About a month ago, on March 16, I got out my starter trays, Jiffy pellets, and seed envelopes and got to work.

I like having a plan.

First off, I gave my starter trays a nice bleach bath. There's no reason to not begin with everything freshly disinfected.

We don't need any dormant funk messing things up.

I love the Jiffy peat pellets. Since I found them, I've used them exclusively to get my seedlings started. All you have to do is soak them in some warm water then slip them into the starter tray. Easy-peasy.

Jiffy pellets taking a swim.

While I feel like I can identify most herbs by sight now, it's always a good idea to record what seeds are planted where. In this case, I did two cells each for the herbs as well as eight for peppers and four additional for some wild native plant seeds. Then, the covered trays were placed lovingly under the grow light to enjoy fourteen hours of artificial sunlight each day thanks to the convenient timer.

Now do your duty!

Just four days later, the first dill seedlings emerged. 

Dill!

The dill was quickly followed by basil and asters the next day. Three days after that, the thyme, rosemary, lavender, catnip, and peppers emerged. The parsley was the final green sprout to show up on March 26.

Thyme, parsley, basil, rosemary, and catnip up front on April 13.

Lavender and dill on April 13.

As my little seedlings are enjoying the steady, calm weather inside the house, I'm making plans for their lives outside. I started my patio herb garden last summer with just two pots of herbs. Over the winter and spring, I've been collecting more pots.

Such pretty examples of international commerce.

Home Goods and T.J. Maxx have proven to be the best places to get reasonably-priced, pretty pots. I've added a lovely orange pot shaped like a tulip ($19.99, made in Vietnam), one with a painted floral design ($14.99, made in Spain), one with a raised feather pattern (14.99, made in Vietnam), a simple pale blue one ($16.99, made in Spain) , and a white one with partridges and pears ($16.99, made in China) to my collection. 

I think my basil will be in this pot.

We've still got a least a month before the seedlings end out all together outside on the patio. For now, the chives are on their own out in the world. Well, they're not entirely alone. They have the daffodils for company.

The chives seem happy enough with their yellow friends.

And the occasional rabbit comes by for a visit now and then.

I wonder if this is one of last years' munchkins?

How to Make Your House Smell Amazing

Step 1: Plant a bunch of different herbs in your garden.

monarda

dill

basil

chives

parsley

Step 2: Harvest said herbs, load into a food dehydrator, and let them dry out for a day or so.

basil ready to dry

dehydrator loaded and ready to go

Step 3:Inhale deeply as you crush the dried leaves into pleasantly fragrant bits.

dry dill

dry parsley

Step 4: Pour dried herbs into labeled jars.

dried basil in a recycled/reused jar

the grand assortment

 Step 5: Enjoy!

bunny butt approved

Beans!

I’ve found that beans are one of the easiest things to grow in my little backyard garden. I didn’t plant any this year but, in the past, I have grown purple, yellow, and green beans to use fresh and frozen as well as rattlesnake and turtle beans for shelling. I tried lima beans and long Thai beans once each. I even experimented with garbanzos back when we were living on the mountain. The plants were beautiful, but they didn’t make a single bean.

My absolute favorite are climbing shell beans. I just love the entire process of planting them, training the vines to a homemade trellis, waiting for the pods to grow full then dry, and finally spending an afternoon on the porch shelling them.

New rattlesnake bean seedlings.

Training onto the trellis.

Bean blossoms.

Looking good!

Starting to dry out now.

Ready to shell.

Beans!

I’ve never planted enough for them to be a staple of our winter diet, but there are usually plenty for a few batches of baked beans or soups. I just used some of our dry beans collected a couple years ago for some good old fashion Boston baked beans.

From the jar...

...into the pot...

...and ready to serve.

Now I kinda feel bad that I didn’t plant any beans at all this year. Oh well. I’ll add them to my plans for next season.

And here's a bunny, just because.