Apologies to at least myself for not continuing this blog for soooo long! I could use the excuse that working full-time cuts into a lot more time than I expected. And, while that is true, I have plenty of time each and every morning before work to play computer games (casual games, mostly hidden object puzzle game), so that is an excuse, not a reason.
I was looking online earlier today for new gardening ideas, and found so many I made a
Pinterest account to store them! Now I am fighting myself to stop
checking the new content! Looking at all the wonderful photos made me
realize how much I'd missed posting to this blog.
I will admit, the garden has suffered from my devoting less hours per week tending to it, and I didn't plant much this past spring. The usual tomatoes and lemon cucumbers. Brandywine tomatoes came up as volunteers, and I got my Sungold cherry from The Tomato Lady of Central Point again. I wanted a simple tomato too, and found a bush Ace, which disappointed me. Oh, it had a lot of tomatoes, but they had a tendency to lay in the soil and rot.
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| July, 2016 - Sungold on left, bush Ace on right, lemon cucumbers just beginning to climb trellis, and miserably producing Jade bush beans in the front |
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The lemon cucs didn't do well in this new location. The Sungold tomato on the other hand over-did any other Sungold I've ever had, and I've had them regularly for years! I was taking dozens to work every few days.
This bed was thrown together with some Douglas fir boards, and it isn't even fastened in the back, just supported by the fence posts. The soil was partially there, and I tossed in all the bags of various things I had laying around... compost, manure, peat, potting soil... Not really the best way, but it worked for the Sungold!
The Meeker raspberries took over not just their own 4 x 8 bed, but the surrounding ground, popping up in places 6' away! Meeker are supposed to be just summer bearing, but today I picked a bowlful of fat red berries. Much nicer berries than the summer ones, since it was so hot they were small and dry.
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| Meeker raspberries in July, 2016 |
I don't think I'll ever get the old fruiting canes out of that mess! Then again, if some of the canes fruited a second time I can just cut them all down, right?
My favorite part of the 2016 harvest was the Plumcot (Pluot) fruit! I don't think I have ever tasted anything so delicious! I was pleased to find that the flesh was what I wanted, a deep red. I just hope I can prune it correctly.
I messed up the Frost peach! I didn't take the time (notice I didn't say I didn't
have the time?) to thin the fruit. I learned too late that if you don't thin peaches before the pit hardens they don't grow any larger. So, I had a lot of peaches, a lot of teeny tiny peaches! They were delicious though. I even made a small batch of jam. The tree was very pretty when it blossomed. It is still not well though, it still has that bacterial canker problem which will do it in eventually.
My biggest garden project this year has been to start turning the bark-filled front yard into a rock garden! I completed about 1/3 of the yard, and hope to finish the rest next spring and summer. I need some current photos, as things have grown tremendously since these were taken.
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| Digging in sand and placing the rocks - March, 2016 |
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| Blue Fescue, Aubrieta, Lewisia, Creeping Phlox and Sea Thrift(Armeria) |
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| More Lewisia, Sea Thrift, Creeping Thyme and Creeping Phlox |
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| The rock garden is rimmed with river rock, with paths of pea gravel |
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| Look at that Blue Fescue by July! I also added some succulents. |
The day lilies are just the way I envisioned them! Just perfect... I still haven't built the other side to the handrail.
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| Bonanza |
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| American Revolution |
I'll it for now, with these photos of my garden helpers! I promise, I really do, to come back soon, at least no later than a week! That makes sense, since today is my "Sunday" as my work week begins tomorrow.
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| Boo |
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| Edward the Goldendoodle |
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