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| My favorite two pictures from this week--- I'll showcase them here for you all to see |
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| Week 8: Sunflowers |
I thought I might try to post some pictures of our garden in the same spot all summer. This way we can see how far it has come along as the summer progresses. I should have taken a picture of how it looked when we first came out--a huge pile of weeds 2 feet high and lettuce, romaine, swiss chard, strawberries and anything else that was left over from last summer that our mild winter didn't kill. Even brocolli tried to come back!
Here is the order of things:
Boxes
Strawberries-first this years; and then last years
Red & Orange Peppers
Cilantro (from seed)
Basil (from a plant)
Blackberry bushes-first last years (2 plants); then 2 years old bushes
Asparagus (2 plants--planted this year)
Tomato Plants -first the right-side of the garden; then the left-side garden
Lettuce & Chard (from last year)
Blueberry Bushes (one section from last year and another section from 2 summers ago).
Kohlrabi--from seeds
Fennel--from seeds
Swiss Chard--this year; from seeds
Side Views of the garden--first right side; then left side
The progress of the Clematis (2) with some new flowers planted in between them and the Butterfly Bush (coral bells & lupine)
Tree pix
Poppy (new this year; 2 plants planted (red))
new section planted -Peas
Cornfield views
Birds, Blooms, and Such
Planting the Veggie Garden:
Sat. May 12, 2012
We worked up parts of the garden and planted a few things to get us started. It still needs a lot of work; but we have started!
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| This is our herb section-- WEEK ONE I found a very cool bird's NEST inside one of the Sage plants. Which bird makes nests that low to the ground I wonder??? |
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| WEEK ONE- Six tomato plants on the right side, and four on the left side of the gate. |
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| WEEK ONE- |
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| WEEK ONE-- We
have a lot of swiss chard, parsnips, and lettuce that came back up from
last year. We are not sure what all to do with it. I guess we can
plant around it! Sophie is even helping with the planting. You can
just see the two little ponds beside our neighbors house. I see heron
and ducks (and geese) flying by daily; but the heron are my favorite as
their wing span is so awesome. |
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| WEEK ONE- This cardboard box must look crazy in a garden; it is certainly nothing we have ever done before. Dh has been reading up a storm about ways to improve our garden. This suggestion is to build this up to place your seeds in. We had success last year with turnips, parsnips, carrots, and beets last year; but they didn't seem to grow DOWN, they were squatty and fat; but SHORT. Dh wonders if raising them up in more peat moss and elevated if they will be able to develop longer range and grow longer as a result. It is worth trying! |
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| WEEK ONE- This is part of our Blackberry Bushes. We I have 2 plants from 2 years ao (these are the ones you see) and beside it are 2 more bushes from last year. I hope we get more to eat this year. The birds really love them.. |
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| WEEK ONE- |
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| WEEK ONE- To the right of the boxes you can just see a patch of green. That is actually two clumps of strawberries. We had planted five bunches last summer; but it was so very hot and dry last summer that even though I watered and watered three plants didn't come back. The rhubarb I planted on the side of the house that died out last summer did actually return on its own this spring! Yeah! Eventually I might be able to make a homemade strawberry-rhubarb pie! |
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| This picture is to say how we did things different with the soil this year. Normally we just buy a lot of peat moss/manure/top soil and work with the bad dirt; but this year we took out about 15 wheelbarrow loads of the bad dirt and dumped in in the farm field behind us. We actually got rid of a good amount of the bad dirt ! Progress!! |
Second & Third day working on the garden:
5-19/20 2012 Dd is wearing the exact same outfit on both Saturday's--how unlikely!
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| week 2--after planting the tomatoes and working up some of the dirt we went and bought some more plants. |
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| wK 2: 3 hard workers (Sophie is there in the shadow) |
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| Week 2 - the tomatoes are all in; but haven't been newspapered and covered with grass yet. Can you see the big mass of light green/yellowish to the left of the sunflower stalks? Those are lettuce; and we are eating and eating salad! Joy! |
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| week 2 |
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| week 2 - preparing the soil for new seeds and plants |
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| Week 2 |
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| Week 2- planting peppers/cilantro/seeds around boxes (zinnia's inbetween the two boxes)/cilantro plant |
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| Week 2 of 'boxes'--Turnips (I think) are up. |
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| week 2 |
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| Week 3-- cardboard seed boxes |
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| Week 3: the Leeks in the box are doing very well. |
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| Week 4 |
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| Week 4--Planted new seeds in here beside the turnips b/c the old seeds did NOT grow! |
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| Week 4 |
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| Week 5: Box--Right side box- Leeks on left |
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| Week 6-right side box |
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| Week 6-left-side box |
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| week 7 - the boxes have become a big lump of green |
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| Week 8: right side box--we planted Zinnia's in between the two boxes and 5 or 6 have survived and broken through the mass of green. Maybe next week we will have full blooms |
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| week 8:detail of inside of box |
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| week 8: right side box |
Strawberries
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| Week-2 Last years strawberries and the new editions below |
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Week 3: 2012 Strawberry plants
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| Week 3: last years strawberries |
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| Week 4 - Strawberries |
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| Week 5: big strawberries (fruit under the leaves) |
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| Week 6 |
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| week 7 -big strawberries |
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| week 8- a volunteer gourd has moved in and is crunching up the strawberries. |
Red & Orange Peppers
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Week 2--Red and Yellow Peppers - I didn't get a picture of the green peppers that were planted later- my battery on the camera died!
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| Week 3: orange and red peppers |
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| week 3 the Orange pepper that broke off and has restarted again! |
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| Week 4 -- Red Peppers |
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| Week 5: Red/Orange Peppers |
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| Add caption |
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week 7- red/orange peppers |
Green Peppers:
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| week 3 green peppers |
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| Week 4 - Green Peppers |
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| Week 5: green peppers |
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| Add caption |
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| week 7 - hard to see; but there is the green pepper row |
Cilantro from seed:
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| week 2 |
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| week 2 |
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| Week 2 (just planted) Dd planted the Cilantro |
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| Week 3: Cilantro |
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| Week 5 : Cilantro |
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Add caption
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New Swiss Chard seedlings:
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week 5 : Chard
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BASIL:
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| Week 2--Basil for our pesto addiction (just planted) |
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| Week 3: Basil |
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| Week 4 -- Basil |
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| Week 5: Basil |
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| Week 6 : Basil |
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| Week 7-Basil week 8 below  |
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| week 2--One year old Blackberry Bushes |
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Week 3 small blackberry bushes
Big (2 years old) Blackberry Bushes:
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| Week 2 2 year old Blackberry bushes |
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| Week 3 big blackberry bush |
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| Week 4--big blackberry bush |
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Week 4 Blackberry Bush
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| 2 new ASPARAGUS! and some coneflowers, black-eyed susan's, and a new peony Week ONE |
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| Close up of the asparagus--WEEK ONE |
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| week 3 asparagus |
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| Week 4--asparagus garden |
Right-side Tomatoes:
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| WEEK ONE- |
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| Week 2 RT |
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Week 2 - LT side
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| Week 2 RT |
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week 2 RT |
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week 8  week 8:  |
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| Kohlrabi on left---Fennel at right of the number "4" |
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week 3-Kohlrabi--a type of German turnip-
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| Week 5--Kohlrabi |
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Add caption |
Fennel
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Week 3 - Fennel
  Leeks |
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Week 3 Leeks and something else
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Week 3: starting to see a line of Swiss Chard |
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| Week 5: Swiss Chard |
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| week 7 - swiss chard from seed |
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| Week 3-right side |
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| Week 3: right side |
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| Week One for this little new garden-it is Dd's garden; with a little momma help. 2 Clematis's (on outer sides) 1 Butterfly Bush in the middle- little Hosta to the left; and Black-eyed Susan's to right. In the very front are some pitiful Impatients and behind them are a Lupine and a Coral Bells. |
Trees gardens
Poppy Garden:
The Elusive Red Poppy in Sequence:
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| Red Poppies-WEEK ONE --There is a story behind me calling the poppies 'elusive' b/c I have tried in vain, repeatedly to grow these beautiful flowers and they always die before they take hold... |
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| On the left is my latest attempt at growing the tall, bright red Poppy plants that I love so much. On the right are the two newest Blackberry Bushes from last year. I laid on long branch down inbetween the two plants to see if it will grow roots and make new plants. WEEK ONE |
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| Red poppies-Week Two - and 3 red geraniums |
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| Week 3 |
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| Week 4 - Red poppies |
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| Week 4-- red poppies |
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| week 7 - red poppies are hanging in there with this horrid heat |
Ground View:
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| week 3: ground view |
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| Week 3: ground view |
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| Week 4 Coral Bells |
New-Peas
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| Week 4 Left-Side Tomatoes |
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| Week 5 - new section of seeds--Peas! |
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| Week 6 |
The Cornfield:
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| Our View: The Backyard Cornfield |
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| Week 5 : Backyard Cornfield |
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| week 7 - the back cornfield- it is tassling already--too early for how short it is. |
Blueberry bushes: We have two separate b.b. gardens-one from 2 years old & the other is 1 year old-maybe 7 bushes total.
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| The three older blueberry bushes--the weak one in the cage is at the left; you can just see the post on the left hand side of the photo. |
Birds, Blooms and Such:
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| This Redwing Blackbird was having a fit--the birdfeeder was full; the water in the bird bath were clean and we were in his way! It took him about 3 minutes until he decided to get food even though we were there. |
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| The first LADYBUG I've seen this spring |
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| What a pretty onion bloom - week 3 |
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| Week 6: Sunflower |
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| No, we are not
growing bricks! I had these here last year to form a border. When I
was lifting them up I saw movement down below in the dirt. A momma
fieldmouse was laying in her cubby under the bricks. She was very
nervous, but didn't leave her babies. I could see the tiny babies who
were hairless and about the size of the tip of my thumb. I've gone back
each day to take a quick peek at the growing babies. Too cute! Flower Gardens Around the Yard: |
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Week 4 - Coral Bells
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| Our first sunflower bloom this year! |
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| Week 4-- Larkin's garden |
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| week 7 - sunflower blooms Week 8 sunflowers below  |
week 8:in between the "boxes" are some Zinnia's about to bloom
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