June Garden Update

The garden is going strong! Take a walk through with me!

Hops grow FAST and TALL!

The companion planting plan has been successful so far.  The peas are growing on the outside of the trellis, sunflowers are holding down each corner, cucumbers are growing in the middle of the inside area surrounded by lettuce, arugula, spinach and radishes.  There are a few volunteer soybean plants mixed in there, too.  So far nobody is too crowded, everyone is getting the light they need and the weeds are being kept to a minimum.

I am hoping the sunflowers will mature enough that I can harvest the seeds for sprouting over the winter.  If not, they will at least be pretty when they bloom.

The purple pole beans are also ambitious, twirly climbers.

Here is another angle on the companion trellis arrangement.

This area is packed!  We have brussels sprouts, mustard greens, broccoli, 2 kinds of kale and chard tucked into the annex area.  The broccoli really grew strangely this year, producing a head before the plant had really grown in size.  Hmm.  Not sure why that happened but it looks like we'll need to plant a second round of broccoli to get a substantial harvest.

The tomatoes and nasturtiums are happy in their spot by the deck.  So far the chickens have left them alone. The basil in the Earthbox is appropriately and predictably packed in there.  A batch of pesto is in our future, for sure.  The mint will eventually find its way into a raised bed by the chicken coop.

It is shaping up to be a good year for raspberries.  My patch is PACKED with green berries.  I have no problem with that.  No problem at all.

We have a pretty good crop of radishes this year.  So plentiful that I think I am going to try this Sweet Herb Radish Saute recipe.

Speaking of herbs, I made an excellent green sauce by modifying this recipe for Garlic Scape Chimichurri. I substituted garlic chives for the scapes, basil for the parsley and skipped the red pepper flakes.  I was inexact in my measurements of the other ingredients but think I used a little more vinegar and a little less oil than it calls for. It turned out wonderfully and has been a great salad dressing, especially when you top your salad with a poached egg or sliced avocado.  We also ate it drizzled over a breakfast hash.  I'd describe it as tangy and so very green in flavor.  Yes, I know green is not a flavor, but I think it is a good way to describe how fresh it tastes.

We transplanted some oregano from my dad's garden this year. It is pretty easy to see how much different his soil is.  His garden is so sandy that the little hairs on the oregano still haven't let go of their sandy bits.  His sandy soil makes for great root crops but it is a pain to wash off of everything else!

I have been attempting to grow nasturtiums each year.  I think this year I might have gotten them into the ground in a timely enough fashion as well as found a spot that they like.  They are keeping tomato plants company.  I need to remember to pick a few of the leaves for our next salad.  Did you know the flowers, seeds and the leaves of the nasturtium plant are edible?

I love growing our own hearty greens.  We eat a lot of them and they are so economical to grow.  The seeds that I started inside transplanted well and the seeds sown directly into the grown are well on their way to catching up.

Last year, Paul's mustard green plants flowered and dropped seed so we have a few volunteers coming up around the garden.  Here they are competing with the collard greens.

Thanks for visiting!  Now, I think it is time for me to go soak in a bit of sunshine before this lovely Sunday comes to a close.