June Garden and Volunteer Plants

Over the past few weeks we have had much rain, and in between the rain storms we added a few new plants and a few more volunteered in the garden!

New Rhubarb 

New Raspberry

Blueberry from last year has berries! 

Vetch is everywhere

The Paw-Paw is doing nicely - just planted this year!

We planted this 4x8 bed with corn and beans and found that MANY pumpkins came up from last year. As well as an overachieving butternut squash...so we decided that a new bed was needed!

Notice the large volunteer Mammoth Sunflower behind the bed. 

I love these and will find a way to have them all over the garden next year =)

So I took some newspaper and placed it down in the front yard  and wet it with a watering can.

And then I put cardboard over that and wet it down with water.

We filled the circle up with soil...

And moved the many rogue pumpin and butternut squash plants into the new bed...

We watered it in and it looks good as a starting point to replacing the front lawn...

Notice the Sunchokes are about four feet tall in the background!

in the back garden, trees are growing like crazy, grape vines are vining....

In the beds, canning tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and amaranth, carrots, radishes, sea kale,

and eggplant, etc. are all growing. Intermingled hot peppers in each bed as well as 

marigolds, poppies, herbs and flowers all perking up after a week of rain.

And the first of our apple trees is fruiting - I pruned off about 25-30 fruits

and we are letting a few grow near to the trunk where they won't break the branches.

I can't wait to try this fruit!

Toads, Apple Blossoms & a Paw-Paw Tree

The garden is changing so quickly - plants I took photos of yesterday have already changed. I want to be sure I document things that are new to me so I don't forget and have a reference from year to year of where things are how they change and where they show up on their own. Because  plants are making their own decisions only one year into this - and growing where they were not planted...

First - after the past couple of days of rain we have seen several toads. I think this one is an American Toad. What is important to remember, is that we never had toads in our yard before it was a garden.

One of the apple trees has blossoms. We won't let them grow this year, except maybe one to taste it. It's so encouraging to see that these trees we planted only last year have done well through the winter and are acting like they should in spring!

The Paw-Paw Tree - just planted a few weeks ago is getting leaves. This will be the tallest of the trees and is planted in the back corner of our lot.

Paw Paw Tree and the Seven Layer Forest

It was exciting to finally install the last of our "upper tree" level of the garden. The Paw Paw tree arrived on Friday, along with blueberries (that are still in the house), 5 grapevines of different varieties and a new Meyer Lemon to replace the one we had indoors that didn't make it.

In the Food Forest idea of setting up an area, there are seven layers:

1.  Canopy layer consisting of the original mature fruit trees.
2.  Low-tree layer of smaller nut and fruit trees on dwarfing root stocks
3.  Shrub layer of fruit bushes such as current and berries
4.  Herbaceous layers of perennial vegetables and herbs
5.  Ground cover layer of edible plants that spread horizontally
6.  Rhizosphere or underground dimension of plants grown for their roots and tubers
7.  Vertical layer of vines and climbers

For our little yard attempt at this: we have a very large, old Maple in the neighbors yard.

The low tree level has 4 different apples, 3 pears, hazelnut, almond, 

The shrub layer has Goumi, Jostaberry, Pink Grapefruit current, Red Current.

Herbaceous layer of perennial vegetables and herbs: herb spiral with culinary herbs, Sea Kale, Nasturtium, Arugula, Horseradish, etc.

The Ground cover layer includes peas (planted today) for fixing nitrogen, Comfrey, and we are still working on this layer.

The Roots or tubers, we have mainly Sunchokes and are looking at more of these.

The Vertical layer of vines: we have Hardy Kiwi, Concord Grapes, and 3 other variety of grapes to install.

We also have 8 annual vegetable beds - three of which we planted today with peas to fix nitrogen for the tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and other annuals that will be growing in the beds.

My planning, right now, is for more culinary herbs, medicinal herbs, as well as pots of flowers throughout the yard and in the driveway to make use of that space. Ideally, I would like to take up the asphalt and install gravel with room for more garden beds that are not permanent.

The first explanation I ever saw about Food Forests was with Geoff Lawton from Permaculture Institute in Australia . He has helped me to see and understand that nature will work if we set up the right conditions for growth. 

The first day of having my hands in the soil again, and it all comes rushing back - winter is over and we are eating the last of our canned vegetables, and the cycle begins again. I have so much to learn, and in the garden, every day teaches me.

The corner of the yard - empty and waiting for a tree

Paw Paw Tree planted - it doesn't look like much now,
but it will be 20 feet tall x 10 feet wide (dwarf)

Dragonflies and Fireflies

Our little lot doesn’t seem so small when I think of all that will grow here and I realize that I must be in good company with all other gardeners that work hard during the year and wait patiently through Winter for the next season.  So much of gardening is just thinking and planning.

Standing in this yard for hours, I envision the future…

 As if they were already grown, I can see the apple, pear, and paw paw trees – grown and green and full of fruit. I see the ancient posts of the clothesline as the support it will be for Concord Grapes and Hardy Kiwi vines just over the dry riverbed.

Planters will hold mints and other plants that may need some control or special care, and I can smell and taste the fresh mint in a tall, cold Mojito with Indian Rum, and the jelly and jam that will be made.

The current raised garden beds will be full of lettuce, tomatoes and peppers, and more. The herb spiral will be built on the side of the house and the front yard will bloom with 200 bulbs yet waiting underground for warmer weather. A few have shown a little green with this mild Winter, but they are waiting, as I am, in anticipation for the coming Spring.

There are Jerusalem Artichokes in a bed where they cannot spread and take over – will they really be small sunflower-like flowers that smell like chocolate? We’ll see. It’s all an experiment.  A neighbor has a fig cutting for us, from his gigantic fig tree. The tree doesn’t know it isn’t supposed to grow here.

A good lesson to learn: With a little care, impossible things are possible…

What I have observed is that I am a different person in a garden than I am in an office. There are no pretenses and no airs…just hands in the dirt and plants that want to grow.  With dirt as the only makeup on my face and hands that grow stronger every day, I am closer to the girl who made mud pies, chased dragonflies by day and fireflies by night. The one who believes in the good in the world and that magic still exists.

I prefer to be her.

If I could find a way to keep this understanding throughout the whole of my day, I would consider it all a success.

Simple. Beautiful. Purposeful. Fun. Giving. Abundance.