Garden Upgrades 2019, Part 2

Let me start by saying that I have had mixed feelings about my veggie garden, pretty much since I put the first beds in six years ago. Because, first of all, this was not supposed to be a six year project.

Also, every single year some part of the garden looks like this…

2014

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2015

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2016

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2017

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If you’re noticing a theme of OVERGROWN WEEDS here… yeah. Every single year, there’s some part of the garden that is absolutely out of control.

But earlier this year I dedicated a lot of my nights and weekends to turning this…

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Into this…

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And this…

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Into this…

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Originally I was going to use the back of the garden for “row crops”, but I’ve found that raised beds with gravel paths are basically the only way to keep the garden manageable, so that’s what we’re going with. Everywhere.

I had a couple of espalier fruit trees planted in the back section of the garden this year as well, and I’m in the process of adding brick around them to help terrace the gravel appropriately since this whole thing is built on a hill.

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I’d say the garden is now mostly under control (with a few wild spots in the corners), and since we’ve had more days of rain than not this year, everything is growing like mad.

The garden in March:

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The garden in July:

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Also, in exciting news, the lids for my strawberry beds worked wonders:

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I actually had enough berries this year to attempt to make my grandmothers recipe for strawberry jam.

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It’s not as good as my grandmas… but still pretty damn good.

I also got a decent garlic harvest and more potatoes than I know what to do with…

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And we’re moving into the season of tomatoes, corn, blackberries, and zucchini. The garden isn’t “done” by any means, and it’s time to turn my attention to bigger projects at the farm (residing the back of the house) and the lake (rebuilding my mom’s deck), but I have to say it’s looking pretty damn good this year.

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Definitely worth the last six years of effort!

 

18 Responses

  1. WOW! That looks great. Lots of good food. Happy to see that you’re still alive. 😉 HA!! 😀

  2. This looks so good! It’s soo nice when a long project finally feels like it’s coming together!

  3. Love it!! On our farm growing up, my dad would put in the garden enough potatoes to last our family of 7 for the whole year (we ate potatoes almost every night). Put them in cold storage and they should be fine for months and months.

  4. Glad all is well with you, I have been craving news of your adventures at the Farm and Lake properties…I am retired and my best wish for you is the gift of time…you make the most of all the time you have, wish you had more of it because WOW what you could accomplish! Stay well, enjoy your wine and time with your family…I lift my glass to you!

  5. Congratulations on taming the jungle. We’ve had a ton of rain this year, too and the weeds are trying to take over. I have a garden set up similar to yours and I have never been sorry. Yes, the weeds grow – even with straw mulch and even in the gravel – but things are much more manageable. Cheers!

  6. Hi, dying for an update…know your world is full, would love to see what you have been up to…

  7. I eagerly check your site everyday, hoping for an update. I trust you are well and that we just need to be patient. Summer on a farm along with managing a full-time job, must be crazy. Take care!

  8. Sure has been a long time since the last blog post. Hope all is well and you are just bored… I doubt that while in the midst of autumn, but one mind wanders in the huge gaps in time.

    Take care Diva.

  9. This is a place of beauty! Those who have never managed a garden can not fathom how much work goes into maintaining it. It’s lovely.

  10. Smashing effort. I’m totally copying your space idea, but adding rabbit-proof fencing and probably some barbed wire to keep the possums out. Your chook mid-peck in the kale is glorious.

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