Leave town for 9 days and the garden exploded. All the lettuces need to be pulled. A gallon baggie of snap peas harvested. Chards and Spinach bolted with the heat. And the scarlet runner beans climbed to the top of the trellis.
Postcards from my garden in mid July:
It's my 3rd year with the P-Patch and I decided to step up my game this year. First of all, I took on a leadership role in the garden creating a blog-site for the Magnuson P-Patch. It's starting to weave a community for our gardeners and has been well received. One of the reasons I'm so sporatic on this site.
And secondly, I decided to invest in raised beds for my site this year. Our ground is such heavy clay that I wanted to create more friendly growing environment. Not to mention save my back a bit. 200 sq feet is ALOT for one person to garden. I've had lots of help with this endeavor for which I'm eternally grateful:
Lots of sweat and a few tears in this year's garden. The border is filling in nicely with herbs, foxgloves, lupine, dahlias and lavendars. Lovely. And despite the cold, raining spring my plants are thriving. Artichokes reaching for the sky. Tomato plants shooting up over the water walls, Lettuce full headed. Spinach and strawberries thriving. Abundance of snap peas shoots just starting to bloom and scarlet runner beans are running. The first hints of zucchini and patti pan blossoms are taking hold. Thriving is an understatement.
Harvests have included:
It's been a labor of love and a joy. The work is never done. More to weed, more to plant, more to nuture. But what a gorgeous dance of give and take. And the benefits for my mind, body and spirit are too plentiful to count.
Postcards from my garden:
this evening
Ready to plant - mid May
End of May
Strawberry & spinach patch
Artichokes
Scarlet runner beans - climbing and blooming
Lettuce & Patti Pan Squash
Sweet & snap peas
Tomatos
Brussel sprouts, kale and zucchini
My plot
Beautiful
Decided last weekend to spend the beautiful spring days sprucing up my deck and my friend Sara's backyard instead of getting the P-Patch setup. We both needed a little boost and our relaxation spaces refreshed. Plus, my P-Patch plot is getting a makeover this year with raised beds. I'm so excited! Another weekend's project.
Overwintering your deck? Who has the time! So, three lawn bags of dirt and dried out plants later, I was able to see the possibilities. My little deck will turn into a shady oasis as the oaks start filling in this month. Concentrated on the tried and true ferns, hostas and bleeding hearts. Decided to accent with my fav's blue pansies and violas. And added lovely burst of hot pink with a full bloom azalea.
My little herb garden is filled with the staples - thyme, oregano, tarragon, sage and a whole box of mint. Love my spearmint! And a larger rosemary plant, of course. Joy is running my hand through an herb on my deck and scenting the air. To round out the herbs, I found a lovely spanish lavendar with purple nubs and white flags. A small note of tribute to Chuck.
Tug on the heart strings to not have Ross around to enjoy the catmint I picked up for him last month. It'll be nurtured for a future furball. Maybe I'll be ready for the pitter patter of little cat paws later this summer.
2 hours of hard work and $200 later, my little patio retreat is rejuvenated.
Postcards from the my revitalized deck:
Yikes, that's alot of work!
Mid-way - out with the old.
Finished - in with the new!
Splendid contrast - spiky sharp edges topped with feather soft plumbs. Thistles are in bloom. Small wonders to behold.
POSTCARDS from Magnuson Park P-Patch
This is actually my artichoke
aerial shot of my artichoke
Summer is here!!! And the berries are bursting with juicy goodness. Makes a gardener's heart sing.
Artichokes, lettuce, kale, swiss chard and snap peas are days away from harvesting.
Bounty.
POSTCARD ~ a bowlful of goodness from my garden
In the warmer months, my favorite part of my condo is the deck. There are 2 large oak trees sheltering my condo. Sitting in my living room and deck feels like you are living in a tree house. A grown-up tree house with cocktails that is.
With getting the P-Patch garden in order this spring, the deck was dormant longer than usual. Surprising what 3-4 hours of work, 2 large lawn bags of waste, trips to 2 nurseries and 2 bags of potting soil can accomplish. Unfortunately, the Japanese Maple didn't weather well over the winter. Nursing it this season in hopes it will be enough to revive it for next year. Fingers crossed.
The kitties and I have been loving having breakfast and dinner out on the veranda. It's a soothing and relaxing space.
POSTCARDS from my deck
Starting Mess 1
Starting Mess 2
Chandler found the catnip
Look at these beauties
Out with the old, time to put in the new
Finished view from the door
Finished view from the table
Current view from the Street Level
The amount of peace and joy I've received from my first few months of P-Patch gardening is immeasurable. Connection to the earth and my neighbors. Marveling in the blooms and cycles of the plants. Hearing the early morn calls of the birds and the evening groans of the frogs. It's been a soul nurturing project.
So far, I've gotten weeks of lettuce, kale and swiss chard harvests. And in the last week started pulling lots of sugar and snap peas. Harvested about 15 gallon bags full of produce thus far. More than enough to share with some interested friends.
Last weekend I planted the tomato, zucchini and pepper starts - it's too cold here to start from seed. 6 hours of weeding, harvesting and planting was grueling, but well worth it. This week's project is to clean out the last 3 feet of space, sow some herbs, carrots and parsnips in, and start thinking about the garden's needs for fall and overwintering vegetables.
One of these days I need to wander over and photograph the whole garden with my good camera. For working days, the little point and shoot works just fine.
Enjoy!
POSTCARDS from early June in my Garden P-Patch
POSTCARDS from my fellow P-Patchers bounty
Happy Gardening!
Welcome to my latest project! A big reason why I haven't been hanging out here much in the last few weeks. A little over 2 weekends ago I was introduced to my little patch of land for gardening. A lovely 10' by 20' plot.
The shape I inherited it in:
A bit daunting to say the least! But a healthy raspberry patch (the tall shrub in the back) was part of the mix. Little did I know what I was getting myself in for. Gardening is not for the weak of body or spirit. It's taken 20+ wheel barrel trips filled with weeds, hours of shoveling, lots of muscle tilling the ground, 2 trips to the nursery and 16 hours of manual labor to complete the initial spring planting.
Looking a little sparse and still needs a rock pathway, but I've planted an ambitious variety:
And slowly starting to meet my fellow gardeners. I've been missing attachment and involvement in my community. Hoping to make deeper roots in my neighborhood.
The spring version of my garden:
May you prosper and grow!
Whipped the deck into shape yesterday. Happy to have breakfast Al Fresco. And photographic proof that the sun does eventually shine in Seattle.
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