I got a couple of chores done this morning in the garden. My first was to string the last section of trellis. It is over the bed where the spinach grew. Now it is planted in dried beans, corn, and squash. They have already started coming up. The squash in this bed germinated better than the squash in the other bed. I guess that isn't too surprising since the other bed gets a lot more shade.
Then I had to put the diagonal braces on all the trellises. This will make them much more sturdy in the wind when they are covered in foliage. I wanted to find long thin bolts to attach them. Something I could take off and reuse. But go figure, no one sells 2 1/2" long bolts that are only about 1/8" thick. So instead I used some brass wire I had. I think that will hold very well.
Urban Gardening
And as you might have noticed I brought out the sprinkler for the first time this year. I was going to do a drip irrigation system, but never got to it. I hope it isn't a dry year like the last one. I turned over my trash can and put the sprinkler on top. I do it on the trash can so the sprinkler can get up and over the foliage. Right now that means the peas. as they are the tallest right now.
This weekend I need to get in my summer lettuce starts which means picking what is already there. I'll have to mark the couple lettuces that I want to go to seed. If I don't, you just know they will get taken out. Remember this is the gardener that ate her Ottawa Cranberry seed beans and had to have Granny send her some more.
I also have to get the bamboo stakes in for the potato containment. The potatoes are growing very fast. Give them another week and I won't be able to walk down the aisle to pick anything.
The last thing I have to work on over the next week is getting my fall plan down on paper. I have some of the basics in my head, but haven't gotten to writing them down. I need to start transplants by mid June or they will be too late to produce.
Looks like you're ready for a lot of beans later!
ReplyDeleteDang, your garden is so pretty it's giving me heart palpitations! ;-)
ReplyDeleteDaphne, I'm full of admiration for your engineering and construction skills! And those beds are bigger and better than mine. I never realised your garden was quite so urban.
ReplyDeleteLove this picture! Tell me, do you get much interested sidewalk traffic from the neighbors?
ReplyDeleteEG, I am. I so love dried beans and I'm growing a lot this year.
ReplyDeleteGranny, feel free to visit anytime. We have very good medical care in Boston. ;>
Mark, Yes I'm quite urban. My lot is 9000 sqft which I share with the other townhouse on the property. Many of the lots around here are smaller. Most of the houses are two family houses, usually up and down condos, not a townhouse like mine. We are right on the North Cambridge border.
Patricia, no we don't get sidewalk traffic. Our road is a dead end private way that is one narrow lane wide and has no turn around at the end. We are at the end. The entrance to the road looks more like a driveway than a street. I occasionally have friends drive by it not being able to find the street. We occasionally get a car that is lost and turns around in our very small driveway. Much of the garden used to be part of the driveway, but we ripped it up and to replace it we put driveable grass in the front yard.
I *love* your bamboo trellises. I think I may copy them, in fact, if I can find bamboo long enough (and muster up the skills the tie them together properly.)
ReplyDeleteWhere did you purchase your bamboo poles? Are they 10' long x 1"?
ReplyDeleteThe trellises look great and like Granny said that angle of your garden looks gorgeous! From your other pictures I never realized how urban your garden really was. I love it another person taking up their yard with gardens!
ReplyDeletemuddytoes, I couldn't find any bamboo locally. I've done the same trellis with some thinner 7' ones in the past. I had to use more diagonals to make it sturdy in the wind. Bamboo - even the 1" ones shown here, is very bendable.
ReplyDeleteDiane B, they are 8'x1". I got them from:
http://www.bambooandthatchetc.com/index.php
Just one warning, the shipping will be as expensive as the bamboo itself. And they only sell in large quantities.
Vanessa, its funny there are two townhouses on this lot. My best friends live on the other side. One of them is such an enabler. She doesn't garden, but when we were planning the yard, she kept wanting more to be in veggie garden. She wanted the whole yard edible. I'm the one that didn't. I wanted to be able to have a bbq and be able to have people wander around. I wanted some grass in the back yard as I find grass visual soothing. Not to mention it is great for the compost. Though the grass will be nixed with other things as time goes on. We both like dandelions, so we will let them grow. And I overseeded the grass with white clover. The front yard grass as I mentioned above is a drivable grass. So it is overflow parking for our house.
That trellis is not only very functional - but really beautiful too. In fact the whole garden is really pleasing to the eye. You have done a great job creating this space and I know it will only mellow and get more beautiful as you continue to work with it.
ReplyDeleteDaphne your gardens are beautiful. I have to admire you for being able to garden in an urban environment like that. I live on 9 acres and do a lot of gardening but nothing as diversified as your. My only draw back is I am on the side of a mountain and trying to find a flat spot to plant on and gardening rocks.
ReplyDeleteYour bamboo trellises are a thing of beauty. You really have a nice setup in your garden.
ReplyDeleteLaura, I'm sure the edges of the garden will get built up over time with perennials and self seeders. I can't wait until I've got dill and cilantro coming up in the paths. I like neat and orderly rows, but I also like a bit of wild in the garden. That will be harder here where everything is so controlled and planned out.
ReplyDeletewilderness, the funny thing is that I lived on half an acre for 19 years and my garden was so much smaller. But with that garden I used native soil and fought it for so many years. This garden didn't have the soil in yet when it was bought, so I got really good soil put in. It makes such a huge difference.
Kris, thanks