SteemIt Community Garden Journal Challenge - My Update For June 2018

in #homesteading6 years ago (edited)

This edition of the SteemIt Community Garden Journal 2018 Challenge is almost over, so it’s about time I show you around my own June garden.

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The Challenge

I started the SteemIt Community Garden Journal 2018 Challenge at the end of April. I wanted to give all gardeners a chance to create their personal garden journal here on SteemIt. Posting a garden update every month would allow them to see how their garden would grow and flourish month after month.

About a week ago, I launched the ‘Early June’ edition. You can still join if you want to. You can read all about it here:

🌺 SteemIt Community Garden Journal Challenge 2

In case the challenge has ended by the time you read this, I invite you to use the #gardenjournal2018 tag for all your garden updates - whether I have a challenge running or not - to allow other gardeners to take a peek into your garden.

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My Own Update

I know, I should have posted my own garden update sooner. But better late than never, right?

I’ll level with you: I have mixed feelings about my dear veggie garden this year. Of course, there’s the fun and the excitement of seeing all plants grow day after day. But I also feel a lot of frustration: because I’m still recovering from a surgery I had, I’m not allowed to do a whole lot... as in: almost nothing.

My girlfriend knows how much joy the garden brings me, so she has done all the planting, she waters the plants and takes care of them. All I can do is watch.
Since she has a busy job ánd has to take care of all work around the house as long as I’m down, only the work that is strictly necessary is done.

This means the garden looks completely chaotic. Weeds are growing everywhere, making it look like a battle field...

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The Good News

The good news is that inbetween all those weeds, there are plenty of veggies growing.

Up until last week, we had the best weather conditions a gardener could dream of: a lot of sunshine and high temperatures during the day, with a decent splash of rain in the evening. As a result, everything has been growing at warp speed.

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Big Difference

When I posted my previous garden journal back in April, there wasn’t a lot going on yet. That has changed massively.

You can read my previous update and see the pics of my empty garden here

In fact, I’ve got so much going on right now, I will have to create more than one post to show off all my fancy veggies and fruits. :0)

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Backyard Garden

Most of my vegetables and fruits are grown in raised beds and containers. Only the perennials that can survive winter have been planted in the ground.

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Fruits

Among those are the fruit trees and bushes. The apple tree and peach tree have only been planted last year, so it’s too soon for them to grow fruit.

The grapevines, however, are already growing tiny, little grapes.

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The plum tree and the fig tree are a year older, and although the fig tree has loads of figs this year, we have exactly one plum. Unfortunately, we both don’t like figs, so there will be plenty of gifts for our friends later this year.

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The rasperry bush was a real success last year, and it looks like it’s going to be even better this year. We already had some. So delicious...

The currant bush is actually growing berries this year. Last year the entire bush was eaten by slugs, so just a couple of berries is already a winner.

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Veggies

But let me move on to my real passion: the veggies in the raised beds and containers.

Crosne

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In the back of the garden, we have two large containers in which we grow Chinese artichoke, AKA Crosne.

I discovered these crispy little cuties last year and doubled the production.

It’s probably the easiest veggie in the world to grow: you just add a couple of tubers to a container and forget about them. The tubers will multiply underground at warp speed, and a gorgeous plant starts growing.

When winter comes, you have hundreds of these Michelin Man resembling tubers that are enjoyably crunchy.

(Click here to see what these adorable tubers l👀k like)

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Two Sisters

In this bed, I’m growing different kinds of beans, peas, and a squash variety. I wanted to add corn to the mix to create the famous 'three sisters', but that didn't work out...

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I believe companion planting is the way to go if you want to grow healthy crops, so I’ve thrown in a couple of extras: nasturtiums and calendula flowers, mainly to keep the aphids away from the veggies, but also because both are extremely delicious. I’ve got both all over the garden, together with all kinds of Marigolds.

You’ll also notice there’s some borage in there. I like the cucumber-like taste of it, ánd it attracts bees and wasps that will kill harmful bugs and make sure everything is pollinated. to top it off, there’s some flat leaf parsley, which attracts other useful bugs.

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The Giant-To-Be

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In the raised bed next to it, I’m growing a melon variety, next to another squash variety. This last one is a newcomer for this year.

I got three seeds of the fig-leaf gourd through a seed swap, and was lucky that one sprouted.

I have no experience with this plant, nor have I tasted the fruit before. All I know is that the stem of this cutie can grow to become five to fifteen meters long and that one plant can produce up to 50 fruits.
I truly hope we’ll like it, lol.



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Potatoes

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Maybe hard to believe, but true: potatoes are first timers too. I’ve never grown them before.

I got three different kinds, all planted in to special ‘potato bags’. I was pleasantly surprised to see they grow beautiful plants and even bloom with some colorful flowers.



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Melon Pear

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This is one of my favorites. The sweet pepino, or melon pear was another one of last year’s successful experiments.

It is a perennial, but I had to take it inside during winter and I forgot to water it; it died on me.

The fruit is of the most delicious I ever tasted, so I definitely wanted another plant. I tried sowing, but that didn’t work out. So I got myself some cuttings from the same mother-plant as I did last year. I can already see the little purple flowers, ... I can’t wait for them to turn into fruit.

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Cabbage

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I started the season early with different cabbages. We already ate the cauliflower and one of the oxheart cabbages, but there are also plenty left: more oxheart cabbages, red cabbages, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, savoi cabbage,...

In the back, you can see another set of potato plants.

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Lemon (Apple) Cucumber

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Here you can see the first flower on one of the small cucumber “Lemon Apple” plants.

I discovered this cucumber variety last year and simply had to grow them again. Instead of long and green, the fruit is round and yellow, with a sweeter taste.


I tried to sow them inside early in the season, but for some reason all little seedlings died on me after I transplanted them. So I sowed some seeds directly into the ground, very last minute. Because I don’t know whether they will have enough time left to grow, I’ve kept all 6 plants, to see which one grows the fastest.
I’m happy to see a little flower is already growing - even if it is just one.

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Yacon

Another one of my favorites. Yacon, or Peruvian Groundapple. Again one of last year’s top hits.

Yacon is a close relative to the Jerusalem Artichoke and the sunflower. It’s not only a very beautiful plant, its edible tubers are very juicy and taste like apple.

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In the fall I took 21 cuttings from my plant, but only one survived winter. It still doesn’t look very strong, but fortunately, I’ve got a backup plan: I overwintered the stem of last year’s plant, and it resprouted.
I’m not sure the season will be long enough for the resprouted one to fully grow, but I truly hope at least one out of both will grow those delicious roots.

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Herb Spiral

When I came to live here, there was this beautiful stone herb spiral in the garden. A very cool thing to see.

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Last year I decided to give companion planting a go. As a result, all my herbs are growing in the raised beds or containers - in between the veggies - to make themselves extra useful. I must admit it is quite a challenge to get the herb spiral filled since.

But I’m trying. There’s some sage, rosemary, thyme, some strawberries, lemon balm, different kinds of mint, marjoram, curry plant and even some New Zealand Spinach. I’ve also planted chive, some mustard greens, chervil and at the top there is a bush of lavender.

I’ve got my own little herbal pharmacy, right there in the garden.

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More To Come Soon

As you’ve probably noticed, I like to experiment with veggies that are a little out of the ordinary.
Out of the ordinary... at least, for our cold, wet, Belgian climate.

I’ve got plenty more to show you, but I will do so in my next post. This one is long enough as it is.

A little taste of what’s yet to come: my tomato and sweet pepper varieties, Jerusalem Artichoke, Paleleaf Woodland Sunflower, Chayote and more...

Stay tuned!!

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Hi, @simplymile, you won this Friday's free 100% Upvote from MAP Rewarder - part of the random payouts to the fund's delegators.

See this article: MAP Rewarder Free Vote Friday - Free 100% Upvote & Free SBI Share - 15 Jun 2018
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Congratulations!

I love seeing the pictures of your gardens! This was my first year for potatoes, too...and I , too, used the grow bags. Almost harvest time for those little spuds, and I'm anxious to see what kind of yield I got. How about you?

Same here. i’ll I remember is that I got some blue ones. I hadn’t seen
Those before, so I had to have them,
Do the green have completely died of when you czan start harvesting?

If you want potatoes that will store well, wait til the tops of the vines have died before you start harvesting. If you want early potatoes, gently dig down and take only what you need. Reset your plant and the potato should continue to grow. This is from my own experience. Hope it helps. I love growing potatoes. I have not try growing blue potatoes. Do you know what they taste like? Textures? Very curious. Please share what you find out later after you harvest.

Thanks for the tips.

I will share my experience, if I can finally dig up the blue ones.
I’m really curious to find out too... :0)

I grew purple potatoes one year wonder if that is the same. I will remember to follow along I am curious myself.

I'm honestly not sure. I did the pots in layers, letting the lowest taters send up shoots before setting in the next layrs...that left a good week and a half between plantings, so the flowersings are following the same schedule. I'm noticing the last (topmost) layer is just now budding, where the others have all flowered and are dying off. I'm kinda scared to open the hatch, I'm not sure if I trust that it's gonna hold tight once its seal has been broken. Have you peeked at yours? I know they say it's resealable and can be used repeatedly...but 'they' say lots of stuff! :D

Hey, @simplymike! Sorry to hear you're not quite up to things yet. Your garden's looking great, though, and I think you should console yourself that the weeds are just a living mulch....

You have some special plants that I had - until the drought killed them - the pepino for starters. And the borage... I'm hoping that the latter comes up from seeds that might have dropped. Incidentally, do you know that borage is a fabulous companion to sweet basil? When I grew the two together, I had the best basil I'd ever had. And on basil - don't plant it in the same place twice. Wait for four years....

I am so trying to get The Husband to buy into companion planting thing, but he doesn't like what he sees as the chaos. In a past life he was a stock farmer and at one stage left all the plant-related things to me, so he's learning a whole lot of new things, including about the three sisters which he wants to try when our spring comes around!

Be well, and look forward to more of your garden!

There are some clear schedules about companion planting out there. I’ve got one on my blog, but since it is in Dut h, it will probably not so useful for you.
If I can gfind the energy, I will create such a clear list that he won’t be able to resist again
Once you’ve figured out how nature takes care of everything...
crops don’t grow in matching rows in nature either. They grow next to eachoter, And I assume there is a reason for that. (Plants are way smarter than we think, lol ;0)

Thank you, that would be lovely - when you're up to it. It would good to make companion planting irresistible to him! LOL. He is beginning to see that planting with the moon makes a difference. I suppose it just confirms for him that he married a lunatic. I have to remind him from time to time that when we met, I had tomatoes and spinacg growing among my flowers in my postage stamp of a garden! Nothing was in straight rows, either! LOL. Plants and beasties are much smarter than we think, absolutely... :)

PS As I write, we are having wonderful rain - measured about 12mm just for today. So wonderful!

You can just show him by planting nasturtiums or calendula flowers and then show him all the aphids that will feed on those two instead of the other plants, lol.
He will be convinced instantly, lol

Yes he will. Hi's very freaked out about cutworm at the moment which took out all the peas, and will do the same to carrots! I will put both on the shopping list! LOL

;0)

Your garden is absolutely beautiful! I'm so glad you found time (and heart) to share it. It's not as you would like it to be but at the same time, it it a little bit of paradise. You grow some interesting varieties that I would love to taste! :)

I love the herb spiral! I made one but it's not nice like yours, mine looks like a rocks pile if you look at it from the wrong side. Seeing the potential it has by looking at yours so full and bursting with herbs has me hopeful that ours will look like that some day!

Just lovely & so much abundance!

Just wait a couple of years. Ours is so overgrown with everythinh that you can
Hardly see the bricks anymore.

And you are right. It’s a lesson I need to learn: be happy with what you’ve got and what there is, instead of being disappointed that it isn’t like you wished it to be.
Hard lesson to learn, but everything in my life right now is making sure I will finally come closer to the freeing feeling of acceptance: use what you’ve got and make the best out of it, instead of waisting your life being troubled about everything there’s not.
(Sounds very easy, theoretically speaking, lol)

That is so reassuring! I can't wait until the spiral is overflowing. :)

I have pretty high expectations and big goals so I understand where you are coming from. Knowing is half the battle so you'll find the way to that perfect balance.

Take Care!

Thanks.
I know ‘knowing is half the battle’, but knowing doesn’t make things easier, lol. I’ve been fighting the other half of the battle for so long now, and often it feels like I’m losing every single fight... I seem to always end up at the same point: I know, but I can’t...
Sigh... Just because I know, there’s no other option than to keep fighting. I guess I’ll learn some time ;0)

I'm new to your blog and I gotta tell you, that's amazing! I'm starting planting in my front yard but nothing like your plants, OMG. Thanks for sharing my friend, I'll be in touch with your amazing content!

Thanks for the kind words, @acostajd

Ooo first time I've seen this and I like

It looks like in spite of your surgery, your veggies and fruits are doing really well! This is a great incentive to help others on their gardening journey. Thanks for sharing :-)

Thanks, @holisticmam. I owe it all to my girlfriend. She disliked gardening so much, but knew how much it meant to me. Yesterday I told her she could stop if she wanted to - she has so much work already. But she laughed and told me that she’s now enjoying seeing the Plants grow bigger every day ;0D

What a lucky man you are to have such an amazing girlfriend! There is something rather addictive about gardening. I'm pleased to read she's enjoying It! 😊

Me too :0)

  • And I know I’m making this complicated with a username like simplymike and a girlfriend, but I’m a girl too ;0)

Oh no I'm so sorry for just assuming you are a dude! Please accept my apology. I didn't really pay attention to your profile picture. I feel rather embarrassed about that. One love 💖💖

You don’t have to feel embarrased nor apologize ;0)
It’s not that I made it easy, right?! Lol

I’m not offended. Some of the coolest people I know are dudes 💜

Thanks for being understanding 💖 I'm intrigued to know where your name came from now. 😊😊

Long story, lol.
I used to be an internet marketer. When I started to earn good money, I decided I couldn’t use my own name anymore. So online I became ‘Mike’. It’s close enough to my real name, and anonymous enough to stay under the radar.

(Exra reason: people who speak English pronounce my name as Mike anyway, so I could spare myself the trouble of explaining the correct pronunciation, lol).

When I signed up for SteemIt, I didn’t realize that the name I signed up with would actually be my username. So the first 2 months here, I was @mike314-0005.
I managed to reach rep level 51, but being a marketer I knew that if you want to get somewhere on social media, you need a name that’s catchy, easy to remember, and - even more important - hard to misspell.

After misspelling my own username for the hundredth time, I decided I had to create a new account with another username before I grew too big and it was too late.

It was difficult to find a new username, so after a while I ‘simply’ decided it would be @simplymike.
I created a new account, delegated the SP from my old account to the new one and started from scratch again. :0)

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by simplymike from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.

@simplymike, whenever i open up to read your work,it do take me back to the joy i drive from my tomato farm/garden.Nice work dear

Thanks, @lapb.
You don’t have your garden anymore??

I like the garden journal. In my columns I advised the readers to keep a journal, very useful when planning the next garden, reviewing what worked and what did not.

Thanks, @rlewing.
Every year I start with a garden journal, but after a couple of weeks I simply forget to use it. That’s the main reason I started mu gardening blog last year: so I could keep track of the things I learned :0)

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