end of may garden~2018

 {beginning of may}

{end of may}

The pictures above tell most of the story, don't they? 

At the beginning of May seeds were planted and by the end of the month the plants had grown astronomically! Poles needed to be staked. Vines needed to be tied. Kale, herbs and strawberries needed to be harvested. Weeds needed to be pulled. We've had above average temperatures, which the tomato plants love, as well as steady rainfall, which all the plants love. All the seeds we planted have germinated (I always wonder about the carrots~it takes them a while to decide whether or not to sprout), so we now have the hope of many fresh vegetables for the Summer and storage for the Winter.

The chores for Spring seemed to be more than usual, but we spaced them out to be manageable. We needed to mulch some flower beds (too many weeds) and the area behind the barn (muddy). We needed a truckload of compost for the new vegetable beds Jesse build last fall. We had an amazing amount of leaves in the beds, which we removed and composted. Before mulching the flower beds we laid down grass clippings from mowing to assist with weed suppression. The Spring rain encouraged not only the plants to grow, but the weeds as well, so weeding has been a consistent chore.  

Now that all those chores are behind us, mainteance should be mowing once a week, weeding once a week, spraying Neem oil bi-weekly, and harvesting vegetables as needed. It all seems so simple contained in that once sentence! 

I don't work in the garden daily. If I'm going to do garden chores I do them in the morning right after breakfast, and a lot of work can be accomplished in the two hours of a cool morning if you're focused (for example, I mowed, weeded and harvested yesterday morning). If I need Jesse's help we do that in the cool of the evening after dinner (for example, tonight we need to mound potatoes). Otherwise, it's a pretty view we can enjoy from the deck or hammock. I truly think maintaining the yard is about having a plan, begin organized, having discipline but then letting it go because there is always something more to do if you look closely!

 {strawberries, angel food cake and cream}

{red russian kale} 

{thyme and oregano} 

{hydrangeas and hammock swing}

For the past two years I've weighed our organic produce and this year will be no different. May was all about strawberries: strawberry pie, strawberries with angel food cake, strawberry spinach salad, strawberries with pound cake, strawberries and cream. Yes, it was all as tasty as it sounds! Many homegrown salads are now being consumed and I'm diligently drying herbs, such as sage, oregano, rosemary, thyme and dill.

end of may total: 56 pounds
strawberries~56 pounds
various herbs, kale, spinach and lettuce

Comments

Susanna said…
I have one solitary strawberry plant and it has done nada.😀