What beautiful weather we've had the past two days! It was sunny, and in the 70s, and perfect for working in the garden.
The first thing I did was tackle the cut and come again lettuce bed. This used to be the lettuce nursery, but the seedlings got too large to transplant, so now I just cut the leaves and let them grow again.
Only half of the barrel of lettuce got cut, there was just too much to use up right away. I thinned the cut half of the bed by pulling out every other plant. Hopefully I'll get the rest of it cut and thinned out tomorrow. Uh....look to the left side of the photo. Guess what that is.
Uh-huh. More lettuce.
The yellow lilies just get prettier each day. That was quite a nice head of broccoli in the front, too.
Not terribly large, but I saw another head and several side shoots in the brassica garden. I'd say that's enough for dinner!
My broccoli, sweet onions fresh from the garden, some frozen veggies, chicken and spaghetti made a delicious stir fry.
Speaking of the brassica bed, I have never grown such huge red cabbages! That bed is 4' wide, and this one plant reaches across almost the entire width.
A yardstick isn't long enough to reach from one side to the other. Notice how the slugs haven't bothered the red cabbages, but have eaten holes in the green ones right next door.
My snap peas are finally blossoming! It's about time.
An ugly picture of something beautiful.......a pile of poop! I got a half yard of composted manure, and some of it got put in this corner of the east garden.
While the rest of it is inside the garden shed, where it's handy to the north and west gardens. Hopefully everything will get a little compost boost, and/or some compost tea.
It was the oddest cow poop I've ever seen. It looked like rabbit pellets! The entire load was "pelletized" like this. I wonder how they did it........miniature cows? LOL
I screened some to make it finer, and added quite a bit of vermiculite. Earlier in the day I had amended about six square feet of garden bed, where the spinach was pulled last week, with the pelleted compost. I planted three squares of carrots (seed mats), two squares of beets, and a dozen yellow onion sets. I used this fine screened compost to cover the seeds. Later this week I'll do the same to the other side of that plot. There are already chard and beets growing down the center of the bed.
Maybe the cow needed more roughage? LOL
ReplyDeleteI am not much of a lettuce eater, so I see your bumper crop as a serious over planting issue! But you guys sure seem to be able to take care of it!
Such a joy to see someone who knows what they are doing in the garden !
Kris, believe it or not, we aren't tired of it yet! In fact, I have tiny seedlings just emerging for the next crop :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour of your garden. Everything looks so appealing. I like the idea of adding vermiculite to the compost before putting it in the garden. I bet it makes the job easier.
ReplyDeleteYou have no idea how much I learn from your blog. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Of what importance do you give the manure in your garden success?
I've been composting our garden with just our home compost--no manure--and our garden just stinks this year. I've come to think that manure is a must. I'll be testing my theory in the fall garden.
Miniature cows... LOL! All the produce is coming along quite nicely - jealous of those greens!
ReplyDeleteNice lettuce, ours is growing like crazy too. That is one very impressive cabbage you have there.
ReplyDeleteI just keep feeding my lettuce to my townhouse mates. They seem to be able to suck up an endless supply. They have four people over there and four people can eat a lot of lettuce.
ReplyDeleteGranny, I look at all your lettuce, broccoli, and cool weather crops and I can only dream...
ReplyDeleteThe only way I can grow them here is into the fall and winter. In the spring, we warm up so fast that they just do not do well. It has been so hot here!!
How lucky for you! we vacillate between 95 and 40 with strong storms in between Hopefully tomorrow brings some moderation.
ReplyDeleteNice stir-fry!
Jody, I only add the vermiculite to the screened compost that is used to cover small seeds. The composted manure tends do dry quickly and crust over, so the vermiculite makes it easier for the seedlings to emerge.
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Thank you, Kathy! I give the composted manure a lot of credit for garden success. Last year I used leaf and twig compost, and I was quite disappointed with the results. I actually wish I'd used twice as much of the manure this spring, so I'm trying to make up for it now! That brassica bed, with the huge cabbages, got most of the spring manure, and it sure shows!
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Erin, they're teeny-tiny cow pies from teeny-tiny cows. Really they are the size of my rabbit's droppings. Mr. Granny insisted it was rabbit poo, LOL! It only seems like Cookie poops that much ;-)
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Mr. H., there are four of those impressive cabbages in that bed, and three green cabbages and a broccoli that was supposed to be a cabbage! I allowed each one 18" of space, but boy are they packed in tight. I've had to remove a few of the large lower leaves.
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Daphne, last night was our salad-less meal. We have to have one about once a week, but we're managing to eat most of the lettuce. I've only had to call my kids once so far, but I think I'll have to get them over here for another batch today. I really have to get several heads out of the determinate tomato patch so I can get some compost in there. Most of the lettuce harvesting involve pulling them out now, except for the barrel. I have new babies sprouting in the laundry room window.
I might try a lettuce soup, similar to your radish top soup. I found a recipe from Emeril Lagassi that gets raves.
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Debbie, I can get good spring crops if I plant early, but we're usually into hot (at least high 80s) weather by now. This has sure been a good year for them. Oddly, my carrots were refusing to grow much, and have only begun to take off now with the warmer days.
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David, we've had more rain than normal, but always followed with windstorms that dry everything up. Our forecast is looking good now, with the night temps finally into the 50s.
Did you ever in your life think you'd be happy to have some Cow's poop :o)...I'm wishing I had someplace near to fetch some..I replanted some of my lettuce today and the Sun has caused it to faint already..I think by morning it will be fine..I'm almost tempted to cut some of the ones I left in the box to add to some burgers for dinner.
ReplyDeleteGinny, I've been lovin' cow poop for over fifty years now (except sometimes it was horse poop), so I'll probably be lovin' it for as long as I can garden! I wish I had a free source though. I could get a pickup load horse poo for $5, but I'd have to compost it, and I don't have the room.
ReplyDeleteNice pics, I especially like your snap peas. Can you walk me through how you make and use your compost tea? I hear a lot of people talking about it, but I don't know how to make it. I have a compost bin, but how do I make the tea? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteKris, it's a really difficult process, the way I do it. Not sure if you could handle it or not ;-)
ReplyDeleteFill a bucket half full of finished compost (I use composted cow manure). Add water to the top. Wait a few days and use. LOL! Now, you can go on line and find all kinds of methods for making it, which involve purchasing fish tank aerators and the exact amount of days, and other stuff to add, but I just KISS (keep it simple, sweetie). After it sits around for a few days...I give it a stir with a stick once in a while...I'll just strain it and add a couple of cups to my one gallon sprayer, along with 2 Tbsp. fish emulsion and a spoonful or two of molasses, fill the sprayer with water and spray away. You can also just dilute it down to the color of iced tea, then pour it around the roots of the plants.
that's alot of lettuce.
ReplyDeletewell, like I always say, the more the merrier.
I only got one plant out of all the spinach seeds I planted..and to add insult to injury...the bugs got to it first.
:(
That a fine pile of poop! ;D
ReplyDeleteI used compost that had chicken manure in it this spring and the beds seem to be appreciating the addition the chickens have brought. Your red cabbage is beautiful - I have six just like it growing. I adore those beautiful big red cabbage plants - so pretty in the garden.
ZZ, I didn't get much spinach this spring. Only what was under the netting....all the rest was too infested with leaf miners. The stuff under the netting was good, but it bolted all too soon. They had been transplanted from seedlings grown inside, and I think they bold quicker than the direct seeded ones do. I lost a lot of seedlings this spring, it was just too cold and wet, or slugs got them.
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Kitsap, I might go pick up another half yard, the garden really needs it. Mr. G is contemplating a new pickup, which means I'd have to find another way to haul manure...if he gets what he wants, no way would I haul poop in it! The Ranger goes to the garage Monday to see if it's terminal. If it's just a minor problem, we'll keep it.
Every time we go out to buy things to add to our garden, we pick up a bag of manure and can't help but laugh at the fact that there's a market in selling poo.
ReplyDeleteWhen did you plant your broccoli? It seems like I started my seeds forever ago and they are still incredibly tiny,
That's some beautiful lettuce you have growing there! Wow, that's a lot of poop too! Your plants will enjoy it!
ReplyDeletePrairie cat, I started the broccoli on March 4, and planted it outside on March 29. I'll probably start a fall planting around mid-July.
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Meems, it's about half the poo I needed. It won't take long to use it all up! That does make a full yard for the garden this year, as I put on a half yard early in the spring.
Thanks Granny, I will try your method. I like to KISS whenever I can.
ReplyDeleteKris, I already used some that I just started yesterday. Since it was so fresh (weak), I used about a quart in a 2 gallon watering can, then added 4 Tbsp. fish emulsion and a couple Tbsp. molasses. I filled it up to the top with water, and sprinkled my poor pepper plants that are languishing. Let's hope it helps.
ReplyDeleteOh, my snap pea vines blew over in the wind today. I kind of got them back up...sorta.
Yeah, I'm learning with gardening. There's always a chance for stuff to get eaten, or sometimes not everything is going to come up, as I would hope they would
ReplyDeleteZZ, the problems differ from year to year, too. Some years it's the heat, some years it's the cold. Some years it's the rain, some years it's the drought. Too many birds, too many bugs, not enough bees.....
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm coming to realize that.
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