This weekend I've been taking advantage of the cool weather. This strange hot May we have had has been messing with me! Usually Spring in New England is pretty cool and one day in June you wake up and its summer. Spring this year has been different. It got warm and for the most part has stayed that way. In fact its been quite hot, with quite a few days in the 90s so far. So after a few 90 degree days last week, we have had a weekend of 60s to 70s with some light rain in between. Perfect weather! My neighbor and I decided to add to our front yard orchard. You see I own half a duplex and fortunately have neighbors that are all for having edibles all over the yard. We already had 2 apple trees, a cherry and a peach. Yesterday we added 3 more apples and another peach. The original trees are doing quite well, but have been invaded by lovely green worms that are eating their leaves. The seem to especially love the cherry tree. I had to get some Bt to spray on them. So far it seems to be doing its job, but it almost killed me having to spray them. I know Bt is organic, but it still just didn't seem right. In the end it came down to spraying or losing the trees, so spraying it was. The picture above is of the new trees. If you look in the back between the 2 large bushes my other neighbor has a lovely older peach tree.
This is showing some of my broccoli and cabbages. After losing all of them to cutworms last year, I planted them in cups with the bottoms cut out. So far so good! In the back bed you can see the cuucmbers, watermelon and squash that are coming along well. The cucumbers and watermelon were started inside and transplanted yesterday. The squash were direct sowed a few weeks ago.
This is another shot of my tomatillos with lovely little flower on them and some basil.
Here is a shot of my front garden/jungle. I have lots of bulbs planted here that have had no problem spreading all over the place. Right now the irises are blooming. When we bought the house there were about 6 of them, now I have over 20. In between all of this mess are some perennial herbs. I have chives, oregano, mint, sage and thyme in there. Its hard to tell this time of year though.
You should join Aisling at the Quiet Country House's Sunday Stroll that I participate in. Looks like you strolled this week! Just swing by her blog and leave a link back to your post :)
ReplyDeleteHeather, I love that your neighbor shares your enthusiasm for growing edibles. You get to share the work and share the harvest!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how quickly things fill in and need to be divided. I have a new section of garden started so that I will be able to divide Iris and Dayliles over the next few years. My herbs thrive here too, and I'm always picking up a little bit and adding some to a new spot. I've discovered that I can edge my garden in lemonthyme and it's ok if I run the lawn mower over the edge a little bit. It still looks pretty and I get a great whiff of lemon as I'm mowing. :)
Thank you for letting me know about your post. Join us again next Sunday if you would like! I hope you got a chance to visit some of the other strolls.