Garden, 3.0
This year's garden is getting off to a much better start than last years, thankfully. I have also installed a perennial/annual butterfly/cutting garden to hopefully supply me with cut flowers for the better part of future summers (if maybe not this one). The annuals are in there to a) attract butterflies in the early part of summer before everything blooms out, and b) to fill in the spaces while the perennials get established.
In the vegetable garden, I have an obscenely large number of tomato plants, pepper plants (spicy and sweet), cucumbers, melons, salad greens, sweet corn, and a few more interesting items that are new for me-- cardoons (like an artichoke), rat-tailed radish, and a whole assortment of odd beans, plus my two new and one existing fruit trees (apricot, peach, cherry). Now I just need to keep the dogs and rabbits out for the rest of the summer and I should be good to go. I have also installed a grape arbor and am working on painting it-- assuming it works as intended, it will be the foundation piece for the more-or-less permanent garden fence that will consist of 5 arbors linked together, and planted with an assortment of vining fruits (grape, native passion fruit, hardy kiwi). The plan is to turn the back part of the yard into a dog-free, people zone with a small patio and fountain, and a whole host of gorgeous garden plants (veggies, flowers, etc)- perfect for a couple of people to sit in a hammock or on some comfy chairs and read/relax.
A few photos-- yes, I know the yard is a bit of a mess right now, but I have been out of town for the last two weekends for opera weekends. This weekend and next weekend I should be able to rectify the majority of the glaring problems :) A couple pictures of our picnic from last weekend are also included. All photos (and there are several!) behind the cut.
In the vegetable garden, I have an obscenely large number of tomato plants, pepper plants (spicy and sweet), cucumbers, melons, salad greens, sweet corn, and a few more interesting items that are new for me-- cardoons (like an artichoke), rat-tailed radish, and a whole assortment of odd beans, plus my two new and one existing fruit trees (apricot, peach, cherry). Now I just need to keep the dogs and rabbits out for the rest of the summer and I should be good to go. I have also installed a grape arbor and am working on painting it-- assuming it works as intended, it will be the foundation piece for the more-or-less permanent garden fence that will consist of 5 arbors linked together, and planted with an assortment of vining fruits (grape, native passion fruit, hardy kiwi). The plan is to turn the back part of the yard into a dog-free, people zone with a small patio and fountain, and a whole host of gorgeous garden plants (veggies, flowers, etc)- perfect for a couple of people to sit in a hammock or on some comfy chairs and read/relax.
A few photos-- yes, I know the yard is a bit of a mess right now, but I have been out of town for the last two weekends for opera weekends. This weekend and next weekend I should be able to rectify the majority of the glaring problems :) A couple pictures of our picnic from last weekend are also included. All photos (and there are several!) behind the cut.