So far this year it's not the same as last year. Last year I had plenty of radishes, spinach and peas.  This year it's lettuce and beets.  I have always said that whatever the weather is for that particular year, its great for some things but not all and the next year its great for something else.

I did get the tomatoes in earlier this year, so we'll see when I start harvesting. Some of the plants have flowers as of today.

Last year I re-tried beets, snap peas and watermelon. The peas and beets were great and I even got some softball sized watermelon.  It appears that rabbits like watermelons???

I also expanded the vegetable garden last year about another 8 feet. The new area is where I am planting green beans 1, 2 & 3. We had some trees cut down that were shading the veggie garden, so I expanded.

Never ending cycle?

 Again, it's been awhile.

Radishes did well this year. Will be picking the last of them this week.

I need to pick spinach on the limited plants I have. The row with the black fabric mulch did way better than the other two but then it was so dry and I didn't water enough, so the best row suffered.  I will invest in more fabric mulch next year.

Tomatoes are planted. Sunflowers are planted. First beans are planted. Waiting for the peas to bloom. Potatoes are in pots. Planted some squash with more coming. Will be planting second beans in the next few days.

Had some trees cut down last fall (two were endangering the house) and two others were shading my garden. All four helped add sun to the garden.

Should have mulched my onions earlier, they're not looking great.

Greatest surprise this year is the foxglove I started from seed last year is magnificent!

Welcome Back?

It's been too long...

This years garden has been horrible compared to other years.  Each crop has been short lived and the squirrels are eating my ripe tomatoes and that's never happened before in the 17 years I have been gardening at this home.

I did finally get a leaf vacuum last fall from a family friend whose husband had passed away.  It works nicely as if the leaves were run over twice by a mower.  It's composted leaves are much cleaner (very few weeds in the mulch).

I still have tomato plants and carrots planted.  I'm not counting much on the carrots.  I haven't been tending them much as I probably should have. 

I conducted a potato experiment this past spring by putting potatoes in a large flower pot and keep burying the plant as it grows. I had three pots and we got one meal of small roasted potatoes.  Very tasty though.  I used Yukon Gold and was pleased.

The Golden Retriever in the photo alongside my profile was 14 years old when we said goodbye at Christmas two years ago.  But there are four other furry friends that are residents in my home.  Maybe one day I will share their photos.

I have two birdhouses in my back yard.  One is under the roof I put out over the back door and the other is on the back fence. My wife built it when she was a kid (her dad was going to throw it out).  I put it up and each house had at least two broods of House Wrens.

Update - May 24, 2011

I was busy in the garden this past weekend.  I picked some radishes but it looks like there won't be anymore.  I thinking they are starting to bolt.

 

Mulched the string beans and the sunflowers.

 

Trimmed most every tree in the yard so I would stop having to duck or hit my head when cutting the grass.

 

Pulled out two nearly dead shrubs from alongside the house.

 

Waited until noon and cut the grass.

 

Started squash and eggplant seeds.

Notes for May 9, 2011

Saturday I used a borrowed plate tamper and flattened my clumpy topsoil that I placed last week.  Spread some grass seed and watered it.

 

Cut the grass in the front yard.

 

Planted a row of string beans.

 

Transplanted volunteer sunflower plants to a row where I want them.  Transplanted volunteer marigolds to flower pots for later planting.

 

On Sunday...

 

Cut the grass in the backyard.

 

Watered the front yard grass seed.

 

Transplanted a sunflower to replace a transplanted sunflower that didn't survive.

 

Transplanted more marigolds to flower pots.

 

Installed the fencing for cucumber vining.

 

Started 40 cucumber seeds.

May already?

I took good Friday off from work and caught up on the leaves areound the house.

 

Had some topsoil delivered on Saturday and moved it Saturday and Sunday.  Fairly sore today but I used a back support belt so I am not hurting just muscle soreness in my thighs.

 

Looks like the spinach this year is a total flop.  A total of five plants in four rows.  Time to plant a row of green beans anyway.  I also need to start the seeds for the cucumbers and the sunflowers.

 

Planted the easter flower bulbs.

Notes for April 18, 2011

Last week on Monday evening, we had daytime temperatures near 80 and so it was just downright pleasant to work outside after dinner in the limited daylight. So I had a plan and I stuck to it. My plan was only to clear the winter wind blown leaves from another flower bed (since they were about 6 inches deep at one end). I pulled the leaves out and ran them over with the mower several times and then bagged them with the mower. I bagged three very heavy mower bags full. While I was clearing the leaves from the garden, I noticed our year old beagle playing around (on the other side of the fence from where I was working). When I looked a second time, I knew I had to investigate what he had.

He had this little two inch creature and was playing/toying with it like a cat. We think its a vole. Under the leaves were all sorts of habitat trails, so I gues I disturbed him/her from their wintering home.

Tuesday it rained and on Wednesday I emptied 1.0 inches from the rain gauge.

Friday I noticed the radishes starting to push up through the ground.

Saturday it rained and I emptied 2.3 inches from the rain gauge on Sunday. I also noticed the radishes were no longer pushing but were now exposed and the "pushed" ground was washed down.