Garden update

So here are some photos of our garden in August - lots more vegetation than what I posted in May!!

We are eating corn, so GOOD! Most everything is going crazy (except tomatoes, darn it!). See for yourself. Top pic is corn, green beans in the back box, kohlrabi, dill, parsley, basil, broccoli and cabbage totally being taken over by 3 plants of Cinderella pumpkin. The bottom pic shows lettuce, spinach and leeks being totally overtaken by golden hubbard squash plants.

here are the "aliens" in the garden - multi-rooted carrots (still delicious!) and creepy looking close-up of purple kohlrabi that Roger planted. Hope it tastes good, will be trying it in a week or so. And soon I will have to be digging up my compost pile again to rescue potatoes that insist on growing there. Thought I got them all out of there last year, but guess not, the plants were bigger than ever this year.

If You Go to the Puyallup Fair...

Look for my sister's entry in the Christmas Tree decorating competition. Her theme is "My Garden" and she has made, by hand, carrots, pea pods, tomatos, pears, roses, peonies, strawberries, cherries, and I don't know what all. A big bunch of grapes may be the topper. We helped her with it during our "sisters retreat" at Ocean Shores. Not everything on it is hand-made, but I think at least half will be. This is the mock-up we made at our "sister's week" at Ocean Shores.

My veggies are going ok except for the green beans. (they are in the box in the background on the left, barely visible so far.) They obviously need a lot more sun and warmth to get going well. Potatoes, beets and spinach are all doing very well, especially the potatoes. I think they grew 6 inches since Sunday!! I've planted quite a few tomatoes and peppers in my greenhouse - they are doing well too. Remember me whining about my shallots failing last year? Well . . . this year, after being covered by leaves (brought over by the youth group) the whole winter, and uncovered earlier this spring, they seem to be growing like they should. I'll get a picture of them here soon.
Praying for more sun!

Flower wall

Here is a "flower wall" put together by Kristen - good job! Beautiful. She will describe it for us when I send her the link to do so . . .

 The strawberries are in a raised bed, hoping to keep the slugs out. First picture was taken around April 29th, before we left for two weeks on Kauai.

Second picture two weeks later on May 15th. They've grown! Berries are now developing and we'll have to install bird netting soon. Not a big patch, but enough to snack on when we're outside, or maybe enough for morning cereal.

Hellebores rule!

Here is this year's pic of my hellebore. Love it!! (It's other name is Lenten Rose - because it blooms so early in the year. Appropriate that Lent is just around the corner) It has resided on my front porch since last early spring. Because it isn't out in the weather, and still in a big pot, I have had to water it all year - not a problem! I checked last year's post of it and this year is about a week earlier than then....love the color. I also have 3 small new plants of hellebore, but they aren't blooming yet. I might have to wait for next year for them. I bought them at the end of last season on sale from Gurney's, so they were fairly small, and still are.I have hopes they are different colors than this big blooming one.
Anybody have any daffodils or other early bulbs popping up? Mine are about an inch above the dirt. I had mulched them with some leaves the Youth Group brought over, but the wind storms before the snow and after have taken them all away. I think the warmer 2 weeks after the snow encouraged them to sprout above ground. I hope it doesn't freeze hard before they can get to full size.

Seeds are on sale already!

Here is a picture of my first 2012 seed purchase (maybe I'll buy more later, not sure). They are on sale this week at Fred Meyer with a coupon for 40% off. I remarked to the checker that they used to have 50% off sales - he just laughed. Guess that means I should be happy with the sale now.
I am getting itchy to start gardening - ever since the snow was covering everything. Just too dang cold though. I tried to weed a bit on Sunday, but it was windy and cold, so that didn't last very long.

Bunnies 2012

Our infestation of rabbits from last summer seems to have diminished somewhat. There were at least a dozen. We haven't heard the local owl lately, so I'm guessing most of the rabbits are history.

We now identify two that show up here regularly. Here is one of them. Neither one has any fear. He hopped right up while I was photographing him and chewed on my shoes. The other day I was visiting my neighbor in her front yard and the two of them hopped right up and sat on her feet. Neither one of us had a camera with us.

It doesn't help that my neighbor feeds him. He can be found between our house and theirs among the bushes.

If he is still hungry, he prunes my ground-cover. It is vinca minor that has been growing next to the house for about 20 years, and was a mound a foot high, six feet long, and about three feet wide growing out into the grass. We trim it when we mow the grass. The rabbit has it trimmed a foot back from the grass line. He keeps it pretty even, although it is about half the size it once was.

Lately we've only been seeing one of them at a time. Can it be that more bunnies are in our future? Time will tell.