Garden Update: June

Our low maintenance plan for the raised bed garden in the back is pretty low maintenance so far. We’ve had a lot of rain and cool weather so we’ve barely needed to water. The seeds have sprouted, things are growing. We got the deer netting up and the gate is fixed, but please ignore the weedy pathways in the photos… it’s on the list!

Tomatoes
The first tomatoes are already growing! We have a big early girl and two smaller ones coming in. The plants are growing well so far, but all the wet weather will cause blight if we don’t get a break soon. I swear it rains more than half the week (at least some showers or a storm).

Herbs/Cucumbers/Radishes
The herbs are doing well, the cucumbers are small but growing. Considering the late start they are doing well. We have lots of radishes. Oliver loves digging them up, even if he doesn’t like the taste. Mike and I have been eating them in salads - I'll be sad when they're all gone!

Flowers
In the back the alyssum is sprouted and growing, the impatiens are struggling a little (too much wet weather?) and the zinnias are about to take off.

In the yard
The figs died back to the ground again (as they seem to every year ), but last year when this happened we still got Chicago Hardy figs in the fall so fingers crossed this happens again!

The blueberries are wrapped in netting and the fruit is starting to ripen! Blueberries from the garden are seriously amazing.

The blackberry bush is blooming all over. And we have a new blackberry growing next to the tree along the fence I’ve also decided to let grow for now (let’s just see what happens?).

The old raspberries are doing just okay next to the blackberry… but the new raspberry canes on the other side of the forsythia are going crazy. Last year we noticed that the raspberries had started growing there next to the mint (probably from seeds dropped by birds). Since the raspberries have always struggled next to the blackberries (we get a few but the harvest is the same each year, they aren’t thriving in that spot) we decided to let them grow in the new spot to see what happened - I’ve always wanted to have a small raspberry bramble in the backyard. And wow… the raspberries love it over here. It’s a great spot for maintenance too because the canes are contained between the large bush and the lawn, and on the other side of the fence our neighbors also are enjoying raspberries. It doesn't look pretty in the pictures, but it's big and thriving. The raspberries have been ripening this past week in abundance and it’s the best kind of treasure hunt. So much fruit!

Other plants… The citrus trees are coming back after another rough winter of aphids. They bloomed and had little lemons and limes on them that some awful bold chipmunks tore off (I am NOT happy about that and nothing seems to deter those little monsters!). The strawberries are pretty much gone. I tried to save them last summer, but it didn’t work. They need a new bed somewhere else, I need to start over. The peonies are just too big, hogging sun and water. I have other transplant plans as well… a post for another day. But for now we are strawberry-less.