Zucs and Cucs!

Splendid weather this past weekend and by that I mean it was terrible.  In between the rain I took a few pictures of the Zucchini and Cucumbers which are showing some life.  The flowers on the Zucchini are gorgeous when fully opened but I didn't manage to take this picture early enough in the morning to catch it.

Furry little Zuc

Only sign of life on the Cucumbers

Shortly after taking these shots I was joined by Mr. Kitty who spent the remainder of Sunday afternoon in this position.  Rough life, I just saw him basking in the final sun of the day in his other usual spot on the bedrock while I got a little bit of weeding done.

Herb Garden

The herb garden largely survived the winter and was in need of some major pruning. The rosemary had grown to over 3ft tall and the sage and oregano were running wild.  After some quick cleanup and the addition of some "shitty" Basil here is what it looked like a little over a week ago.

(center) Shitty Basil at her best

This patch has started to overgrow again and is encroaching on the Basil thus turning it to shit.  The herb garden has also seen the addition of any Cilantro we find popping up around the garden and some Dill that I planted as seed.  Not pictured are the Chives which are hiding behind Sage.

But not all is lost for the Basil.  I split a basil starter in half and planted it in 2 pots knowing full well how finicky they can be. With much care I am finally at the point where I can start using the leaves without decimating the plant.

Basil!

So that's the herb garden.  Lots more to cover when I get some decent pictures.  The rogue lettuce has returned like a weed this year...

Sunset and Smack Garden Update

I have been lagging in the photo department so I just ran outside at what turned out to be a great time for an extreme closeup of our first nasturtium flower.  The sun was setting right behind it as I took this shot.

In garden news I put 2 afternoons of weeding this past weekend on the middle plots which have largely gone unplanted until now, ie: it was densely populated with weeds.  Throughout I found a ton of cilantro which is our latest rogue plant in the garden and I also found 2 parsley plants and marigolds along the border that had seeded themselves.  I couldn't just extract from the garden so when I was done I planted the beets that I had started from seed along with 4 tomato plants.  Throughout the 2 day process I polished off a case of Cariboos so I guess I planted a tree in a round about way too.  I try.

There are still a lot more tomatoes to plant and some Chocolate Mint that is still sitting in a small container.  That stuff smells like it literally sounds it should.  Reminds me of chocolate chip mint ice cream...  Other than that the peas and the strawberries are coming in, any lettuce we moved is growing strong, and our kale is lookin pretty good too.  I will have to post some more photos soon.

Nasturtium up close		More of the same

Garden Inventory

I thought I would quickly list all the stuff that is currently in the garden and where it is located.  Here is a layout diagram of the garden and for reference this is pretty much the same orientation as the picture from my kitchen window below.

Terrace Garden
Plot 1	Plot 2	Plot 3
Plot 4	Plot 5	Plot 6
Walkway Garden

Terrace
This area is heavily shaded most of the day so we have leafy vegetables up here.

• Spinach
• Rainbow Chard
• Butter Lettuce
• Kale
• Dill
• Mint

Plot 1

• Radishes
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Kale

Plot 2

• Nasturtiums
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower

Plot 3 (Potato Patch)

• Potatoes
  • Purple
  • Kennebec
• Lettuce (a few hidden between the potatoes)

Plot 4

• Strawberries
• Tomatoes

Plot 5

• Nothin but some rogue lettuce

Plot 6 (Herb Garden)

• Oregano (2 kinds)
• Rosemary
• Curry Plant
• Lavender
• Sage
• Chives
• Parsley
• Cilantro

Walkway

• Corn
• Peas
• Beans
• Cucumber
• More potatoes

Once again I am sure I am missing a few things but I will fill them in as I figure it out.

View from the kitchen, terrace in the background		Tomatoes and Strawberries, walkway garden in the background

Free Lettuce

Our garden has become overrun with rogue arugula and butter lettuce seedlings.  The arugula is growing like a weed all over the property and the butter lettuce has been popping up throughout the garden for a while now.  I decided to salvage some of the lettuce, especially those growing in the garden paths.  In short time I pulled 30 seedlings out and replanted them but there are still tons more in the garden.  I don't know what I am going to do with all of these as we can't possibly keep them all.

The potatoes we planted a month ago have been sprouting and a left over from last year popped up in one of the middle garden beds.  Many of the herbs are in flower/seed right now and you can see a few of them in the picture below.  My camera sucks but on the front-left of the herb garden is Chives (w/ purple flowers on the tips), behind that is some Sage and behind that is the Rosemary.  As for the other side I am not 100% but there is a Curry plant, more Sage, Thyme, Oregano and some other stuff.  I will have to get a better picture and also figure out what is in my own garden.  Also do some weeding, it is starting to look like a jungle again.

30 Butter Lettuce Seedlings		Potatoes (foreground), Herb Garden (background)