Progress Measured

Raised Beds

Still in construction - sometime shortly after Valentine's Day...

Put into place in the garden after they had received their final coat of weather sealing paint, just in time for a few inches of snow... The snow melted and the husband brought in the weed liner, vegetable-specific-dirt and gravel to cover the pathways.
Then starts were planted in the beds.
Rain, Sun, Water, Sun...repeated over and over...and here it is today.I like seeing how it has come along. I also now have more lettuce than we are currently consuming. I need to start getting into some really creative salad making just to keep things interesting.

Chickens

The chickens were treated to a salad and fruit bar today as well as another dirt bath.
They were a bit shy with their interest in the fruit...the watermelon ended up being a hit while the strawberries not-so-much.

Tomatoes

My tomatoes continue to grow and grow. I have a tendency to go overboard at different times in my life when I am excited about something...I have another tendency to find it difficult to admit I've gone overboard. Right now I am not ready to admit that I've filled my tomato house a bit too full. If I was ready to admit that I'd tell you that the plants have already all grown much bigger than I expected. I would be admitting that I'm wondering how it's all going to be fitting in a few weeks since it's getting pretty tight now. Since I'm not admitting anything today, I will instead share the pictures I snapped of my beloved (and perhaps crowded) tomatoes.

Tomato Starts

After this I promise not to talk about tomatoes anymore (in this post anyway). The starts below are an heirloom variety and a roma. I started them in the wardian in my kitchen window a few weeks ago. I moved them out to the greenhouse today. They obviously won't be planted in the tomato house, instead I'll try to keep them in the greenhouse so I can have tomatoes into the fall.

Asparagus Tips (Finally!)

I have a plant marker near the trench where I planted five asparagus starts that I wrote the date which they were planted: April 14th. It has been over a month since that planting day. In the time since I planted the asparagus, I have regularly checked for any sign of growth on the starts. Not seeing any change, I have even done some research online to find out if I planted the starts properly (it is kind of confusing if you've never done it before, or maybe just if you're me!) I didn't come across any information that made me believe I'd done something the wrong way, so I have been considering the possibility that maybe it was the starts, they could be "defective". Then finally today I saw the tiniest asparagus tips beginning to emerge from the starts. A happy day in the asparagus realm of my world! (Does anyone really read this and take me seriously? How is it that asparagus can make me so happy? I guess everyone has their thing!)

Radishes

After pulling some radishes out of the ground today to go with my lunch, I decided to plant more...the turn around time for radishes has been about 4-5 weeks. I probably should have started some more a couple of weeks ago, but better late than never.

The radish above didn't even make it inside for eating, I rinsed it with hose water and ate it in the garden. It had a nice kick, yum!

Figaro Napping

He loves to tuck into a corner of the greenhouse for a nap. Today his nap didn't last too long, it was pretty hot in there.

Yummy (Local) Treat

We made a trip to the farm supply to pick up some feed for our neighbor's chickens. On the way out there I had a craving for a rootbeer float. That lead to a trip to the grocery store and I ended up coming home with this yummy treat. It is made by a local company. Yes, lavendar flavored icecream is unusual, but as I found out, delicous!