My Blurt Garden Diary Challenge for June

in gardendiary •  2 years ago  (edited)

blackberry winter comes without a warning
just when you think that spring’s around to stay
and you wake up on a cold, rainy morning
and wonder what on earth became of may

Hilary Kole singing Blackberry Winter, which was written by Alec Wilder.

On to my garden, my yard, my piece of the earth, my sustenance and my protection.

was it just me
or did May flit by like a swallow -
purposefully
and out of my hands?

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A shady spot for contemplation

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The Trees

My previous yard was much larger than this one, but mostly shaded and oddly shaped with a huge house smack dab in the middle. I longed to plant trees, and had nowhere to put them. This tiny yard, which is barely 900 square feet, has offered up a few places for dwarf varieties. So far, I've gotten in one peach, Contender, and one crab apple, Sargentii, in a barrel.

I fell in love with Sargentii crabapples forty years ago at the Brooklyn Botanic gardens. Their trees were many decades old, craggy, low, wide-spreading and extraordinary. While my little tree won't do that and will have to be planted in the ground in a few years, it is growing like the dickens and seems quite happy in its half barrel, which is on a dolly so that I can wheel the tree around for its requirements (sun) and mine (shade and privacy). I'm hoping I can train and prune it into an interesting shape, so that it spreads wide and will provide a canopy of loveliness and tiny fruits over a seating area.

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Three of my fourteen peaches

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Sargent Crabapple

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The Raised Beds

I'm determined to grow a good deal of my own food, even in this tiny space. This is my fourth year growing veggies, and my fourth season blogging about it, and I think I am getting the hang of both.

The beds are filled with composted cow manure. I was a bit hesitant to use pure cow manure, as I had read that roots do not develop well in it, but several local organic farmers assured me that this stuff is different. So far, everything is growing really well, there are few weeds, and it's really easy to work with, much easier than planting in the ground has been. I'm working on getting more hay for mulch, because watering these raised beds is a water guzzler. The middle bed has all my nightshades in it; if blight strikes, I can empty that whole bed for next year.

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June 7, shot from the southwest corner of the yard

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from left to right: Beets, radishes, arugula, spinach, lettuce and onions. Okra, basil and Kentucky pole beans behind those


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Onions, kale, chard and dill

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View from the northeast corner

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The Challenge, The Pest, The Love

I was terribly worried about groundhogs, deer and rabbits because those three critters gave me quite a lot of trouble in the last yard. But it turned out my primary challenge in vegetable growing is going to be my puppy, Hazel. She's a digger, and a marauder, and, well, a puppy. I had to think up some containment options, and fast. These turned out to be a few dog training pens from Tractor Supply, and a couple dozen handy-dandy small green trellises, all barely visible in my photos above.

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Hazel, who has necessitated quite an assortment of containment contraptions

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color in my neighbor's yard

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This is my entry to Garden Diary's monthly garden diary challenge. Come join us!!!

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images are all by me



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  ·  2 years ago  ·  

Looking very green and springy! I love this time of year. The weeds, though.

  ·  2 years ago  ·  

the beauty of a tiny yard
lies among the early June weeds,
easily exterminated as a whole
in a single idle hour of
one human's plucking



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I'm so jealous over your beautiful raised beds. My cats seem to think any new bed is a giant cat litter tray so I have similar problems to your pup. I hoped they would keep the birds off my babies and they do mostly.
I can't say the same for the cow poop. I've seen first hand what that can do to squash roots.


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  ·  2 years ago  ·  

Oh dear. What can it do to squash roots? One bed is nearly all cucumbers. So far, they are taking off better than I have ever had cukes take off before. My dog containment system, the part designed to keep the dog in the yard, seems to have kept the great many neighborhood cats out. My own cats are not bothering it, at least not yet.


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These were the roots of one of my affected squash. Looks like a horror movie
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  ·  2 years ago  ·  

What an adorable, cute puppy you have there. She looks quite happy ;)

  ·  2 years ago  ·  

She is a very happy dog, it's true. Thanks for stopping by!


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  ·  2 years ago  ·  

You have a neat garden there @owasco, I think that you have to protect the ground with a barrier to protect the roots from groundhogs, rabbits, moles, and such like a raised bed with feet.

That is what I wanted to do in the future if God wills it so I can have at least some tropical fruits and berries to pick when I go to my future garden. 😋 I thinking of a good variety of Guava, it gives fruits all year 'round then some raspberries because my brother sells some cutting, banana trees for their aromatic leaves, banana heart for vegetable option, and of course its fruits! then some leafy local vegetables, the ones that are seem like weed to many people because they are recognized as vegetables and the good thing is that they are always not infected by bugs nor needed a delicate tending.👍

  ·  2 years ago  ·  

May God will it, it is a beautiful vision. I've found a few edible wild plants even in this tiny yard.


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  ·  2 years ago  ·  

that is soooo pretty!

Wow looking great

  ·  2 years ago  ·  

That puppy is cute, worth the effort! Nice garden too.

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