Kia hora te manno
Kia whakapapa paumamu te moana
Kia tere te Karohirohi

May the calm be widespread
May the sea glisten like the greenstone
And may the glimmer of summer dance across your pathways

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Oh my goodness,you can almost see them grow!

I really am not complaining too much about the long cool, damp Spring we are having here in the Pacific Northwest, as all my cool weather vegetables are thriving.

Sugar snap peas on the left, loose leaf lettuce in the center, shelling peas on the right, kale, far right. This picture taken mid March.

The peas have gone nuts. They have outgrown the supports I had for them, so I have had to improvise using bamboo, the trellis in back which is for the scarlet runner beans, a tomato cage and plant stakes. I hope this will do until the peas finish producing.
One thing I did learn, do not plant lettuce in between two rows of peas, as it is very difficult to harvest without breaking the pea plants.

The strawberries are fabulous this year. This is just one small planter box of strawberries, plus there is a 9 x 2 foot bed, two recycled tires, and a large pot, all full of plants loaded with berries. I am covering them with bird netting as I won't share *grin*

I am surprised the tomatoes are doing so well due to the cooler temperatures. I started them out inside their Walls 'O' Water but as they grew larger I had to remove their nice warm protection.

The tomatoes are now cozy inside their three sided plastic surround. Once again I improvised using metal plant stakes, bamboo, plastic sheeting and wooden clothes pins to construct the surround.

The summer squash is looking healthy and growing as it should.

I am well pleased with my garden this year and feel I have learned a lot about growing veggies these past few years.

13 comments:

Darla said...

Very nice veggie garden...lettuce does need an area all it's own doesn't it?

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

Yes Darla it does, I learned a lesson here. I thought the peas would provide a little shade,and did not think about them growing so tall. Well, next year I will do it another way. *grin*

GRACE PETERSON said...

And that's the beauty of the garden, isn't it? You learn and improvise and learn some more and improve. Your garden looks fabulous. The cool weather does have it's benefits, doesn't it?

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

Yes Grace, the cool weather sure does have it's benefits, and I love to learn new things about gardening, even if I learn from the mistakes I make.

Rainy Day Gardener said...

Wow, your peas are incredible! It has been an excellent season for snow peas :) I like your idea of creating a surround for warm weather veggies to keep them warm. My squash looks very sad compared to yours.

Rhonda Gales said...

I love the idea of using old tires for beds. I was driving home this evening and saw brightly painted tires in yellow, blue, green and pink on a playground. It was actually quite pretty. Between you and the playground, I may have to set out a few tire beds!

Victoria Williams said...

Your garden is looking great.
We're hoping for some warmer weather, at least some sunshine for an extended length of time would be nice.

Pat said...

Like the surround for the veggies.
Does the stone keep the weeds out?
Gotta talk hubby into growing more than tomatoes,peppers and herbs.
Your beds look great and so do the veggies.

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

Patsi, the stone doesn't keep all the weeds out,but the few which do manage to grow are very easily pulled out.

Anonymous said...

It is looking good at your place! In Oklahoma, we also had a very long cool spring, but we are making up for that now.~~Dee

tina said...

Those peas look so good! The rain is certainly a great thing.

Alison said...

I used the wall o waters on my tomatoes too, I still have them inside, although they are starting to peak out the top. I also have some growing in a hoophouse, and I am hopeful that I will actually get some tomatoes this year. Yours look good!

I see lots of people grow strawberries. I tried them many years go when I first started gardening, and lost so many to critters, I stopped trying. Maybe I should give it another go. I can rig some kind of protection, I think.

Kitchen Benchtops said...

Your garden is looking yummy, mine is a quite slow this time of year but the huge quantity of tomatoes will soon be on me.