The Edible Garden Project: June 2013 Update
In the last two weeks our garden seems to have finally taken off. Especially when I look back last month's update, our plants have had a major growth spurt. Our middle raised bed in particular has become somewhat of a jungle with the combination of Tuscan kale, tomatoes, beets, onions, and carrots.
To be honest, aside from some very interesting weeding to be done - I haven't really done much garden work or up keep in the past month. Perhaps the only thing that has caught my attention are the tons of tiny tomato sprouts, not that we planted, appearing in that middle bed. So that's my new lesson learned for the month; when planting tomatoes in raised beds, expect lots of volunteers the next season. Other volunteers from last years planting include New Zealand spinach and Echinacea.
Now, moving on to how the rest of the front yard edibles are doing;
One other thing I'm debating is whether or not to prune my tomatoes this year. I didn't last year and we ended up with more than enough, however we were growing rather "easy" varieties. This year, I've got two new to me tomatoes, Amish Past and Brandywine, so I'm not sure what to expect. Do you prune your tomatoes?
On the side of our house, the blueberries are beginning to appear and baby tea leaves are appearing. I was thinking that our basil was coming along rather small, but looking back at June 2012 - it's actually much farther along. This year, I'm growing the basil in containers - since I've heard that works better than in a raised bed.
In the back patio, the citrus trees seem to have finally forgiven us for re-potting them this year and are sprouting lots of baby leaves. The peppers and eggplant also seem to finally be getting the heat and sun they thrive in. Our cucumbers are being rather funny - the two varieties, National Pickling and Calypso, are invading each others cages. For all my efforts they can't seem to keep to themselves, so I've decided to just let them be.
What's in store for July? Well, now that are living situation is stable - we will be moving the first bed and planting it for a fall/winter harvest. Any suggestions on what we should plant?
