Vegetable Garden Update

 I was worried about what I would find when we came home from vacation this week.

It was supposed to in the 70's with no rain the whole time we were gone.

I did not ask anyone to water the garden for me, although I gave it an extra long watering the night before we left.

When we got back, it was apparent that it had just rained. Not sure what had happened the other days.

It gave me some hope that a few things might still be alive and kicking.

Our garden was looking awesome!

Peas, carrots, and potatoes all doubled in size.

As did the oregano. (*Just gave it a haircut today--it's about half the size now.)

Nasturtiums were up. Nearly all of them this time (as opposed to the one we had last year.)

Our "scoring" them with a nail file must have been enough, or something.

 Sunflowers also up along the back of the top bed.

I thinned the carrots on the right side, which I had never gotten to earlier.

Interestingly, they were about half the size of the ones on the left side of the bed which had been thinned. They are 2 different varieties, so that may have something to do with it as well, but I figured it certainly wouldn't hurt to give them a bit more space to work with.

Plus, J and B love baby carrot sticks! 

I am encouraged, though. This is the best my carrots have ever done!

Probably because they have their own space, not overshadowed by beans or other fast growers.

Also, I am getting better at thinning, as this picture proves.

Good garden of peas! They are up to the top of the supports now!

And have filled in the empty middle and back spaces.

Guess it's a good thing they didn't all come up in the middle and along the back.

Note to self, though: next year I need to plant the sugar snap and shelling peas in different areas, or label them better. There's a bunch that need picking if they're sugar snap, but need to wait longer if they're the shelling variety. Jacob and I picked a few--I had 1 or 2 of each kind.

Even though only a few are actually hooked onto the twine, they seem to be holding the rest upright as well. Works for me.

Transplanting candidates

These lovely roses bloomed while we were gone.

I couldn't remember from last summer what color they were.

The deep maroon/fuschia will be perfect in front of the wall, when we get that flowerbed prepared. Since last summer, these have been trampled on repeatedly and even run over by the tractor.

Perhaps that is their preferred treatment! I only remember getting a handful of blooms last year, and just look at them going now!

I'm hoping to transplant them this fall into their new location.

The lavender bush that ate Manhatten.

This thing is way huge and not very pretty in this location anymore.

At the very least I need to take about 2/3 of it out and transplant elsewhere.

I'm thinking slope, of course, as that is my fallback whenever transplanting comes up these days.

Plus, lavender does well in dry conditions, and full sun.

Perfect for the upper slope. And again, perhaps it will compete with all that grass!

This specimen just keeps getting taller and bushier.

It has an herb-like smell to it, but I'm not sure what it is.

No flowers to speak of, just these finely serrated leaves.

This one might actually be a good choice for the flowerbed alongside the shed, if we even get one put in there. Although I am thinking about making that area the children's garden.

So it will probably also end up on the slope. Higher up, where it can get as tall as it likes. 

I loved these tiny daisies last year, but never got them transplanted up to the slope as planned.

Won't they look sweet close to their larger cousins?

I'm pretty sure they are actually a weed, but that's okay. I'll move them up anyway.

Heck, they'll fit right in with all the weedy goodness going on up there.

See what I mean?

Corn, Zucchini, Beans Replanted

But first, good garden of peas!

These things are huge!

It's awesome. They're almost ready to harvest--any day now.

At least the nasturtiums and sunflowers are coming up.

So here's what I replanted:

(bottom terrace): Fordhook Zucchini, bush-type plants, 57 days to maturity

Top Terrace:

Sweet corn, Early Choice Hybrid, 66 days to maturity

"Sweet 7-8" ears. Very tolerant of cold soil and great for early crops in short season areas."

I'm hoping that means it will still give me a harvest going in this late.

Instead of planting more peppers, I just filled in the rest with more bush beans.

Garden Bean 'Tenderpick', bush, early & prolific, 54 days to maturity

"Heavy yields of smooth, straight 5 1/2", dark green pods."

A Few Flowers

Front of house

 This bush out front is starting to bloom.

Not sure what it is at the moment.

This was before pruning. You can see quite a few dead branches in there.

Once I got up close and started pruning, I cut it back quite a bit.

It opened up the middle and unfortunately, cut off many of the branches with flowering tips (that were dead or very scraggly until further down.) 

Slope

 Lupines and daisies

 Wood hyacinth behind the shed

 Some violas came back after all!

These are in front of the apple tree behind the shed.

transplanted geraniums blooming, but almost covered up by weeds 

East side of house

In case you missed it earlier: a whole side of the house filled with wild daisies!

I love these! They are so cheerful. They also spread quite well.

I may transplant some more up onto the slope to compete with the grass.

Extending the retaining wall, phase 1

Scooping out the dirt.

The plan is to extend both wall all the way along the side to the back and put in a new fence along the top of the top wall. We'll need some kind of gate in it as well to provide access to the front from that side of the house.

 Jason had to fill in the hillside with a bunch of dirt in order to make a path over to where the wall will end. (To show about the level of the yard that we want to have.)

When this project is done, we should have a good 10 feet of extra backyard to use.

Sweetness! 

Top row dug out and gravel put down.