Growth Explosion in the Garden
This last week, we had a growth explosion in the garden! It is hard to believe that just about a month ago I wrote about all the death in the garden due to the spring drought. The two major things that changed over the last month in our garden are mulching and drip irrigation. We’ve been busy spreading straw mulch around all the plants and still have a few to go. As I write this, my husband is installing the last of the drip irrigation on the strawberry and raspberry beds.
About two weeks ago our weather jumped from nice 70 degree days to a long string of hot 90+ degree temperatures. Since the plants are mulched and getting a good amount of water, they had a growth explosion. The squash had the most noticeable growth. I planted out the starts about two weeks ago. They drooped for the first week. Then they literally grew overnight. It was amazing to see such a noticeable growth spurt like that! The plants went from two or three small leaves to this:
The cabbage also had a growth explosion. I’m already dreaming of the homemade sauerkraut we’ll make with this homegrown cabbage!
The broccoli and cabbage beds are filling out nicely. I’m amazed when I think back to how small and spindly these plants looked when I planted them out in the garden after starting them in the greenhouse.
We love Sungold tomatoes so I planted multiple seed pots in the greenhouse. Six of the plants germinated and are thriving in the garden. This is the first Sungold tomato of the season and we can’t wait for it to ripen to a lovely golden orange color.
We have two 120 foot beds filled with tomato plants. Come harvest time we will be busy making and canning tomato sauce, salsa and stewed tomatoes. The heirloom tomatillos are thriving but still need to be tied up to the fence trellis since they just want to branch out and lay on the ground.
Our tomatillo plants are covered in flower blossoms. Soon they should be covered in tomatillos that we use to make salsa verde.
The heirloom beets also had a growth explosion. I thinned the beds and spread out the seedlings two weeks ago. Soon we will be making and canning my favorite pickled beets!
My mom is visiting and helped with some much needed weeding in the garden. She also helped tackle the big job of straw mulching the beds.
Our strawberry plants struggled during the spring drought. They’re supposed to be an early season variety but last year they provided juicy strawberries all summer long and even into September. Now that the plants are mulched and getting water regularly, they are all covered in flowers. And you now what that means: strawberries!
The 50+ raspberry canes we planted this year were supposed to be second year canes. We were told they would produce berries this year. When I spotted flowers on some of the raspberry canes, I was thrilled!
The pole beans finally sprouted along with a bunch of weeds. This is the last section of the garden to be mulched. Once it is weeded, the beds will be mulched with straw. There is also a small section of sunflowers to the left of this bed that are growing well.
The moon has been visible in the evening sky and looks so beautiful. When we sit down to eat dinner at the table on our back porch each evening, little A loves to point out the moon in the sky “Look mama, I see the moon!” I love heading out to work in the garden in the evening with this beautiful scene in the sky.
It has been so hot lately that our time to work in the garden is limited. I’ve been trying to get up around 5 am. When I wake up this early, it gives me time to walk around the property. This is my favorite time of day. It is so peaceful outside. Watching the sunrise is such a wonderful way to start the day. After I go for a walk, I work in the gardens before the day heats up. It feels so wonderful to have accomplished so much work by 8am!
How’s your garden growing?
