urban homesteading in the pacific northwest
Time for a photo tour! It’s always fun to see what other people are growing, so here’s a tour of my garden. Just click your way through.
Do you have photos of your garden somewhere on the interwoobles? Post a link in the comments and let’s all be nosy virtual neighbors.
How is your garden growing this month?
10
[…] Erica’s beautiful virtual garden tour (I love her orchard), here is one of mine. My orchard is newly planted this spring and something […]
[…] you. With that in mind, I’ve decided to do another Garden Tour post, partially in response to Erica’s (May) photo tour invitation, and partially just because I like showing off. To that end: Onwards! So my garden, last […]
Your garden looks amazing! I love that you have ripening snap peas and tomatoes at the same time, those always go in succession for me.
Your garden looks amazing as always! Gaah, we’re so behind this year (and so it goes with a nine-month old). I’m thinking I should focus on getting a fall/winter garden growing this year instead. We’re having a massive rabbit problem this year too, so they’ve been noming away at my greens.
This was fun, thanks for taking and posting all those photos! I really enjoy your fuller garden – mine’s only in its second year, so I don’t have that yet, but you’ve given me something to aspire to! Everything looks lovely.
Gorgeous as always! Second summer in our new house in Portland, and all I’ve got are some sad tomatoes I potted up after letting them spend too long in their original pots, and pre-existing raspberries that seem to have a viral illness (the plants are dying, some of them, before their fruit even ripens).
Oh! I do have strawberries on the front and back hugelbeds that are producing, so there’s that. We had to totally tear up the back yard (as in Bobcat and John Deer front loader action) to reshape it, which is sort of why I haven’t planted the tomatoes. There are two tiny blueberry bushes hiding in the weeds that over covered the back hugel while I was ignoring it. I’ve got a persian mulberry in a pot, and a pawpaw, and a few more, waiting to be placed.
Someday I hope to have a garden half as productive as yours. . . in the meantime, thanks for sharing – it’s really helpful to get a lot of photos all taken around the same time. Is there a map/plan somewhere on the website?
Oh wow, amazing! I have huge garden envy. Thank you for the inspiration. Your garden is so pretty in addition to being consumable! I have a long way to go with mine but it gets a little better every year. We have 2 raised beds with a third on the way. I bought a big bag of garlic at the local farm stand for a dollar and I’ve been planting it all over the place. Garlic in the roses, why not? There’s a volunteer pumpkin in my roses too. Such fun!
Beautiful. And now I’ve reached my garden porn limit for the day, and its not even 9 am yet. I want to just pull out a chair and sit in it for an hour. And maybe eat a strawberry or two.
Barb
Your garden looks amazing! I love how lush your orchard is looking, and are your cherries ready now? What type are they?
Here’s a tour of my, not as mature, garden: http://jeannettebedard.com/2015/05/27/garden-at-the-beginning-of-june-a-few-days-early/
Perennial garlic? I’ve never heard of that. I don’t suppose you have a link (did you buy online or was it local, or other)?
And wow, that’s a lot of beautiful. Very inspirational!
FIGS!!! I have a question about your figs… Obviously it doesn’t get extremely hot in the PacNW given that you grow tomatoes and peppers in greenhouses and under cloches, how do you get your fig tree to produce so well? I thought they needed warm weather? I am dying to plant a fig tree here in the Great Lake region, but am worried about it dying over the winter. You should totally do a post about fig trees!
Fig trees can produce two crops every year: one early on last year’s wood, and one later that grows through the summer. Here in the PNW we have to get varieties that have a good first crop because sometimes it’s not hot enough to ripen the second crop.
Check out varieties like the Chicago Hardy fig for harsher climates.
How beautiful! This makes me reconsider my planting and hesitation of sticking stuff in the ground. (Not sure WHY that hesitation is there…) I’ll start planting more stuff now. 🙂
Wait…nasturtiums can grow like that? Uh-oh.
Bahahahahahaha sob
(Me contemplating the incredible amount of work you have put into this amazing space)
I tried tomatoes in my greenhouse last year and they got soooo leggy and didn’t really do anything. Any suggestions on how to make a greenhouse work?
Really started upping the mulching right off the bat this year….it’s made a huge difference in the areas it got done!
An overview of our container garden as of May 18 — twelve EarthBoxes plus a few other containers on our (large) back patio:
http://cheapseateats.com/2015/05/18/container-garden-update-may-18-2015/
Closeup pictures, May 24:
http://cheapseateats.com/2015/05/18/container-garden-update-may-18-2015/
We got ~270 pounds from the 12 boxes last year. I’ve been doing at least weekly updates during the warm season for the last three years. There’s lots more material on the blog for those interested in container gardening.
Nice bunch of containers! That is mainly what I use too since we have a large gopher population. They just love a freshly watered garden! I use chicken wire to keep the birds out, but it is nasty to work with. I see you used bird netting for some of your containers. Duh, why didn’t I think of that?! Some garlic that is getting close to harvest: https://lifeonthebigbug.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ready-soon.jpg
Wow what a garden, it gives me some good ideas for planning how to turn my yard into something great. I’m finally getting my main garden into shape and have just begun determining where to branch out next. I have photos, at my tumblr (http://blossomplace.tumblr.com/). It appears that I am overdue for an update! Thanks for the inspiration Erica!
WOW. Hey–how late do nasturtiums start to come up in the spring? I assumed I’d have volunteers but no sign yet (I’m in WI so later than you….but for reference my volunteer dill is about six inches high, and I’m *just* starting to see cleome sprouts, and those are usually pretty late for us.)
not to sound ungrateful for the eleven-teen photos you posted (thanks! that was fun :), but I would love some more non-close-up shots for perspective
Your garden is just wonderful! Thanks for sharing the pics. Something is missing though…oh yes, the weeds, my best crop lately! 😉
My currants are neck and neck with yours. I would love to see how you use them, my only plan so far is jelly. But then i love currant jelly
Oh yes, let’s be snoopy neighbors! Here is my garden. It’s been a couple of weeks since this blog post, and everything has tripled in size since!
http://marblemounthomestead.blogspot.com/2015/05/blooming-and-growing-our-plants-and-our.html
I love the duck looking superiorly into the chicken coop!
I love your garden! I wish mine looked that good. Mine is still a work in progress and I hope that someday it will give my enough food that I never have to buy any from the store.
Kimberly
http://semi-urbancountrygirl.blogspot.com
Thanks for sharing your garden! it is so green and gorgeous. I have a little tour of the edible landscaping in my front yard at http://beanandbee.com/second-spring/
We have had record – breaking rain this month, so the kitchen garden isn’t so happy. Tomatoes are cracking and zucchini is rotting on the plant. But record – breaking rains are the only way to end a record breaking drought, so I won’t complain. Too much.
This is so inspiring, I could only dream of having a garden like this.
I’m curious, what are your issue with square foot gardening? I’ve only got a 4×6 plot and a bunch of pots on my porch, so it’s really the only method I’ve been able to find that fits my space, but I’m always looking for new ideas. This is only my second year growing anything more than a pot of baby lettuce.
My little plot from a few weeks ago when all I had were chives from last year https://myhomespunhome.wordpress.com/2015/05/06/whats-cooking-wednesday-gardens-and-bake-sales/
I’m not sure if I am thinking oooooh or grrrrr about your photos Erica.
We’ve had a strange spring here in London. My two year old pear tree’s leaves were nipped by old Jack Frost four days ago and my last frost date is June 9th, my plots are near to Kew Gardens.
However, as I live with an avian person, an African Grey Parrot, I loved the photo of your hen up the cherry tree and so I know ONLY too well those words “What do you think you’re doing up there?”, my bird’s response is usually an evil chuckle.. probably from the top of the book case!
I am deeply envious.. I just have to confess to being dark greenly envious! Most of my green things are still at home waiting to be planted out. Sigh..
I would so like to see posts about perennial fruit production. I am starting with blueberries this year, planted strawberries last year, and just put in a pie cherry tree. With limited space, though, I’d like to know more about espaliered apples, how you manage the runners on strawberries, plant spacing on blueberry bushes….lots of stuff. Your garden always makes me happy. It’s exactly the sort of place I’d like to tour, complete with a chat with the gardener so I could ask about a million questions…
Wow! It all looks so amazingly lush. I am definitely jealous – my Wisconsin garden is just getting started! Makes me want to move to a warmer climate…
Lovely garden. Quite jealous! would you consider doing a more detailed post on your food forest?! Please!
Your garden is gorgeous – no surprises there. I love-love-love that you’re building a food forest, by the way. I’d love to hear (lots) more about that, as it’s on my list of things to do once I’m in a position to be planting fruit trees (right now, rhubarb, Vietnamese garlic, and, hopefully, a raspberry bush are the most perennial foods I’m growing).
I’ve planted all of my seed starts. 22 tomato plants (which I need to space out a lot more than they currently are), a couple of cukes, and two Chinese eggplants! (First time on that front). My various squashes and beans are starting to come up, and my cooking greens are mostly doing really well – we harvested our first rappini and some “garlic chives” (we eat the greens from the Vietnamese garlic rather than digging them up – for now, at least) adn they were delicious in scrambled eggs! – but my rainbow chard is being weird. It looks like it has a sunburn? My friend is saying it might be aphids but… any ideas? :-
The herbs are doing beautifully, the fava beans are HUGE (by my clueless standards, anyway), and I have a small forest of peas that I hope will start producing in another few weeks. My strawberry plants are starting to set fruit, but only the very earliest of stages.
I’m massively excited to have a garden again! I’ll have to do another garden-tour post (the first one I did was about a month ago, and things were much, much different at that point). I’ll drop a link here when I get that done. 😉
Love these pictures. We’ve had so much rain and hail that I just got everything planted in my little community plot last Sat.
I’m in total awe. You’ve put in a lot of work and it shows! I have four fruit trees – two apple, one peach and a small fig. What do you do about the bugs to keep your fruit so pristine? I feel like we’re constantly under siege in St. Louis, MO.
Wow, it’s sooo lush! I’m not even that far from you but I’ve only got tiny cherries and apples started. The only thing that looks comparable are our squash and summer stuff.
I am regularly the go-to person for my friends when they start gardening. Not because I’m a genius at it, but because I’ve been doing it longer, so I can at least speak with a bit of experience. You put me to shame.
If you lived on my road, or anywhere within a 100km drive I would slowly worm my way into your social life so I could have you over to my house and over a large glass of wine subtly mine your brain for pieces of garden knowledge. Soon I too would have a duck pond, and rather than that extra .3 acres of grass that is slowly turning brown, I would have an expanded garden that was dripping with fruit and full of green stuff.
Forget about food porn….I’m all about garden porn.
About those nasturtiums not being “actual vegetables”. If you pickle the pods ( they need a brine-cure for a few days first) within 5 days of petal-drop, you’d swear they’re capers! There are recipes all over the Internet. The fact that you’d probably want to use those little 4 ounce jelly jars makes it even easier to put up a jar or 2 a week while your doing other things. Unique and awesome gift, too.
Also, the soil-cooling shade the trailing plants provide allows for earlier planting of Fall crops. Prob not a concern in th NW but it helps elsewhere.
Garden envy! The pictures of your garden are absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing. I dream of having what you have some day…in the meantime…I’m at the beginning of my garden journey…my hubby just built 4 garden beds to get us started. Hoping we are blessed with an abundant vegetable garden some day soon!
Your pictures are so beautiful, they have sort of cured me of my grieving for my CA garden. We just made our move to WY and I have had to admit that I am in a state of grieving for my wonderful garden. We have visited a wonderful nursery here in Sheridan and I watch as the residents energetically plant their gardens without an ounce of desire on my part!
I am sincerely hoping this malady will pass….and very soon, the growing season is somewhat short here. But, thank you anyway for your wonderful pictures. I really do miss my sweet, tasting broccoli and crisp lettuce.
I’m in blazing hot Florida! our spring garden is long gone! all we can do is focus on what will survive the heat. okra, eggplant, sweet potatoes, and some peppers holding on! Its nice to see a thriving spring time garden. Your blog brings me hope for new beginnings this fall. and when I start to get really jealous I have to remember while you guys up north and out west are snowed in, we in Florida are just getting cranking.
You are my hero! Though I did plant a bunch of raspberries gifted to me by our chicken farmer (who I go to since my town board lives in the ’50s and won’t let me participate)
Everything looks awesome! I’d love to learn more about what you used to plant your eco lawn!
All right, it’s a little late, but here’s the garden:
http://www.ourlifeinwonderland.com/early-june-in-the-garden-green-and-more-green/
We’re pretty far behind you in terms of warm weather, but there’s good stuff to come.