Saturday, June 11, 2022

Raised Bed Garden Update: How it's growing

This year we had several April frosts and a cooler May in Philadelphia, first time I can remember that in a very long time... So it took a while for the garden to decide it was happy and begin to grow, but I'm pleased to say, I've literally seen inches added to the squash, cucumbers and tomato plants each day this week:@) We had a good 3/4" rain overnight and the sun came out nice and early, so I took some pics on 6/9/22. Long view from the short end of the raised bed:

Zucchini on the end, it's getting big:@) I planted lavender in the front corner, between a horrible hard frost, and now the zukes shade, well, I'm letting it go to see what happens. My experience with summer squash has been, between bugs and powdery mildew the plants don't last long here. So we'll see how it plays out.

Cucumbers in the corner, I found the A-Frame trellis at Lowes this year-very happy with that! Parsley is under the a-frame getting some partial shade. Crookneck squash next to the cukes. Still small but it's really beginning to grow.

My peppers... Sweet banana and monster jalapeno. Peppers seem to always have a very slow start for me, then when it heats up and gets humid in July they grow like gangbusters. I'm hoping that's the case this year too.

The strawberry tower: Ok, there's A LOT going on here... Those top spots were dinky so I just added pretty marbles instead of plants. Blues and greens to mimic water for the flamingo:@) Third tier I decided to plant some portulaca. The right side gets minimal sun, so I added thyme to the middle and chives to the bottom. And from there I'm filling the rest in with strawberry runners. At this time I'm kicking around a stand alone separate strawberry garden, and using this as a colorful portulaca and herb tower going forward, we'll see...

Tomatoes are getting happy-happy:

Basil in front of tomatoes.
Empty spot for the next planting of green beans.

Scallions I bought for dinner and replanted, and string beans. (Oh, and yes, I did get rid of that white monstrosity I tried as bean fencing... The rain turned it into a hot mess!)

In case you ever wondered what a scallion flower looked like: I hear they are edible and think the florets would be very pretty in a salad...

View from the long end: I gave a new rosemary plant it's own bed, we'll seen how many years it over-winters.

And, there are still a few planters: A zucchini I removed from the raised bed (thankfully). The big planter against the pillar was supposed to be all zinnias, but I ended up with an extra tomato plant... Please tell me that happens to you too:@) And string beans that were planted before I added the raised bed. I'll be picking beans for Sunday dinner in a week or two!

Well folks, that's what's happening in my little corner North of Philly.
I hope you have a great weekend:@)

3 comments:

  1. It looks great Lynn, you have all kinds of things going on! I especially like your decorations, it looks like you're having a lot of fun!

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  2. Love the fountain, and aren't you amazed at how much grows from just a bitty seed. I'm sure you will get years of food and pleasure from these beds!

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  3. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I’m certainly impressed with your raised beds, Lynn. Everything looks healthy and happy. I like the idea of using the pyramid planter for herbs and portulaca next year snd having another planter for strawberries. Your solar fountain looks pretty there, too. You’re an inspiration!

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