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Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 21 of 52

May 19, 2013 5 Comments

Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 21 of 52

I plan on spending all day in the garden today. My online boyfriend Ryan from Botanical Interests is coming to visit me in less than 2 weeks when he’s up here for the Mother Earth News Fair and I want to have my garden in tip top shape.

On the agenda for today is whipping up a few batches of potting soil, watering the garden, pulling weeds, spreading a yard of bark in the front yard, cleaning off the front porch {it’s a disaster} and getting my pumpkins planted. I’d also like to tackle the raspberry patch and get the greenhouse in order too. I believe in miracles, don’t you?

I already told the kids we are not leaving the house today so we’ll see what gets done.

Here are a few pictures I snapped this morning while wandering around my backyard with a cup of tea in my bathrobe.

The wood pallet garden is looking good. I plan on harvesting more lettuce for a salad tonight.

Inspector Lucy followed me outside early this morning to check on the 16 raised garden boxes. She loves those French breakfast radishes and now every time we go near them she sits by the garden bed and waits for me to pull one up for her. What a nut!

The pea and potatoes are growing really well. I do need to get some twine and help the peas up the teepee poles though.

The greenhouse is still a work in progress. I plan on making another batch of my homemade potting soil and adding some black pots {for growing tomatoes} down the center of the greenhouse today.

I reported the progress of our potato towers last week. So far so good. If you look real hard you will also see potato plants coming out of the wood pallet compost bin. I’m not sure how a potatoes got in there {My guess is Lucy had something to do with it} but we now have potatoes growing in the compost bin. Ha! I wonder what they will taste like.

Here is a view from the back deck. I think I need less bark and more dirt.

We planted a mini pea patch right smack in the middle of the shaded backyard. And guess what? They love it there. Fava beans, Swiss chard and kale line the perimeter of the chicken run.

The raspberry patch had become a bit unruly again.

Here is a view of the raspberry patch from the kitchen window. Our 12 blueberry bushes are just beyond the raspberries on the left. For some reason the blueberries are kind of tricky to photograph, but I’ll try and get a decent photo so you can see how tall the 1 gallon bushes we planted 4 years ago are getting.

The herbs we have growing in container are growing really well too. I still have a few tiny rosemary starts I want to get planted. I need to check Costco and see if they have anymore of those huge brown pots in stock. Have you been lately? Are they still selling them?

Well that’s a bout it for this weeks garden tour.

I’m off to pull weeds!

Have a great day everyone.

~Mavis

This years garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2013 Garden Seed Catalog HERE, or visit my boyfriend Ryan’s blog HERE.

Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 20 of 52

May 12, 2013 20 Comments

Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 20 of 52

Yee-Haw! Now we’re farming!

See that bare patch of peas along the fence? Yep, Lucy the garden dog decided to have herself a little snack. Silly dog. If she would have only waited another month she could have had a much bigger snack.

Also, check out the wisteria growing on the arbor. The delicate purple flowers are just beginning to bloom. I’ll have to try and get a close up shot of them soon.

The wood pallet garden is looking great.

All 16 of the raised garden boxes have now been planted. Now we wait. For tomatoes {it’s the reason we all garden, right?}.

The pea teepees and potatoes are rockin’.

Yesterday I started clearing out the greenhouse. Now that the weather has warmed up a bit, I’ll only be growing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries in there. I’ll share some pictures of my set up when I’m finished.

Last year I had way to many plants growing in the greenhouse and it was really overcrowded, so this year I am going to scale back a week bit.

The potatoes are starting to poke through the potato towers. Yay! Note to self: Must.Weed.Garden.

View from the back deck.

Chicken coop, Swiss chard, fava beans and kale.

Raspberry jungle.

Here is the view of our raspberry patch from the kitchen window. No matter how hard I try to get the canes to behave, they never do and we end up with a raspberry forest.

And last but not least, the container herb garden. The sage looks like it might be ready to harvest this week. Weeeeee!

Well, that’s what’s growing in my backyard, what’s new in your garden?

Please tell me you’ve finally been able to plant something {I know a lot of you still had snow a few weeks ago}.

~Mavis

Filed Under: 2013 Garden Plot Pictures, Gardening Tagged With: 2013 garden plot pictures, frugal living, Gardening, growing your own food

Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 18 of 52

April 28, 2013 14 Comments

Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 18 of 52

The backyard vegetable garden is starting to fill up with my favorite color… GREEN!

The potting bench and it’s flowers is beginning to look a little ragged these days so I’ll have to try and spruce it up this week. I transplanted mint and strawberries to the whiskey barrel a few months ago and once I remove all the spent flowers we should be able to see them.

Just a few more weeks and all the raised garden beds will be planted. I am still trying to decided what to companion plant with my tomatoes. What do YOU plant alongside your tomatoes?

All the spaces in the wood pallet garden have been planted. You can see what’s been planted HERE.

The sugar snap peas are climbing up the teepee poles. Only about 5 weeks to go until we start to harvest them.

All of the tomato plants have been moved to the greenhouse. The cucumbers have been started and I think I’ll try and get some pumpkin seeds planted in pots and store them in the greenhouse until the weather warms up.

Still no sign of life in the potato towers. We should start to see some green leaves poking through pretty soon {fingers crossed}.

A view from the deck.

The whistling gnome is keeping a good eye on the kale and fava beans. The Swiss chard I planted there a month or two ago is still struggling so I may replant it this week. We’ll see.

The pumpkin patch will be planted the first week in June.

Raspberries gone wild. I’m hoping for a bumper crop this year!

Here is the view of the raspberry patch from my kitchen window. Isn’t it lovely?

And last but not least, the container her garden {and two rhubarb plants}.

Now that the weather is starting to warm up and it’s staying light out much longer, I’m spending all my extra time out in the garden. Yes growing your own food can be a lot of work, but you know what? It’s also pretty rewarding.

Working with your hands is cool.

Get out there and do something you love!

~Mavis

Filed Under: 2013 Garden Plot Pictures, Gardening Tagged With: 2013 garden plot pictures, Gardening

Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 17 of 52

April 21, 2013 12 Comments

Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 17 of 52

It’s amazing how different a garden can look when you’ve been away for a week. In my opinion this is when it starts to get fun {picture wise}. Now that the weather is starting to warm up we can see more growth and green stuff sprouting up in the garden beds. Pretty stinkin’ awesome if you ask me.

The garden fence is my favorite part of the garden right now. It’s popping with color and I LOVE it!

The broccoli raab bolted while we were out of town. Boo! Now I have to pull it up and re-plant the raised garden bed. I’m not sure why it happened but I have more started in the greenhouse so I’m not too disappointed.

The bases around the DIY pea teepees is starting to fill up.

I’d say we are about another 5 to 6 weeks away from a bumper sugar snap pea harvest.

After visiting Eliot Coleman’s greenhouse at Four Season Farm, I seriously need to get my act together and fill this sucker to the top with garden starts. After seeing his greenhouses, mine is practically bare.

According to the gnomes there has been no new growth in the potato towers.

Here is a view from the back deck. I still need to have the HH get a truck load of dirt and put it in that bare patch juts behind the daffodils that are sitting under the cedar tree. Also, our second batch of peas {green arrow I think} are starting to appear in the patch of soil near the chicken coop.

The fava beans in front of the chicken coop are looking really healthy.

I haven’t grown them in so long I’ll have to look up a few recipes before we harvest them later this summer.

The future pumpkin patch looks totally bare and lonely. It didn’t occur to me until just now that I should go out there and plant a bunch of lettuce seeds or radishes.

I can’t believe the daffodils are still hanging in there.

A view of the raspberry patch from the kitchen window.

My container herb garden.

Check out the oregano. It’s looking pretty fierce.

What’s new at your place? Have you planted anything yet?

~Mavis

This years garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2013 Garden Seed Catalog HERE.

Filed Under: 2013 Garden Plot Pictures, Gardening Tagged With: 2013 garden plot pictures, garden tours, Gardening, one hundred dollars a month

Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 16 of 52

April 14, 2013 14 Comments

Week 16 of 52 – Mavis’ Backyard Gard

Wow! What a great day for gardening. The temperature outside right now is only about 45 degrees, but the sun is out and with no rain in the forecast for today I plan on spending all day outside.

For mid spring, I think the garden is looking pretty good. 9 of the 16 raised garden boxes have been planted and the sugar snap peas we have growing along the fence and up the teepee poles are doing great.

The potatoes I planted about a month ago still have not broke through the soil yet. I’m hoping it will be any day now. I may have to go out and take a peek if I don’t see green popping up soon.

The poppies and rhubarb we planted in the perennial garden are starting to leaf out and before too long the artichokes should be catching up to them.

Yesterday I planted some extra seed potatoes along the sides of the greenhouse. Over the winter I transplanted our perennial chives along the edges along with some extra seeds. Hopefully the potatoes and chives like each other. I checked my companion planting chart first, so I should be okay.

The potato towers are holding up and so far Lucy the puggle dog has not tried to pull the straw out of the wire cages. Fingers crossed she continues to stay away from them. I think having the gnomes nearby helps distract her a bit. Although she does love to run in and out of the wood pallet compost bin quite a bit these days looking for treasures.

Here is the view from the back deck.

Nothing is growing in the future pumpkin patch yet but weeds. Pumpkin seeds won’t be planted until June 1st.

The raspberry patch is growing like crazy!

Here is a view from the kitchen window. I can’t wait to see what it looks like about mid-June.

And last but not least, my herb container garden. All the pots have been planted and we are ready to grow, baby, grow!

Peace Out Girl Scouts, get out there and enjoy the day!

~Mavis

Filed Under: 2013 Garden Plot Pictures, Gardening Tagged With: 2013 garden plot pictures, Gardening, mavis garden blog

Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 15 of 52

April 7, 2013 12 Comments

Week 15 of 52 – Mavis’ Backyard Garden Plot

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. Like in the middle of a heat wave in August. Yeah, that would be nice. You know what the soggy, wet bark reminds me of right now?

A 1970′s maroon shag carpet.

Or Ron Burgundy’s sports coat.

Yep, I’d take neon orange bark over this crap any day of the week.

I decided all the sports gnomes needed to be together. So they guarding the perennial garden from squirrels and chipmunks.

Thanks to the rain, the greenhouse is nice and muggy. Lately I’ve been keeping the doors open about a good 8 inches. My tomatoes and basil is in there and as soon as the weather warms uspI want to be able to plant them outside. So far the plants are all looking strong.

Poor Lucy the puggle dog was having a bad hair day and didn’t want to look at the camera.

A view from the upper deck.

The peas have begun to pop through the soil and the fava beans that I planted in front of the chicken fence are about 2 inches high now. I haven’t grown fava beans in a long time {since the kids were 2 & 3 if I remember correctly} So I’m pretty excited.

The raspberry patch.

A view of the raspberries from the kitchen window. Hopefully I’ll have time this week to transplant the canes that are growing in the paths to the bare spots in rows 1 &2.

The container herb garden. All that’s left to plant is the thyme. We already have oregano, sage, rosemary and parsley planted in this area. We also have mint planted in an oak barrel next to the garden gate as well.

If you look closely you can see 2 rhubarb plants. I’ll have to transfer those to the perennial garden before they get much bigger.

Did I mention rain is in the forecast for 4 of the next 5 days?

Yep. It ain’t easy being green.

Peace Out Girl Scouts, try and stay dry.

~Mavis

This years garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2013 Garden Seed Catalog HERE.

Filed Under: 2013 Garden Plot Pictures, Gardening Tagged With: 2013 garden plot pictures, Gardening, mavis garden blog, one hundred dollars a month

Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 14 of 52

March 31, 2013 15 Comments

Week 14 of 52 – Mavis’ Backyard Garden Plot

This past week was a gorgeous one here in the Pacific Northwest. Sunny skies and temps in the low 60′s made hanging out in the backyard lot’s of fun. As you can see the garden beds finally look like they have something planted in them and pretty soon it will look like a proper vegetable garden.

The potting bench is a live with color and if you look closely at the first watering can that’s hanging on the fence, you’ll see some tulip leaves growing out of the top. I totally forgot I planted a few bulbs in there last fall.

So far in the raised garden beds we have broccoli, broccoli raab, cabbage, radish, beets, garlic, and carrots planted.

If you squint real hard you’ll be able to see the endive, romaine and another lettuces I planted in the wood pallets. I still have not decided what I’m going to plant in the other 3 wood pallets yet.

I know it’s hard to believe, but when Lucy the puggle dog sees me pull out the camera, she strikes a pose. It’s the strangest thing ever. I’d say a photo shoot for Dog Fancy might be in her future.

Pea teepees and potato beds.

Check out them peas! Wahoooo! Now, if I could just keep Lucy away from them.

Artichokes, poppies, rhubarb and gladiolas.

I was having a wee bit of a problem with Lucy “inspecting” all the seedling flats on the greenhouse floor so I had the Handsome Husband haul another folding table out to the greenhouse last night.

My plan for today is to get everything off the ground because ideally, I’d like little Miss Lucy to be able to walk in the greenhouse and hang out with me when I’m in there.

The potato towers and the wood pallet compost bin have been installed and the gnomes have begun to take one of many stumps in our wooded backyard.

A view of barktopia.

Poor Lucy, the chickens are still not ready to be friends.

Future pumpkin patch.

The raspberry patch is finally coming alive. I noticed a few bare patches and new growth popping up in the paths yesterday. Hopefully I’ll be able to get out there this week and transplant a few.

A view from the kitchen window.

And finally some progress on the container herb garden. Yee- Haw! We now have oregano, sage, rosemary and parsley planted. As soon as the thyme is ready to set out I will plant it. I think I’ll keep the basil in the greenhouse again this year because it thrived in the hotter temperatures.

If I had to guess, this week is going to be crazy. The forecast looks awesome for the next four days. Wahooooo. Now we’re farming!

Peace Out Girl Scouts, have a great day and remember to have some fun.

~Mavis

This years garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2013 Garden Seed Catalog HERE.

Filed Under: 2013 Garden Plot Pictures, Gardening Tagged With: 2013 garden plot pictures, Gardening, omlet

Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 13 of 52

March 24, 2013 Leave a Comment

Week 12 of 52 – Mavis’ Backyard Garden Plot

This past week was a chilly one here in the Pacific Northwest. Luckily the broccoli and cabbage starts I set out earlier in the week survived the cold temperatures and are doing great.

Look at all the color at the potting bench! Wahooo! Target has some cute little watering cans in bright colors in their dollar spot if you have wee ones.

I’m glad I didn’t set out my lettuce starts last week. The endive I planted in the wood pallets is doing fine though. It looks like it’s going to warm up later this week so hopefully I can find some time to get the lettuce planted.

So much possibility.

The daffodils and hyacinth are blooming like crazy.

Peas have been planted at the base of the teepees, and potatoes are in the garden plots to the right.

The beginning of a fairy garden. I’m hoping to get to it later this week.

Artichokes, poppies, rhubarb and gladiolas.

I was able to get quite a few more flats planted, and I’ll do a greenhouse tour soon and show you what’s happening behind the glass walls.

I’m headed to the feed store later today to get some straw so I can build my potato towers.

Bark bomb.

A view of the future pumpkin patch and the chicken yard. Yesterday Mr. & Mrs. HB stopped by and collected 11 eggs! It’s really nice to have all those eggs coming in but sometimes it can be a wee bit overwhelming to look in the refrigerator and see 4 dozen eggs in there all at once.

I’m loving the view of the raspberry patch right now.

If you look closely you can see bits of green starting to form on the branches. There are a lot more buds on the branches to the right of the raspberry patch than the left, so it will be interesting to see how many we get. I’m hoping for another bumper crop like we had in 2011.

And the herb garden. We dragged the last of our giant pots out of the garage and set them up. Now all I need to do is fill the pots and get them planted.

I think for the most part the garden is coming along as expected. I just wish I had a wee bit more time. But then again, I’m sure we all do.

Peace Out Girl Scouts, enjoy your day!

~Mavis

This years garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2013 Garden Seed Catalog HERE.

Filed Under: 2013 Garden Plot Pictures, Gardening Tagged With: 2013 garden plot pictures, Gardening

Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 12 of 52

March 17, 2013 12 Comments

Week 12 of 52 – Mavis’ Backyard Garden Plot

Although it rained quite a bit past week, I was still able to get a few projects done. We planted a boatload of new seeds as well as cleaned up the backyard and moved some more pots out of the garage.

The spring bulbs are beginning to pop up everywhere so I’ll have to have The Girl go out and pick a big bouquet of daffodils for the kitchen table later today to bring a little color in to the house.

I know the raised garden beds don’t look too exciting right now, but in another month or so you’ll be able to see lots of green. I think waiting for seeds to germinate in the spring is one of the hardest parts about gardening.

Endive was planted in the back left wood pallet and so far so good. Lucy, the squirrels and the slugs have all left it alone. If you are thinking about creating a pallet garden, be sure and check out this Pallet Gardening 101 post to help get you started.

See that box out there? It’s full of potatoes. Hopefully I can get the rest of the 90 pounds of potatoes planted later today. Fingers crossed.

Future perennial flower garden.

See the green at the base of the tree? Those are the poppies I planted last year. I’ll be planting more poppy seeds this year and we also have artichokes and rhubarb in this area as well. The rhubarb shoots have just begun to pop through the soil. I placed wire tomato cages near them so I’d remember not to plant anything to close to them.

The greenhouse. Hopefully I can write more about what’s going on in there later this week.

The potato towers are on my list of “things to get planted” today.

Remember all those bulbs I planted last fall? I can wait for this area to bloom.

I still need to carve out another large garden plot towards the left.

Happy chickens.

Lucy the crazy puggle dog running all over my newly planted kale plants.

Future pumpkin patch.

Raspberry and blueberry patch {the blueberries are planted just behind the raspberry canes towards the left}.

And last but no least, the future herb garden. We are planning on dragging out a few more large pots to this area pretty soon and filling then with herb starts.

I need more time people, more time!

Well, it looks like it might be a pretty decent day outside today, so I better get dressed and get out there.

Have a wonderful day,

~Mavis

This years garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2013 Garden Seed Catalog HERE.

Filed Under: 2013 Garden Plot Pictures, Gardening Tagged With: 2013 garden plot pictures, Gardening

Mavis Butterfield | Backyard Garden Plot Pictures – Week 11 of 52

March 10, 2013 20 Comments

Week 11 of 52 – Mavis’ Backyard Garden Plot

Now that all the bark has been spread, I feel like the garden is finally in order. Although the bark is a wee bit on the bright side, it’s easier for me to visualize where I want to plant everything, and I must admit, it does look tidy. And I am a HUGE fan of tidy gardens, and they make my heart smile {if that’s even possible}.

A few of the daffodils are beginning to bloom, but no enough to start picking bouquets to bring in the house yet. I’ve decided to plant peas along the fence again. I figured I might as well use the space for something since I won’t be able to plant sunflowers there until June.

I planted endive in one of the pallets, and am hoping to transfer out some more lettuce starts and spinach pretty soon.

Even thought there is nothing really growing yet, this is my favorite view of the garden anytime of year. It makes me feel like the possibilities are endless.

I planted the espalier trees along side the house yesterday.

Bean teepees and future potato beds.

So far I have poppies, rhubarb and artichokes planted in this area. I’m not sure if I should try and squeeze anything else in. I think one of the hardest parts about gardening is trying to keep in mind what plants are going to look like once they are fully grown. Ha!

I think we have about another 2-3 weeks until the early tulips I planted in the black pots start to bloom. If you look closely you can see the chives springing back to life on the sides of the greenhouse.

Call me crazy, but I am going to try potato towers again. I haven’t planted them yet, but hopefully I’ll get to them later this week.

View of the main backyard.

The chicken/ kale /Swiss chard/ fava bean garden. I still have a few more plants to set out, but it’s coming along nicely I think.

Future pumpkin patch.

Raspberry patch.

The future herb garden. I think we still have 2 large pots in the garage that I need to drag out and fill with dirt and herbs. Also, I noticed the rhubarb I planted last year in this area is just now starting to pop up. I think I’ll move it towards the greenhouse though so I just have herbs in this area. We’ll see.

So what’s new at your place? Are you itching to get out there?

~Mavis

This years garden is being sponsored by the awesome folks at Botanical Interests Seed Company. You can check out their website HERE, order their new 2013 Garden Seed Catalog HERE.