I can’t tell if I’m tired lately just because I’m getting older and I wear out easier, or if I’m tired because we’ve been working outside on a ton of garden projects lately.
In any event, I’m sleeping really, really good these days. 😉
Remember the English lavender I started from seed a few months ago? Well look at the plants now!
We planted a row of 18 lavender plants yesterday and if all goes well, by this time next year I should be able to harvest armfuls of lavender.
I ended up with 17 extra English lavender plants. I’ll have to see if Kiln Guy wants any before I set them out on the garden trolley for sale. Kiln Guy gets first {free} dibs on all my extra plants.
The cabbage, radishes and chives I’ve got growing in the elevated garden beds are all doing really well.
I harvested my first radish the other day. The flavor was great. Not too spicy.
I think I’ll pull up a few more today. Who knows, maybe I’ll even have enough to set out a few bunches of them on the garden trolley Saturday morning.
Raised Bed #1
12 tomato plants, carrots and beets.
Raised Bed #2
12 tomatoes, 2 rows of carrots and basil just popping through the soil.
Raised Bed #3
12 tomato plants, 2 rows of beets, 2 rows of peppers and 1 row of turnips.
Raised Bed #4
1 row of peppers, 2 rows of green beans, 1 row of radishes and 3 rows of leeks.
I also planted some cucumber, zucchini and giant sunflowers alongside the house and planted pole beans along a few different sections of the fence.
Plus, there are some pole beans and Christmas lima beans getting ready to throw out some tendrils on the tall trellises on the side of the house.
In another few weeks, the garden should be looking really, really good. And hopefully there will be beans, zucchini and tomatoes to harvest too. I LOVE this time of year!
I hope you have a great weekend and don’t forget to take an ice cream break {or two}.
~Mavis
Erin says
Sleep is the best! Question about your lavender: do you cut the flowers off in this first season? I planted my lavender grown from seed & it’s flowering. Some gardening accounts online say to cut the flowers off to help them better establish for the following summer, but none of them grow in our zone so I don’t know if it’s a zone specific thing. Just curious if you leave them alone or if you trim them?
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes, I cut the stems every year and then prune {for shape} in the fall, maybe mid September. The lavender I planted two years ago in the side front garden is HUGE. 🙂 I’ll be clipping lots of stems this year. 🙂
Nancy Settel says
Well of course you and the HH are tired you have turned into lumber jacks! Oh my goodness all that work is certainly paying off it looks amazing. I am seeing on reels etc. the new to me pickled radishes. Sliced really thin (mandalin?) and then pickle brine like they are all doing onions (oh how I am addicted to pickled onions). Might want to try a few. Of course the only way I like radishes is roasted on a sheet pan with other veggies. Have a grand weekend.
Christa H says
Looks great! Your lavender starts look a lot better than mine.
Try letting a few radishes flower and then go to seed. When they make their numerous green seed pods, pick them when they are about an inch long to eat. They are even more mild than the radish root and taste like a cross between a radish and a sweet pea pod. They are fantastic with dip, in salads, and sauteed lightly with butter and salt.
I then let some fully dry to plant the seeds again. I do this all summer too instead of just in cool weather because I like the pods more than the radish and the flowers help my honeybees as they are a rich source of pollen and nectar.
Rosemary says
Your garden is looking great! I am having some successes and some failures with my garden . . .but that’s life! So far, I have harvested 50.5 lbs. of veggies. I never used to weigh my harvest, but you have inspired me to weigh it, not just count them. It will be fun to see how many lbs. I end up at the end of the season.
Mavis Butterfield says
Way to go Rosemary!!! 50 pounds is awesome.
suzanne says
Just made lavender simple syrup yesterday. It’s really good in earl gray. Thankfully the deer leave most the herbs and daisies alone.
Judi Y. says
You are just magic! Everything looks sooooooo healthy and beautiful! It’s like a magazine article on how to garden!
GrannyB says
So how are you liking the raised beds and the one elevated one? Please remind me the name of them? Do you have to water the elevated more?
Mavis Butterfield says
I really like them!! Yes you have to water them. 🙂 Here is the link: https://www.vegogarden.com/collections/elevated-garden-beds-classic
Sue S. says
Looking Great Mavis and HH. Could you remind us again where you obtained the raised beds, I mean the ones at waist level so you don’t have to bend over. That’s about my speed now. Thanks! Have a restful and relaxing weekend yourselves. We already started with ice cream – free at the local base for a “school’s out” event.
Mavis Butterfield says
Vego. Here is the link: https://www.vegogarden.com/collections/elevated-garden-beds-classic
Laura says
How big are your beds? You fit a lot in them and they look great!
Mavis Butterfield says
{4} 4×8 beds.