Ducks and the Blooming Garden....

Thought I'd share this ducky video with you!  

My Muscovy Ducks having breakfast.  They are 8 weeks old.

The Peppers have been really enjoying the heat... look at these banana peppers!

My beautiful Kale is being eaten...

Radishes... my husband's favorite!

Our first garden salad...

Our 1st garden salad!
We enjoyed a nice salad from the garden tonight... baby romaine, broccoli, danvers half long carrots and radishes.

Radishes are my husband's very favorite vegetable from the garden... so tonight I planted a bunch more for him!

I'm beginning to let some of my muscovy ducks into my garden... not the whole herd of them (all 9)... just a few females and a male.  I have to really watch them as they pass their favorite greens... cucumbers... beets... corn...  overall, they're doing a pretty good job gobbling up the hoppers.... but sometimes the greens are just too tempting!

You'd laugh if you heard me out there with them (I am mama duck!)... I'm always telling them... "Eat the hoppers.... Eat the hoppers!"

Harvest... red beets, greens, beans, radishes

I should have harvested my veggies BEFORE watering! Did you happen to see my Keen sandals from yesterday's post? Oh my! We have heavy clay soil here... and I was totally weighed down!

LOL!!! Anyway... I pulled quite a little harvest... even had enough beets and lettuce to share with my folks!

Included in my harvest: green beans... just a few..., radishes, baby romaine, leaf lettuce, my new most favorite green... swiss chard... (oh... lunch time is calling me!!!!) and beets.

I spied my very first baby Mandan Corn ear yesterday... yeah!!! And 2 little baby watermelons!

Empty squares...

I am just totally loving Square Foot Gardening!

Empty squares...

-Harvested a few squares of Yukon Golds and more will be coming out soon.

-Harvested a few squares of radishes.

-My lettuce bed is getting empty...

Planting more...

Today I planted more carrots & radishes.

-planted 2 squares of round carrots

-planted 2 squares of white tipped radishes (don't know how these will do with the heat)

Thinking about a fall/winter crop...

-broccoli

-over winter carrots???

When I had a row garden I felt totally overwhelmed with weeds and plants... and produce. But having my garden broken down into 1 foot by 1 foot squares really makes all the difference!

Bitter Green... BE GONE!

Hope that you had a wonderful 4th of July celebration with your family & friends!

Arugula.

I planted some more Arugula in some empty squares... oh how I love this peppery... spicy green in salad... and I love SFG!!

My garlic harvest.

Funny... a neighbor gave me some garlic bulbs a few years ago. So I put them in the ground and that's it!

I didn't have a clue when to harvest or what to do with them. But then I got to reading some of my favorite garden blogs and learned about garlic scapes... and more importantly... that it was time to harvest my garlic.

Lunch time Harvest!

Yes, more radishes, a head of Baby Romaine, and some Arugula.

Bitter Green... BE GONE!

YUCKY... I pulled out all of this bitter green. It was growing beautifully... but.. It just tasted awful...

I way over planted this 2x2ish SFG. The bitter green is all gone now...

Toni's Gardening Lesson...

Always put markers in your squares so that you know what you planted!

Garden Harvest 7/1/09

A big welcome to Amy, Mary, & Elaine! Thanks for following my blog!!

I picked some romaine lettuce...

And yes... more radishes...

A few baby yukon gold potatoes...

And 2 garlic scapes...

And an even bigger batch of yummy strawberries!!!!

I even got to see the strawberry patch toad!

Yummy!!!

Strawberry, lettuce, radish Harvest!

I walked by the strawberry patch and noticed bunches of ripe strawberries! This is our first year to have such a grand harvest!

While I was picking... I had a little SURPRISE!!!

Out jumped a hoppy thing.. a Wyoming toad perhaps....

He jumped on my toe then out of the strawberry patch!

I'm so excited about my harvest today... because we're having a small family gathering... and I picked 2 heads of lettuce, 1/2

dozen or so icicle type radishes... and we have these delicious strawberries to enjoy!

Oh... we'll be enjoying grilled burgers... from the steer that our family raised!

Bolting...

My leaf lettuce, arugula, and spinach are all bolting now... However the baby Romaine seems to be doing fine!

Onions... need help!

EG, this is one of my little watermelon plants! It's my first time growing melons.So sad... the main stem on one of my Roma plants must have cracked off in a recent storm that included some pretty good wind. We'll see how it goes... I have 30 something more Romas so I'm not too worried...
Help!!! My onion patch doesn't look that good... some of the leaves are turning yellow. This is my first time growing onion sets... is that normal for the leaves to turn yellow? I did notice a flower blossom budding on one of the plants.
Another yummy harvest of lettuce greens. Some of my plants are starting to bolt..
Look at these beautiful radishes! Hubby got these to go with his lunch... and lots of lettuce on his ham sandwich!

Tomato Blossoms!

Welcome to Just Jenn, Dan, and Cynthia! Thanks for following my blog!

Garden photos taken by my son Aaron (age 11). Do you see the blossom on the tomato plant in the middle? Yeah!

Finally finished filling my last 4x8 box the other day thanks to the help from my 15 year old son, Matthew! I mixed... he filled...

Now... I want another 4x4 for the Japanese hull-less popping corn! I'd better get right after it because this corn takes 83 days to mature... that would be the END of August! Wow... Bought the 2x6 lumber today! Will need more Vermiculite... I think...

So.. in my new 4x8 box, Aaron (my 11 year old) and I planted:

-4 sweet yellow banana peppers plants (cause you have to buy them in a 4-pack...)

-4 jalapeno plants (Matthew, my 15 year old actually wanted Habanero Peppers, but they were all sold out)

-2 more squares of Radishes

-2 more squares of beets (can't wait for beet greens!)

-2 more squares of baby Romaine

-2 squares of Mesclun lettuce Mix (love this stuff!)

Aaron has surgery tomorrow... so I'll call this a GREAT DAY and sign off for now!

I picked...

I am sooooo excited! My pre-teen son, Aaron, & I were uncovering the garden this morning... when... he spotted some Radishes that needed to be picked!

So we pulled 1/2 dozen or so radishes... (then replanted more together!!!)

We cut some lettuce leafs... and some spinach... and some arugula.

Aaron loves to eat it all!

So we had greens to go in sandwiches for lunch with radishes to much on too!

Another Garden Giggle...

The other day Aaron came up to help me work in the garden. When I got near him... I could smell this strong... pungent odor... "Aaron, have you been eating chives?" YES!

Well, they were very fragrant!

My first little radish, view of the whole garden

My first little Radish... it's so exciting!

Here it is... my very first itty bitty radish... plucked a little early... just to see...

I've squeezed radishes in all over my garden because my husband LOVES THEM!

So.. I've planted them around the outer edges of my 4x4 filled with corn... and in the squares surrounding my giant pumpkin plant... and wherever there's an empty spot!

Shivery... cold..

It's been cold here during the night... in the 30's & low 40's... so I've covered most of my beds. Looks like a pretty serious operation here...

View of the whole garden

From the 2nd floor window of our new home that we're NOT living in yet...

(more about that here: my house building blog),

I took a picture of the whole garden. Keep in mind that this is new construction... NO landscaping has been done!

Featuring...

10 - 4x4 raised beds

5 - 4x8 raised beds

Eventually, I have have landscape fabric isles covered with cedar mulch...

Planted some more...

I planted in the morning...

3 more Roma

some basil

cilantro

radishes

scallions

1 Giant Pumpkin plant in it's very own 2x2 bed

After supper I watered my beds and covered my precious tomato plants.

As I walked around my 7 beds, I couldn't believe how much my onions, peas, & green beans had come up since the morning!

Filled box 4 with Mel's Mix

I filled box 4 (8" deep) with Mel's Mix this afternoon. Will be planting Yukon Golds and some Red potatoes in this box maybe tomorrow!

Also picked up 6 more bales of peat and 14 1cu' bags of compost. I'm so grateful for my teenage son who helped me unload!!!

So far I have planted in my 4x4 "canning" boxes:

-box 2, Wando Peas

-box 3, Bush Green Beans

Spring Crop in box 1:

Lettuce

Spinach

Radishes

Early Peas

Cukes in the north 3 squares