Sunday, June 29, 2014
Picking Cherries
We've reached the point at Red Bucket Farm where we are much too busy---sowing, weeding, watering, fertilizing (chicken poop tea!), harvesting, cleaning, processing, tending the chickens and bees---to have time to write a blog post. But there is a bit of photographic evidence that the orchard ladder is useful and well worth the cost. Our three tart cherry trees suffered no losses over the cold winter.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Container Gardening
Every year my gardening ambitions exceed my ground space, and so I use containers as overflow. Many herbs grow well in pots. I'm growing parsley, rosemary, chives, pineapple sage and basil in containers on our back patio. Elevating them off the ground keeps the voracious bunnies from eating tender seedlings. Fresh herbs are amazing to eat and easy to grow.
This year is the first time I'm growing "Tom Thumb" dwarf peas in containers. The pea pods are beginning to form and we're excited to sample them soon.
I'm experimenting with growing leafy greens in shallow planting dishes that we like to call "salad bowls." In the foreground is kale, plus spinach and bok choi in the background (not yet germinated). Notice that I've hung the shade cloth in the greenhouse. It's frequently 100 degrees in there!
Finally, I intended to put this broccoli in the ground in a new raised bed, but it's not going to happen this year. I transplanted the little seedlings into 6" pots. I've got nothing to lose at this point, so we'll see if it works.
If you have even a tiny patio or balcony, you can do this too!