Garden 2022

[gravitylover]

Try bordering sections with leafy evergreens. I like Holly but I don't know if it'll grow where you are, it's drought resistant, deer hate it and it fills in pretty thick in just a few years but it's water intensive to get it there. Cozy is an appropriate word for it. Sometimes I just sit there "wasting time" and appreciating the quiet.

[mb6f50]

Start digging a root cellar. Sounds like harvest time. Are the bulbs fully formed?

I'm not sure. Im gonna dig some up after work today, I just realized it wasn't a good thing they were starting to get a flower bud.

[gravitylover]

Thankfully my garlic didn't quit early it just needed way more water What should I do with the scapes? They look so juicy...

Shera, another thing I do is - if it comes out of the ground in the yard it goes back into it. There's more composting (rotting ) organic material than there probably should be, leaves are still here from 2 years ago not just last year and you see what I do with big branches and trees that come down. While a lot of what's growing back here is considered invasive nothing has really taken over, there's a pretty good mix of things that just like to grow here so I don't argue with it too much. I think if you're designing a new place maybe look at what grows in similar biozones and elevations around the world and see if some of them can "green up" the space and break up those shades of beige. One of those rotating barrel composters might be good to have, they don't use much water at all and you can recycle everything organic to have fertilizing, moisturizing compost. We get so much rain I just pile shit up and a year later it's soil.
Berries! and that 4 year old Thyme is thriving and has all of these beautiful little flowers

[The AD]

So far this season we've harvested radishes, dill, and basil. Tomatoes are still looking quite spindly due to the cool weather. Only got potatoes planted a couple weeks ago, so just starting to see some greenery emerge from the soil. Lots of strawberries starting to form, but none are ripe yet.

[Thaleia]

Re scapes - great grilled with a bit of evoo, s and p, or pan fry like you would tough veg ei rapini or spinach. Even worth trying raw tbh.

[John_B]

Re scapes - great grilled with a bit of evoo, s and p, or pan fry like you would tough veg ei rapini or spinach. Even worth trying raw tbh.

100% agree. I grilled some last year and then made pesto with the rest. The pesto was decent but the grilled ones were great. I treated it like asparagus and it worked well.

[Powder Ho]

Re scapes - great grilled with a bit of evoo, s and p, or pan fry like you would tough veg ei rapini or spinach. Even worth trying raw tbh.

I leave them raw, slice thin and put them in salads.
I put some in a pot of Farro last nite. Really good.

[John_B]

Well the dog just discovered she really likes the taste of pea plants and just about cleaned us out. Fuck! After the berating she just got she appears to not be willing to get within 20 feet of the garden so we will see how the next few days go and if the rest of the plants make it.

[Norseman]

deez purple peez in the back be 7 ft tall

[Terrapin Ben]

The garden is planted, but we're really waiting for some sunny days and warm weather in Western MT so it can really start growing. So we've been foraging the forest in the mean time....

[gravitylover]

Rosemary says
It's Thyme for some Peas
Basil and Dill are along for the ride

[Norseman]

.

[Norseman]

And some neighborhood fairy gardens

[shera]

Try bordering sections with leafy evergreens. I like Holly but I don't know if it'll grow where you are, it's drought resistant, deer hate it and it fills in pretty thick in just a few years but it's water intensive to get it there. Cozy is an appropriate word for it. Sometimes I just sit there "wasting time" and appreciating the quiet.

Shera, another thing I do is - if it comes out of the ground in the yard it goes back into it. There's more composting (rotting ) organic material than there probably should be, leaves are still here from 2 years ago not just last year and you see what I do with big branches and trees that come down. While a lot of what's growing back here is considered invasive nothing has really taken over, there's a pretty good mix of things that just like to grow here so I don't argue with it too much. I think if you're designing a new place maybe look at what grows in similar biozones and elevations around the world and see if some of them can "green up" the space and break up those shades of beige. One of those rotating barrel composters might be good to have, they don't use much water at all and you can recycle everything organic to have fertilizing, moisturizing compost. We get so much rain I just pile shit up and a year later it's soil.

Nice thoughtful response. I need to show you some pics. I live in zone 3 (-30-40F) at 10,000 elev. in the Colorado rockies, and we have alkaline soil and little humidity and generally arid, so those nice broadleaf evergreens like rhododendrons and holly won't do here. But that's ok, I have some lodgepole pine trees and I like the snow cover a lot. Also in winter it's good to let the sun in, so I'm focusing on "enclosure" for the warm months.

I had a little gardening/landscaping business at 9000 ft years ago but this is a whole other level at 10k. It's a really unique and interesting challenge. And I have a level of freedom here that I didn't have doing other people's gardens, so I'm experimenting. I'm planting aspens on the boundaries, hope to get the effect of your garden. Like a meadow clearing in a forest area, but with formality and structure. That's what I have in my head.

I found something in an alley, smells like celery, looks like celery, but it gets as tall as your head! Oh, I'm also using hops vines. They look amazing here.

Why do the pics get rotated? How to fix? We had a hard freeze (28F) a couple of nights ago, froze the pansies solid:

[gravitylover]

You know what might be good is Cowboy Toilet Paper (Great Mullein). It grows very well throughout the west, just clip the flowers as they go to seed or you'll have Mullein forest in a year or two. The beer can is for size reference, it's a foot taller this week and should end up around 6' tall. I don't know how one ended up in my yard, probably bird poop, but it's pretty awesome.

[shera]

I love it! Like lambs ears on steroids!

That's perfect for the boundary, dry. I also have irrigation, good water pressure. I'm even intending a boggy area, maybe do iris.

Thanks for ideas! Happy for more.

[shera]

Is it already beer time in New york?

[gravitylover]

You have to start early to deal with living here

[shera]

[BobMc]

Attachment 419908

[gravitylover]

I never get a bowl of peas like that I snack on them when I'm walking around the garden so there's never enough for a big pull

[Thaleia]

^Same, even though I've basically quadrupled the amount I sowed this year lol.

[riser4]

I never get a bowl of peas like that I snack on them when I'm walking around the garden so there's never enough for a big pull

I thought the whole reason to grow peas was to have snacks for when you're in the garden.

[BobMc]

I thought the whole reason to grow peas was to have snacks for when you're in the garden.

That’s what these are for…



The birds and resident mouse try to beat me to them.

I have a 4x8 box filled with peas, much like Norseman’s pic I’ve got a metric fuck ton of them. 8 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein in a cup of them, the wife is doing her best to eat them all.

[mb6f50]

That’s what these are for…



The birds and resident mouse try to beat me to them.

Paint some rocks red and put them around your strawberries before there are strawberries.

The bird will peck the rock and think the strawberries are red rocks.

Probably won't work with mice.