Garden Update–June 5, 2015

The garden has been growing and growing with a lot of success.

The above was taken today, and the below was taken just two weeks ago. Amazing the growth in such a short amount of time. You can see the sunchokes in the background really taking off. The cabbage and collards have been proving nice salads and now the cabbage is producing small heads.

A small harvest of honeyberries today. I have been enjoying small harvests most days for over a week now. Yum! I really appreciate getting to finally eat some since I planted them three seasons ago. I like them and look forward to more! They taste like a cross between a blueberry and a raspberry.

My chives are blooming nicely. I am excited for this plant to spread a bit to add some more color and diversity to the yard.

All the peonies are blooming now. Red, white, and pink. They look and smell nice. The ants are really enjoying crawling all over them.

One set of the irises in the backyard is done and now this set is nearly done as well. They are really large flowers. Great to look at and completely surrounded by garlic chives.

The lilies in the front are starting to bloom as well. The petals will add some nice color to our salads.

Finally, the front yard has been hit pretty hard by a new rabbit population. I’ve had strawberries in the front for a few years now, but this is the first year they have been chewed down. I think it will severely hamper the harvest. I hope they can bounce back soon. The poor sunflowers are another story. They are just green sticks right now. The rabbits chewed off all the leaves. I started them nearly two months ago, and was really looking forward to the silly 12 foot tall plants. I have started some more seeds, but I am not sure they will have enough time to mature now.

To address the furry pest problem, I have ordered some narcissus bulbs. The flowers will look great and they should keep the deer, rabbits, and squirrels away. I also planted some perennial onions in with some of the beds. I will move some garlic chives into the area as well. All three should do a nice job keeping the critters back and they are all perennial, so low maintenance. My backyard has a sturdy fence, so I haven’t had a lot of pest issues in the past.