Notes from the Garden

Things in the garden are moving along. It feels like the vegetables grow so slowly but the weeds grow mind-blowingly fast. I did a major rotation in my garden this year and everything seems to be doing well where it is. I have yet to move my tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and beans out of the greenhouse but I'm sure once the sun returns they will be happy in the soil.

We have had a rainy week around here. It's good for the garden, it needs a good soaking from time to time but with the rain comes the slugs. They ate, right to the ground, all of my chard and started in on my cabbage and beets. I sprinkled a few crushed eggshells around but I just don't have enough for the whole greens area of my garden. So I filled 6 cups with beer and sunk them in the soil around my greens. It's still raining so I'm not sure it will work, the cups may overflow but at the very least I hope it slows them down.

The fruit is now visible on the trees. Cherry, pear and apple all seem to be very happy with our busy bees. The peach and the Asian pear are not doing well this year and it's too soon to tell for the grape. Our raspberries appear well and it looks like we will have a decent harvest. We have decided that it is time to replace our blueberries. Only 1 of our 4 bushes even produced flowers this year. Our blueberries were transplants from my parents yard and it seems that they did not adjust to the change. It's been 2 years and no improvement. Sadly, it's time to move on.

The garden is certainly a busy place. We have more birds, bees and butterflies than ever before. It makes me so happy to see nature working as it should. We plant flowers like nasturtiums, sunflowers and calendula in between our vegetables so that all the insects feel welcome in our garden (or at least the beneficial ones. Slugs, that does not include you!). This is my favorite part of the coming summer season. Watching my garden blossom and change grounds me, it is a integral part of our lives now and sharing it with April makes it all the more fulfilling.