Saturday, April 16, 2011

Garden Updates April

In the Back Garden: The Brassica Bed has really filled in! We're currently harvesting Komatsuna a lot, radishes and a few strategically thinned Bok Choi greens.
The Potato plants have started their vigorous growth. The large barrel is there to keep the extra soil to mound around the potatoes as they grow.  As many of you know, this encourages root formation and more tuber growth.  We dug the bed deep, planted the seed potatoes, allowed them to sprout and have been filling the soil back in gradually.
Everything is so green!
Zuke flower!
A view of the herb/flower garden
The neighbor's trellis adds to our garden. :-)
Hi Happy (he's in the left edge) Herb Garden has Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Garlic Chives, Rugen Alpine Strawberries, Chrysanthemums and Dianthus. We have a few other plants tucked in there too. We're trying to grow "Oca". It might be too hot for the plant in this area, but they prefer sandy loam and the "pond" area has amended soil with lots of sand.
Spanish Black Radish flowering. We found the radish at Whole Foods Market. My Mom takes the black radish supplement and she says it really does help with antibacterial properties. She had a toothache and says after taking the supplement, the toothache is gone. (she also said in combination she stopped eating sugar as well) So, when we found the radish, we bought 2 and stuck it in the ground.
OK, onto the front garden. This bed has Cock's Comb (edible leaves), Violets (edible flowers), Mung Beans and the leafy green is Yu Mai Kai a Chinese Lettuce enjoyed mostly for it's thick stem.
The asparagus plants are starting to grow in the trench we dug
Persimmon tree is leafing out nicely. Under it grows some Feverfew, a blue-violet pansy that grew on it's own and I've planted a few Kidney and mung beans. We'll see how they do.
here's a close up on the pansy
In the Strawberry beds, I planted a few bush-type beans to fix nitrogen. Hopefully the slugs don't eat these.

4 comments:

Mr. H. said...

Everything looks great! I was happy to see all of your pictures are up and that I was able to look at the amazing gardens you have created...and your mom in the tree.:) Very interesting information on the radish, I had never heard that before. Also, I am excited to see how oca grows for you as I have often considered trying to grow it myself, hope yours turns out.

pelenaka said...

What a wonderful garden. Great use of space it really flows.
Bewary of feverfew, it really can take hold & spread.

AJK said...

Thanks Mr. H! We'll see how the oca grows. It says they prefer partial shade, and that pond area is very sunny for most of the time. I've planted some in a pot as well, so that we can move it around to see what sun exposure they prefer the most.

AJK said...

Thanks Pelenaka. Yes, we're very aware of the crazy proliferation powers of Feverfew. They just sprout everywhere!! But whenever we see one out of it's place, we nip them early. That and New Zealand Spinach sprout everywhere!