Somewhere around the 6th year of The Pickleman Family Garden on #hive. What started as a reclamation of lawn and repurposing to a simple garden veggie box has become and expanding and perpetual yearly tradition of exploration.
This edition, I am just started with the challenge of spending as little as possible and growing as much as possible.
Where we started...
Oh yah. It was a long winter and I took my time letting it get into spring before I did much about it.
Here we are a couple weeks in after some planting and mowing and fortifying. We are on our way to Veggietown!
Rain
We had a few sunny days after planting the seedlings and an almost emptying of the rain barrel for watering them every night. Seemingly at the perfect moment, the rain came and went. Over and over splitting time with the bright spring sunshine. Could be great for some growin'!
Tomatoes Galore
I let the girls pick the plants and where they went. Who am I to deny help and my little one has spent the semester in Green Industries class. I popped a huge muff of oregano from another bed to live with the tomatoes. Little did I know, they were about to plant 9 tomato plants ranging from Beefsteak to cherry. This is going to become a tomato jungle packed this close and I am going to have to do some serious pruning and vining. I have some expensive fertilizer to keep them going and am pumped for a bumper crop. Hope I don't jinx myself.
Peppers
I should have been named Zeke Pepperman for how much I love growing, eating and processing hot peppers. I couldn't find my favourite giant jalapeno variety but did find a standard one for a few bucks at a grocery store. One of the milder peppers I like to grow.
Among the hottest peppers I grow are Ghost Peppers. Some of the meanest heat you can imagine and the even smallest addition to a hot sauce makes it painfully almost inedible. I have some bottom branch knocking off to do as this is growing like a weed and everything below the first few flowers must go.
Squash
My girls are partial to spaghetti squash and zucchini. This is going to be a mess. Those leaves grow so big and they will battle for the end of the raised bed with the cucumbers. A couple yellow cucumber seedlings and a packet of English cucumber seeds planted in the corner. If I can get the cucumbers up into the sun and let the squash crawl around the ground, I might do alright.
Speaking of pickles, I have a couple sprouts popping in an area that has the most sun in the middle of the yard. I haven't had much luck with the pickles ironically so maybe this will be my year. Pickling them with a ghost pepper in the jar might make some wild hot pickles.
Greens & Strawberries
More rain and a past due mow and we are off and growing. I took the chainsaw to the tree and cleaned up anything under 8 feet so there might actually be more sunlight and airflow for the veggies. Raspberry and mint are already grappling for space in the flower bed and the lillies have thrown up plenty of green to start filling things in. Not a bad start to what hopefully will be a season of growing, eating and sharing.
We are experimenting with these little nets this year over the greens bed and strawberry patch. I am not sure how effective they will be with dogs and rabbits who enjoy going to war on my garden boxes. I have already walked out to find a rabbit under the net happily feasting on strawberries.
I caught him before he ate them all though and there looks to be plenty to go around in the next couple weeks.
Herbs are doing alright in the rail planters. Dill and cilantro, Italian parsley and thyme. With the oregano and basil, I should be cooking up some delicacies this summer and will have too much to dry for the winter.
Blooms
I have continued to collect pictures of all the flowers in the garden and yard. These peonies were planted a couple decades ago by the original house owner and still come up strong and early every year. They are just loving the rain and I haven't had to water them yet this season.
Even the gnome hanging out in the lavender seems to be enjoying the weather so far this spring. A good start to gardening season for sure.
Mom started me along my path of growing stuff when I was a kid. Motivated by so many blockchain blogging gardeners, I figured I would plant and share and learn as I reclaim as much grass space as I can. It has turned out to be a fruitful experience and I hope to inspire you to sow and grow no matter what your location or experience level is.
Wherever you are...JUST GROW!
I am honoured to curate for:
Your garden looks splendid, I can imagine the contrast of colors it will have when the strawberries ripen. It will be a sight to behold. Congratulations on your achievements in your garden 🎉.
Wow thanks!
It is a humble price t but seems special when you can share it with others!
Wow! The garden looks wonderful, healthy, and fresh. You managed to stuff so much in that space, the peppers are taking off, ours aren't doing nearly as well but it's early yet. You mentioned spaghetti squash as your girls' favs, mine too. I stuff them with all kinds of goodies, cheese, tomatoes, peppers onions, sausage, whatever is in the fridge or the gardens. Just half of the squash stuffed makes for an entire meal.
I wish you the best of luck with the pickles Mr. Pickleman, with that name, how can you miss?
Enjoy the rest of the day. Grow baby grow.
With this network of gardeners sharing their experience, how could it not work out well?
Good news is a couple of the pickle cucumber plant seeds have popped so we might be in luck! 🍀 🥒
Homemade pickles are the best, freshly made the crunch is awesome, I love them on sandwiches. I sure hope you have good luck with them, do you grow dill for them, we do, and it adds so much to the pickle, Mr. Pickleman.
Oh yah. Dill is so easy to grow. Good for sauces too.
We enjoy dill on fish as well as in the pickles we make.
There I go talking about pickles again Mr. Pickleman.
Your family garden is looking green and robust! You have almost everything in there! Ghost pepper you say? I wonder if they are similar to what we call the devil's chili (I have no photo of it right now but they are so spicy they burn).
I imagine you will be having pickles in the year. All the best!
Oh ya if you are wondering about the heat of Ghost 🌶️ then you have no idea how mean they are.
Ansolutely ridiculous and painful. I prefer habaneros and have some of those in with the greens.
Let there be pickles!!
Oh my! From that scale, they're one of the meanest peppers!
There will be pickles and we will see them when you have them😅
I admire anybody who has the patience and skill to grow something :) Especially, hops, barley and wheat, but basically anything else. I am a plant destroyer, I even killed a cactus. It was an accident though. It was in the winter, I was living alone back then, so nobody could save it. One day, I opened a window and left to do some grocery shopping around the corner. But you never know! I met a friend, we went for a cup of coffee, met other people there, went for a pint or two... When I finally got home two days later, the flat was freezing and the cactus didn't seem to be thriving. Few weeks later, I had no choice but to pronounce the poor plant dead...
Did I mention I am growing hops too?
Planning a single malt single hop ipa at harvest time!
Wow, now you have my full attention sir :)) That's gonna be the coolest #beersaturday post ever :)
Ya they are Eukanot hops from a hop farm close to here. Transplanted them from a deck planter to the flower garden ground so hopefully they will go nuts this year.
The coolest #beersaturday post will be when I visit you and we go on a brewery tour!
Have I told you about Zlý časy (lit. Bad Times) bar here in Prague? It has 3 storeys with 10+ different beers on tap on each floor. Nobody has ever tasted all, ascending from the deepest souterrain back to the surface :))
It happens to be the place I often take my foreign friends to - especially those who claim they are not into beer at all. You can sample basically any style there, including Lambic beers.
It's the best place to kick the tour off :)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UV5td1ftTb15AaX17
IN!
What a difference from the first pic to what you have going on now. You may not have the room I have but you sure do use your space wisely. What a bonus when you get rain and sun and that pattern repeats itself for a few days. Watering takes some time but with the cooperation of Mother Nature that time can be spent doing other garden-related stuff, like weeding. 😁
I think we're in the same boat when it comes to the amount of tomatoes we will be getting, loads of them. There's never a problem giving some away as most folks adore homegrown tomatoes.
Those Ghost Peppers are right near the top of the chart for putting your mouth on fire. Zekepepperman, I like that name, maybe you should open another account.
Always like to hear when parents get their children involved like your mom did with you.
Have you ever thought about making Rabbit stew?
This year I hope you get more pickles than you know what to do with.
Have a splendid weekend, my friend
Funny thing is my mom never grew a thing. She just assigned that to me and I planted all her annual flowers for her so very humble beginnings. ;)
Eastern Cottontail stew? I might have to look up that recipe!
That is funny, but at least she set the **seed **of enthusiasm and you decided to run with it.
If you make the stew just say that it's beef stew or your kids may never talk to you again.
Everything's popping up nicely there. I envy your rain as here we've been under a severe lack of it. Had a chuckle at that rabbit safe under the net happily munching away. Luckily, your berries look plentiful. Am voting yes on the pickles lol
This time you are lucky :) No rain here for a while and it has become so hot lately!
Indeed. Usually the rain comes between grey cool days. These last couple weeks it is showers half the day and bright warm sun the other half. Rain water and sunshine will hopefully mean a strong beginning for everything this year.
Wow! good work, I hope you are going to get your pickles timely.
No if history repeats itself but I am determined!
I really don’t know why I’m into tomato plants these days. I actually feel like having my tomato plant but I don’t know how to go about it. Your plants look healthy though and I’m sure it took you a long time to have brought them this far
Those seedlings were acquired from the high school greenhouse sale for a dollar. Besides mixing compost, manure and fertilizer into the soil, we just plant and wait. Trim lower branches and pick tomatoes in a couple months!
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