ex gardens

It’s time for another harvest update from Happy Acres. The month of June is almost over, and our harvests are slowly but surely picking up now. Speaking of slow, first I will mention our blueberries. We’ve had these bushes for several years now and lost over half of them over the years. We’ve just got a few berries this year, but we have enjoyed them when we had them. blueberry harvest The lettuce harvests have not disappointed though, and we have been well supplied for months now. Bergam’s Green is a green leaf lettuce that always does well for me in cooler weather. I’ve been planting more heat-resistant varieties lately like Cherokee, Muir and Tehama and these should be ready for cutting soon. lettuce Bergam’s Green The squash and eggplant are starting to come in now, and are a welcome addition to our diet. The Green Machine zucchini and yellow Tempest are two of my favorites and were early to produce this year. first summer squash mid-June ha...

I’m back today with part 2 of the update on the vegetable garden here at Happy Acres. One of the last things I always get planted are the sweet potatoes, and this year I got them in on June 4th. I set out the usual varieties – 29 slips in all, planted in a ridge I made of loose soil. I grow the slips myself from the the previous year’s harvest, and pot them up so they get off to a good start in the garden. I’m mulching them with cardboard and shredded pepper, which helps keep down the weeds and conserve soil moisture. row of sweet potatoes sweet potato plant One of the first things I got planted outside this year were the container eggplants. I’m growing Fairy Tale, Gretel and Icicle again this year, and all are AAS Winners that do quite well for me in containers. I sow these seeds earlier than the main crop varieties, and potted them up outside in mid-April when danger of frost had passed. container eggplants blooms on Fairy Tale eggplant Those plant...

It’s time for another update on the vegetable garden here at Happy Acres. I’ll break it up into two parts since I have quite a few photos to share. To start, the weather here has been fairly dry this spring with rainfall running a bit below average. We have gotten enough rain to get things growing though, and the vegetable garden is looking pretty lush at the moment. Vegetable Garden in June Brassicas are usually the first crop to go in, and this year I got ours planted early in May. They have taken off since then, and I have been spraying with Bt and neem oil to keep the cabbage caterpillars under control. spring brassicas The cabbage plants are heading up, and the big Kossak kohlrabi will be ready to harvest soon. We mostly use these big kohlrabis for fermenting, and the cabbage for fresh use as well as for making sauerkraut. cabbage plant Kossak kohlrabi I got the pole beans planted in late May, and they have really taken off! My main trellis has quite a few of my old fa...