The June 1st Garden

Mostly for my own information, I'm going to photograph my raised beds, the field garden, and the pumpkin patch on June 1st, July 1st, August 1st, and September 1st. I think it will be interesting to see the changes as the summer season progresses.

Here are the 26 raised beds (each 4' x 8') I have to work with. All but four are planted out. Some that are planted may look bare because the plants are either so small or haven't germinated yet. I'll be posting pictures of individual beds later; these pictures today were taken from hubby's upstairs office window so I could get each entire area in one shot.

The field garden is 35' x 40'. The bottom left is the strawberry patch which is looking really good right now with oodles of blossoms on each plant. To the right of the berries I have four rows of potatoes. My potato sets were sprouted more than I'd have liked them to be when planted, but I'm hoping for the best. I'd say about half of them have leaves showing above the soil now.

Above the strawberries you can see a teepee trellis that has morning glories planted around it which are about an inch tall. Beyond the trellis is a row of green beans (just breaking through the dirt) and then bare ground that I'm going to plant some Red Kuri squash in. I wasn't going to plant any squash or pumpkins this year because we're improving the soil in the pumpkin patch but because I cut back on some other veggies, I have this available piece in the field garden that just HAS to be planted out in something. I love Red Kuri squash but almost had a coronary when I purchased one in our local organic co-op this winter. It was about 6-7" in diameter and cost $8. Gulp. Yup, I'm gonna stick a few squash seeds in that there bare spot!

To the right of where the squash will be planted and above the rows of potatoes are four rows of trellises; two for pickling cucumbers and two for shell peas. The peas are about 2" tall and the cucs have yet to be planted.

Last but not least is the pumpkin patch (14' x 23') planted out in an oat and barley mix. It's getting very close to being ready to be plowed under (before it heads out) as a green manure crop to enrich the soil. Then we'll plant some buckwheat and plow it under in time, also.

So that's the garden area as of today, June 1st. Here's hoping it looks a lot different on July 1st!