Atlantic Gardener: Year Seven - 2016

JUNE

Wednesday, June 1
We got up fairly early today and I ran out for coffees, didn't get into the garden until almost noon though. It was cold and windy, as it has been most of this vacation.

In-ground beds

Erin nearly finished the in-ground beds, just a little more to do. I planted the peas and corn, which finished the first in-ground bed. One down, seven more to go. Got to work on the second bed right away. Emptied two bags of sheep manure into it and then took the rake to work it in. After that I put two wheelbarrow's worth of soil on top, raked it smooth and shaped the bed. Delicata squash and basil were planted in half of it, the other half to be filled with tomatoes once they finish hardening off. After that was done, I took a bit of a break from the hard labor and built/installed a fruit tree cage for the cherry tree I planted earlier in the week. Moving on to the third in-ground bed, I repeated the sheep manure/soil process to shape this bed as well. I wanted to keep going and plant it out, but opted to water everything in before the sun completely disappeared.

Thursday, June 2

Bleeding Hearts

Got up early today and went back for more lumber. I was home by 10am, but didn't get into the garden until noon. I planted 30 square feet of beans: yellow wax, burgundy, and green filet. In that same bed I planted 6 buttercup squash. Almost all the plants are hardened off now, just tomatoes and a few peppers left, but they were out all day today and were fine. Some of the leggier tomato plants bent in the strong wind, but they didn't break, so I'm pretty sure I can plant them, burying the bent part and they'll be fine. I planted another pot of petunias from the seed I harvested last year. Erin finished weeding the last in-ground bed this afternoon, so they're all ready to go and 3 have been prepped and mostly planted. I made 3 more raised beds this afternoon as well (two 4'x8' and one 4'x4'). While I did that, Erin covered the area where the raised beds are going with weed mat. We hadn't done this previously, but we have a particularly nasty weed that is taking over some beds so we decided to err on the side of caution.

Sunday, June 5
We've been so busy working in the garden that I forgot to note what I did on what day on Friday and Saturday. I finished making the raised beds on Friday. Well, all except the sweet potato bed, but it isn't warm enough to plant those yet so I'm not worried about it. I'll get that completed some time this week. We have 3/8 in-ground beds completed. I've decided having the raised in-ground beds is a pain in the ass, so going to get some 2' rebar and lumber to box them in so we don't have to add more soil every year. Easier and less waste. I planted a cherry tree yesterday and also filled the blueberry bed and planted two Chippewa plants in it. I planted two elderberry trees today as well. I still have two chum (cherry/plum cross) shrubs and two cherry shrubs to go in sometime this week. I filled and planted the pepper bed today and laid red mulch on one of the tomato beds, planting and staking 4 tomatoes before the cold got to me finally. Some pictures below show what we've gotten done this week and how things are progressing.