The Modern Victory Garden

Since the garden is delayed from the normal time frames this year (due to the cool summer we have been having) it means that it is the first week of August and I am not into the big harvest and preserving push that typically starts in late July and keeps going well into September.   It feels quite odd really, but I can see that things are coming along and that soon I will indeed have some big harvests to make and preserve.   I guess my window of time to do all that work and get the preserving done is just going to be more abbreviated this year.   With my daughter recently moving away, I am also going to be doing this without my usual extra help.   This could get interesting!   In the meantime, the workload in the garden is actually pretty low at the moment – mainly watering, light daily harvesting, and a little weeding, and filling in planting.   That will all change when the bean patch gets serious about producing but for the moment it is kind of quiet in the garden.   I am taking advantage of this lull before the big harvest and preserving storm, and getting the last of my fall plantings attended to.                          

You may recall that I have been fussing about the asparagus patch off and on  for well on to two years now.   It just has not been performing like it should and has been a continued disappointment  . It has not been a failure mind you, just an under achiever.   Attempts at rejuvenating it have not been successful and I recently came to the conclusion that I need to just cut my losses and remove the plants and use the bed for something more productive.   So, last Sunday I took a pitchfork and removed/lifted out the large asparagus crowns/roots from the bed, amended it, and then planted it up with the fall crop of spinach.   It is covered with wire mesh panels to protect the seed bed from birds and my cat until the seeds can germinate and get firmly established.                    

I am not really sure what I will do with this bed long term.   It is a good candidate for a perennial planting area and I may end up planting more blueberries or some other fruiting crop in it.   For now though, I will use it as a regular garden bed and continue adding amendments to it to replenish the soil.

The other thing I did Sunday was to plant another succession crop of lettuces in an open 2-foot by 2-foot area of the garden bed.   The spinach and lettuce that I direct seeded joins the long list of items that I already have growing in the garden for the fall and winter.   A short time ago I planted out the fall crops of broccoli and swiss chard and they are already zooming along with growth.       

I also recently planted a big bed of kale, which has also settled right in and started growing well.                      

These crops are in addition to the multiple plantings of carrots, parsnips, turnips, and green onions that have been growing in the garden for a while now.   Together these form the basis of the fall/winter fresh eating harvests that supplement the food we put by from the summer garden.           

While things may be a bit quiet in the garden at the moment, there is lots of action happening in the chicken department. . One of our young hens has produced her first eggs for us this week!   This is about a month ahead of what I was expecting so we were pleasantly surprised.   Her first effort produced two shell less eggs, but they were immediately followed by two average sized and perfectly formed eggs – one a day for the past two days.   She has used the chicken coop nest boxes for both of the “good eggs” and seems to be getting into good production habits right from the start.   Hopefully the other girls will follow her example and similarly figure it out quickly.   My husband ate the first one today and said it was delicious and I will be enjoying the other tomorrow for breakfast.               

The harvest and preserving storm is brewing on the horizon, and I am anxious for it to arrive so I can get going with the annual process of preserving foods for later use - getting the full benefit of the summer garden before the cold fall rains arrive and put an end to the warm weather crops.   In the meantime, I will continue nursing my newly planted fall crops along and try to enjoy the short lull before getting back into the "too much to do at one time" mode.          

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener