SteemIt Community Garden Journal Challenge

This edition of the SteemIt Community Garden Journal 2018 Challenge is almost over, so it’s about time I show you around my own June garden.

The Challenge

I started the SteemIt Community Garden Journal 2018 Challenge at the end of April. I wanted to give all gardeners a chance to create their personal garden journal here on SteemIt. Posting a garden update every month would allow them to see how their garden would grow and flourish month after month.

About a week ago, I launched the ‘Early June’ edition. You can still join if you want to. You can read all about it here:

🌺 SteemIt Community Garden Journal Challenge 2

In case the challenge has ended by the time you read this, I invite you to use the #gardenjournal2018 tag for all your garden updates - whether I have a challenge running or not - to allow other gardeners to take a peek into your garden.

My Own Update

I know, I should have posted my own garden update sooner. But better late than never, right?

I’ll level with you: I have mixed feelings about my dear veggie garden this year. Of course, there’s the fun and the excitement of seeing all plants grow day after day. But I also feel a lot of frustration: because I’m still recovering from a surgery I had, I’m not allowed to do a whole lot... as in: almost nothing.

My girlfriend knows how much joy the garden brings me, so she has done all the planting, she waters the plants and takes care of them. All I can do is watch.
Since she has a busy job ánd has to take care of all work around the house as long as I’m down, only the work that is strictly necessary is done.

This means the garden looks completely chaotic. Weeds are growing everywhere, making it look like a battle field...

The Good News

The good news is that inbetween all those weeds, there are plenty of veggies growing.

^Source

Up until last week, we had the best weather conditions a gardener could dream of: a lot of sunshine and high temperatures during the day, with a decent splash of rain in the evening. As a result, everything has been growing at warp speed.

Big Difference

When I posted my previous garden journal back in April, there wasn’t a lot going on yet. That has changed massively.

You can read my previous update and see the pics of my empty garden here

In fact, I’ve got so much going on right now, I will have to create more than one post to show off all my fancy veggies and fruits. :0)

Backyard Garden

Most of my vegetables and fruits are grown in raised beds and containers. Only the perennials that can survive winter have been planted in the ground.

Fruits

Among those are the fruit trees and bushes. The apple tree and peach tree have only been planted last year, so it’s too soon for them to grow fruit.

The grapevines, however, are already growing tiny, little grapes.

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The plum tree and the fig tree are a year older, and although the fig tree has loads of figs this year, we have exactly one plum. Unfortunately, we both don’t like figs, so there will be plenty of gifts for our friends later this year.

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The rasperry bush was a real success last year, and it looks like it’s going to be even better this year. We already had some. So delicious...

The currant bush is actually growing berries this year. Last year the entire bush was eaten by slugs, so just a couple of berries is already a winner.

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Veggies

But let me move on to my real passion: the veggies in the raised beds and containers.

Crosne

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In the back of the garden, we have two large containers in which we grow Chinese artichoke, AKA Crosne.

I discovered these crispy little cuties last year and doubled the production.

It’s probably the easiest veggie in the world to grow: you just add a couple of tubers to a container and forget about them. The tubers will multiply underground at warp speed, and a gorgeous plant starts growing.

When winter comes, you have hundreds of these Michelin Man resembling tubers that are enjoyably crunchy.

(Click here to see what these adorable tubers l👀k like)

Two Sisters

In this bed, I’m growing different kinds of beans, peas, and a squash variety. I wanted to add corn to the mix to create the famous 'three sisters', but that didn't work out...

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I believe companion planting is the way to go if you want to grow healthy crops, so I’ve thrown in a couple of extras: nasturtiums and calendula flowers, mainly to keep the aphids away from the veggies, but also because both are extremely delicious. I’ve got both all over the garden, together with all kinds of Marigolds.

You’ll also notice there’s some borage in there. I like the cucumber-like taste of it, ánd it attracts bees and wasps that will kill harmful bugs and make sure everything is pollinated. to top it off, there’s some flat leaf parsley, which attracts other useful bugs.

The Giant-To-Be

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In the raised bed next to it, I’m growing a melon variety, next to another squash variety. This last one is a newcomer for this year.

I got three seeds of the fig-leaf gourd through a seed swap, and was lucky that one sprouted.

I have no experience with this plant, nor have I tasted the fruit before. All I know is that the stem of this cutie can grow to become five to fifteen meters long and that one plant can produce up to 50 fruits.
I truly hope we’ll like it, lol.

Potatoes

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Maybe hard to believe, but true: potatoes are first timers too. I’ve never grown them before.

I got three different kinds, all planted in to special ‘potato bags’. I was pleasantly surprised to see they grow beautiful plants and even bloom with some colorful flowers.

Melon Pear

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This is one of my favorites. The sweet pepino, or melon pear was another one of last year’s successful experiments.

It is a perennial, but I had to take it inside during winter and I forgot to water it; it died on me.

The fruit is of the most delicious I ever tasted, so I definitely wanted another plant. I tried sowing, but that didn’t work out. So I got myself some cuttings from the same mother-plant as I did last year. I can already see the little purple flowers, ... I can’t wait for them to turn into fruit.

Cabbage

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I started the season early with different cabbages. We already ate the cauliflower and one of the oxheart cabbages, but there are also plenty left: more oxheart cabbages, red cabbages, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, savoi cabbage,...

In the back, you can see another set of potato plants.

Lemon (Apple) Cucumber

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Here you can see the first flower on one of the small cucumber “Lemon Apple” plants.

I discovered this cucumber variety last year and simply had to grow them again. Instead of long and green, the fruit is round and yellow, with a sweeter taste.

I tried to sow them inside early in the season, but for some reason all little seedlings died on me after I transplanted them. So I sowed some seeds directly into the ground, very last minute. Because I don’t know whether they will have enough time left to grow, I’ve kept all 6 plants, to see which one grows the fastest.
I’m happy to see a little flower is already growing - even if it is just one.

Yacon

Another one of my favorites. Yacon, or Peruvian Groundapple. Again one of last year’s top hits.

Yacon is a close relative to the Jerusalem Artichoke and the sunflower. It’s not only a very beautiful plant, its edible tubers are very juicy and taste like apple.

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In the fall I took 21 cuttings from my plant, but only one survived winter. It still doesn’t look very strong, but fortunately, I’ve got a backup plan: I overwintered the stem of last year’s plant, and it resprouted.
I’m not sure the season will be long enough for the resprouted one to fully grow, but I truly hope at least one out of both will grow those delicious roots.

Herb Spiral

When I came to live here, there was this beautiful stone herb spiral in the garden. A very cool thing to see.

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Last year I decided to give companion planting a go. As a result, all my herbs are growing in the raised beds or containers - in between the veggies - to make themselves extra useful. I must admit it is quite a challenge to get the herb spiral filled since.

But I’m trying. There’s some sage, rosemary, thyme, some strawberries, lemon balm, different kinds of mint, marjoram, curry plant and even some New Zealand Spinach. I’ve also planted chive, some mustard greens, chervil and at the top there is a bush of lavender.

I’ve got my own little herbal pharmacy, right there in the garden.

More To Come Soon

As you’ve probably noticed, I like to experiment with veggies that are a little out of the ordinary.
Out of the ordinary... at least, for our cold, wet, Belgian climate.

I’ve got plenty more to show you, but I will do so in my next post. This one is long enough as it is.

A little taste of what’s yet to come: my tomato and sweet pepper varieties, Jerusalem Artichoke, Paleleaf Woodland Sunflower, Chayote and more...

Stay tuned!!

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