Those of you who know me well know I love to grow vegetables, fruit, spices, and flowers. Here is the beginning of this year’s garden. My husband will be temporarily furloughed soon and we’ll be out there a lot, getting the rest of the garden in shape. Note that I am watering much more since we have a crawler sprinkler, which means I can set it up and forget it as it transits the yard. On this photo tour I will follow the crawler sprinkler’ arc.

The sprinkler covers some badly placed blueberry bushes that won’t transplant well, and an olive tree not doing well this far north that I will dig up and give to my son in Florida when this pandemic is over (we’ll put in an artichoke). No pics of those sad items. But here is our fig tree, and some of the fruit that is nearly ripe.

Across from the figs are our front steps, where we are growing nasturtiums and morning glories, and I’ve just potted a new Meyer lemon.

Next, let’s visit the greens: drought-resistant Jericho loose-leaf cos (Romaine), lark’s tongue kale, and black-seeded Simpson lettuce.

And carrots! It’s nice to have a deep bed so I can grow the full-length ones instead of the half-long varieties. These are Danvers longs, like you’d get in the supermarket.

Above the raised bed and flower garden there’s a set of grape vines. Gonna be a huge crop.

There’s a flower bed with a rock garden next, but the tiger lilies are not blooming yet, and the tulips, flowering creeping thyme, and hyacinths/grape hyacinths are done blooming. And there’s another raised bed behind the flowerbed with fava beans, beet greens, tons of Jerusalem artichokes and all sort of things just sprouting, but sprouts are boring and the asparagus is done. Behind THEM is a log with edible mushrooms (tree ears) and a compost pile under a huge mulberry tree. We can eat those berries but mostly leave them for the birds. And behind that are three 1-ft hazelnut trees as a little hedge. Maybe they’ll finally fruit this year.

I have two more beds that need to be tilled and planted, but the one across from the mulberry needs that tree cut back or it will not get enough sun in the summer. In the winter we want to go back to having our cold box there. The large bed in the back yard will get tilled and planted next, with green beans, tomatoes , okra, and flowers. It’s a wasteland of weeds at the moment, though.

Gardening is what I do to get sun and exercise, pandemic or no. I get to greet neighbors (from a safe distance) out walking their dogs and mom’s out pushing their strollers. It gets a bit hard when it’s 100 degrees out there, but I do my work in the early morning then (except for watering.

More pics as things grow. – Wendy