I've got two pretty small garden plots in the yard down by the lake. I haven't dug up more and turned it into garden yet. I am working on a third spot (has to be several small spots to grab sunshine, I've got a lot of oak trees.) I had mustard planted there this last winter, I'll work on clearing it late this summer and plant winter peas this fall so it will be ready to for gardening next Feb/Mar. Cover crops that feed the soil are a boon when fertilizer is expensive.
I've got my muscadines and fig up the hill nearer the house. This morning I fertilized my muscadines and fig tree. I'll get a few muscadines off the vines this year perhaps, fig should produce next year.
Strawberries are still bearing. I'm giving them organic fertilizer (it's more gentle) once a week. Strawberries have been producing for a bit over a month now, should continue until the heat gets them sometime in May. I didn't cut the runners off the plants this last cycle so I've just about doubled the number of strawberry plants I've got now. They are in a spot that gets morning sun and afternoon shade which is perfect for the plants surviving the summer heat and seems to have helped protect them from the worst of the two freezes we had this last winter. In a doubling year, you get smaller berries but add plants for the next year so the berries haven't been real big, but it will be worth the trade off come next year.
The lower plot closest to the lake was where I planted the beans. They got flooded when they were just coming up and it trashed the rows. I figured it trashed the beans too and was going to replant, then they started coming up all over the little plot. Little plot looks like it will have a good bean crop so I'm going to let it roll with that. The back of that plot is beanless and that's a really good spot for the okra, which will go in mid-May. When the beans finish, there should be time for a round of squash before the insect pressure gets too strong.
The other plot has the strawberries and will also have the tomatoes and peppers.
In the next week or so, I'm going to plant a metric ton of purty plants in the area where the gardens are, flowering plants that will attract butterflies and assorted other winged creatures that will help with pollination. There are no bees around here, but other things work for pollinating too, just got to make the area look enticing. First year I gardened here, I pollinated my squash with a q-tip. It was semi-successful, but neither the squash nor I enjoyed the process. I'm working on creatures now who can do the work for me.
I also have two greenstalk planters. I actually have three, but no idea why I bought the third one... it was on sale.
The one on the back porch has strawberries in the bottom three rounds and I planted a mixture of leafy things for salads in the top rounds. The one on the front porch is still in the box with bags of potting mix next to it. That was going to be the project for the days I was off that I decided to spend having a heart attack instead. So, I'm now back in fighting gear enough to get it set up and filled. It will be herbs, odds and ends plants, and maybe even a flower if I'm feeling fancy.
I don't have any pictures yet. I'll get some as things fill out, but here's what the greenstalk planters look like. That pic is from their website.
