Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share! Good morning, it’s been a warm week, how about some ice coffee? Or tea?
I brought a thermos with my favourite “ice-coffee-protein-drink” (it has rice and pea protein in it.) I know I can use the extra energy. There’s a lot of work to be done! I’m sure I could find some regular tea, or coffee as well, if that is your preference. This will not be a complaining post, but I have to mention that there is a lot of pollen right now, it’s really bad for those of us that has allergies.
As you can see, we are outdoors, at the allotment. Look at how much the rhubarb (above) grew since last week! It is that time of the year when things are very busy. Preparing the garden for the season is labor intense, but I do enjoy it.
The garlic is thriving.We are starting to see some flowers here and there.
When the risk for frost is over, we pump water from the pond below the allotment garden up to each lot, but since it is so early in the season, and we could very well have some more cold nights we don’t pump water yet. For the past ten days I’ve been collecting water from the pond in buckets, that I’ve carried in my wheelbarrow up to my garden. It’s been a great work out for me! (I am looking forward to having access to water at my lot.)
The pond below the allotment, where I get the water for my garden.
Can you hear the birds and the frogs in the background? I’ve stopped listening to music while gardening, to be able to really be in the moment and enjoy.
If you have a Weekend Coffee Share, I’ll try to visit. How are things in your neck of the woods? Please tell me about your week!
Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share! Can I get you a cup of coffee? Or tea? How are you? This morning when I rode my bike to the allotment garden it was very foggy. I had my morning coffee at the garden and it was cold, and frost on the ground. Still a very beautiful and serene morning.
The tiny rhubarbs were frozen.
I’m not worried about them, they are cold hardy. It does look like it’s going to be an amazing year for rhubarbs.
Many budding rhubarbs on the way.
All the berry bushes were covered in frost as well. Looking at the weather forecast this might have been the last cold night for the season, but one never know. I don’t feel completely safe about the last frost until the second week of June. At least the next coming week is going to be very warm and I bet a lot of things are going to happen in the garden the next couple weeks.
I am ahead of weeding, I worked hard with weeding throughout the week. My goal is to do more mulching in the future, like I did in California, to be able to skip the weeding. The difference here is that I don’t have access to the mulching material to the same extent that I had there (I don’t have horses, or friends in the logging business.) I use everything I come by for mulching, but due to the size of my garden it is not enough. I purchase some wood chips every now and then, to add some extra, but I still need more to be able to skip weeding completely.
I planted the seeds that I can plant at this time: carrot, beet, and various flowers. I also transplanted some cabbage to the garden today, I started them cold at my balcony, and they are know in raised beds with a fabric cover. They should do great. I purposely transplanted the cabbage, and put my last seeds in the ground today since it was going to rain all afternoon, followed by warmer weather. It’s always a good idea trying to work with nature.
The two varieties of garlic I planted last fall are cold hardy, and they seem to be doing fabulous. They are heavy feeders, meaning that they want lots of extra nourishment to thrive. I added aged cow manure to all the garlic beds last weekend. I added some to the rhubarbs as well. I also treated all my berry bushes (currants, raspberries, and gooseberries) with an algae fertilizer. I will fertilise the garlic with grass clippings and compost juice throughout the season, but the berry bushes will pretty much take care of them self until I harvest the berries in the fall.
Basil in my window sill. They will become companion plants to my tomatoes at the balcony in June,. The bell pepper plants from my own 10 year old seeds are doing fantastic. They will live in a protected place at my balcony when it gets warmer. This is what it looks like in my kitchen right now. Plants of all sizes are competing for space. The last photo is from work. The children at work that I am creating a school garden with collected sticks to support their plants this week. We also did some work on the garden bed. So far we only have one huge bed that we are preparing like a lasagna garden. In the school garden we are growing peas, beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, and sunflowers so far. There is already two apple trees and several berry bushes in the school yard.
How are things in your neck of the woods? Please tell me about your week!
Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share! Can I get you a cup of coffee? Or tea? How are you?
It’s been a rather cold and windy week in the middle of Sweden where I live. It even snowed a couple times, but the snow didn’t stay. Pretty typical weather for the season. My daughter started the week with a fever and a bad cold. I’ve mostly been taking care of her this week. I’m a little sniffly myself, but I don’t feel sick.
I’m saving this side of the allotment for later, it is the front side of the shed, and the only open space I have. Eventually the plan is to plant 1-2 fruit trees here. In the lower left corner you can see where I access water. It is water from the pond/lake below that is pumped through a system up to every plot.
Yesterday I managed to ride my bike to the allotment, the first time this week. I’ve been wanting to put up the fencing I purchased last weekend, to protect my garden from deer. I’ve decided to concentrate my gardening efforts to the upper ¾ of the allotment, and it made sense to start out fencing that area. I’ve fenced many miles of horse pastures through the years, the main difference is that we are not allowed to make any permanent fixtures, horse pastures are usually made to be permanent. At the allotment there is only one type of fencing allowed (very durable and effective against the massive deer population.) The manufacturer of that fence recommends using their fence posts, in combination with thick wooden fence posts. The wooden fence posts are of a more permanent nature, therefor I had to be creative while fencing without them. The fence is almost invisible to the human eye, unless you are very close, but distinctive to the deer.
Almost invisible fencing from a distance.
I’m rather pleased with how it turned out. I used more fence posts than the recommended amount, since I had to opt out of the wooden ones, and I also attached the fence with metal wire to some of the raised beds, and metal stakes I have for my raspberry bushes. The allotment garden is situated on a sunny, but windy south-facing hillside. It looked good when I was done. I don’t want any of the other gardeners to complain, so that is important when the plots are so close to each other. I will visit the garden store where I purchase the fencing and get more fence posts, for extra sturdiness. The fence is UV resistant and supposed to last for many years. I could easily bring it with me if I would garden at a different location at some point. I think that I’ll probably take it down every winter. We’ll see. Now I’m finally ready to do some gardening! I have the beds in place and the fencing! Let the fun begin!
Speaking of raised beds. Some of you have asked why I choose raised beds and not in ground gardening. I do a combination of both. However, for several reasons it is more efficient for me to grow in raised beds. Our gardening season is very short, and to be able to maximize the yield I must do everything I can to make the season longer. The soil warms up much faster in raised beds, therefor I can plant earlier in the season. There is also a huge problem with the common blue-sow-thistle (Cicerbita macrophylla.)It produces lots of runner’s underground that kills other plants. When I plant in raised beds I can if not eliminate the problem at least minimize it. I have card box at the bottom (it eventually decomposes, but it does help,) followed by small branches, grass clippings, leaves, bokashi compost etc. It is also easier to feed a smaller area with the specific nutrients the crop/crops in that raised bed need, compared to in ground gardening. It is by far easier to maintain, time is of importance when you have other responsibilities. My back also prefers raised beds. Some crops, flower and bushes are perfectly fine planted directly in the ground, they don’t care about the common blue-sow-thistle. I’m trying to be on top of the game when it comes to weeds, but some are very persistent. I find that no-till gardening, combined with lots of mulching are my best friends in that war. I hope that answered the question.
If you have a Weekend Coffee Share, I’ll try to visit. Thank you, Natalie, for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share. How are things in your neck of the woods? Please tell me about your week!
GreenDreams 