We spent Friday evening in the garden until dark, accomplishing quite a bit in one evening. A few productive hours in the garden may have been all I needed to get my motivation back.
One of you asked how we garden with the little ones. Typically they are in the garden with us. Beatrix at three years old is actually a pretty good helper. She likes to plant with me and I teach her how as we go. It is slower work that way, but well worth it. I teach her how to plant, she teaches me how to slow down in the moment. That’s a pretty good trade off. Silas has to be watched all the time, but there are a lot of us so that usually isn’t too hard. He rides on wheelbarrow loads of mulch, is pulled around in a wagon by the big boys, or does a little digging. I have to watch to make sure he doesn’t end up in a bed with small seedlings. Larkspur loves the garden and even likes to pull weeds. She doesn’t have the longest attention span yet, but she helps in little spurts and then wanders around admiring things.
I am not yet discouraged by insect pests because the boys are doing a really good job picking them off. They are making good money, much to Jonny’s dismay. I offered to pay five cents per insect, but then decided that squash bugs are worth 10 cents each because I hate them so. Now that we owe Seth almost twenty bucks, I am thinking that I did offer to pay them a little too much. But, If I can grow a squash of any sort this year I think it will be worth the money.
These are pickling cucumbers, looking good so far. The Marketmore cucumbers were completely consumed by groundhogs, but I am going to replant. There’s time.
I pulled several of the Amish paste tomato plants after the groundhogs came through, but left most of them. Hopefully they will rebound and end up doing allright.
Tomatillo (purchased three plants at a local farm)
Borage: I see lots of bees visiting, but not honeybees.
Slug damage on red norland potato plants. They grow lower to the ground than the other varieties we are growing so I guess are more susceptible to slugs?
There is clover blooming everywhere. I am grateful that we’ve been planting it for many years now because the honeybees love it of course.
Our neighbor’s zucchini plants are huge. Mine are babies. I got mine transplanted into the garden on June 3rd.
The bachelor buttons are all flopped over and messy but I don’t dare pull them out. They are my favorite.
I’ve planted one of our big central square beds with sweet potato slips that I started in this wheelbarrow using sweet potatoes from a local farm. Two other beds were planted with slips I bought at the farm store. It will be fun to compare.
These are our Wal-Mart grapes. I bought one of those plants in a box many years ago. There are so many grapes this year, but they will most likely all turn brown one by one and drop off because I don’t do anything to take care of them or prevent disease.
There are lots of blackberries in our very untidy blackberry patch. We’ve still got a couple of weeks to wait though. Most of them are green.
I asked Jonny to clear an area behind his shop and cover it with black plastic for me. I wanted a new area to grow sprawling plants. I have no idea how this will go because we’ve done nothing to the soil here. It has just been host to weeds as long as we’ve lived here. In this “bed” I planted: Athena melons, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, maybe a pie pumpkin or two (I had some help with my labels…) and Georgia rattlesnake watermelons. All were transplanted into the bed on June 3. So far the squash bugs haven’t discovered them. (Shhhh!)
June 15 garden photo before we spent hours working…so it looks a bit different now.
Peanuts didn’t work out. I don’t think it has been hot enough. We may be too far north in general. There are a couple of plants and I guess that is better than none. This weekend I hope to get all my beans planted and do a lot of mulching. we were given a bunch of tomato plants including quite a few “selkes.” I have tomatoes planted all over our yard now including two of the selkes in the compost pile. Fun!
How is your garden growing?
I love reading about your garden because we moved a few months ago and I had to leave mine behind. I will start a new one in the next few years but for now it’s just a few potted plants. Luckily for me, we have apple trees, a plum tree, blackberries and raspberries here already so I can still do some canning. I did plant some pickling cukes, I hope they grow!
A beautiful garden! Just added mine to the list.
Love,
Katharina
Ginny,
It looks like you’re growing boys in your garden this year! And caging them for their protection.
The first picture is one of those optical illusions, of course, and I’m wondering if you did it on purpose or not.
My sister once snapped a pic of one of my boys outside, as she stood behind a bird feeder. The bird feeder looked like a space ship that was landing. Hilarious (maybe not so much now, w/out the photo
Still lovin’ your pics, and I love the clover!
No, I didn’t do it on purpose, didn’t even notice the effect until you pointed it out!!
Your garden is gorgeous. I think your idea of paying per bug is great. I used to pay my son for each snail or slug. Worth every penny!
Love seeing the garden tour. What a great idea to pay the boys to hunt bugs! Love it.
He likes to rearrange them.
We have major slug issues here. And this year we’ve had moles digging all over the place, we’ve had to re-plant some things.
Bracken helps with our garden markers too.
Love, Taryn
I used to be paid to pick potato bugs. We just added to our garden too!
I am so glad someone gave you some tomato plants! I was wishing there was a way to send some of our extras down to you. The bugs have been a bit crazy up here. We seem to have every “enemy” in the “right” place at the wrong for us time. Cucumber beetles on cucumber seedlings, aphids on leafy greens, beetles on everything! We were making hot pepper garlic sprays, then picking into soapy water, and of course chickens to some degree. I went walking through the raspberries yesterday and noticed most are gone, unless my eyes were playing tricks on me. And spotted ladybugs all over, so I’ll just hope nature will help us out. Have a wonderful weekend!
Your garden looks wonderful!
The garden is looking great!
As for paying kids, I pay my two oldest 40 cents (20 santims) per snail that they squash. I had no idea that there would be so many at our new house! They’ve raised $160 so far. They were saving for a trampoline, but then someone gave us one. Whew!
As for slugs, we put used coffee grinds around the plants. Do you drink coffee there?
We gave up coffee a few months ago (sniff sniff sob–the sniffs are mine, the sob is Jonny’s)
Your garden is so full of beauty!! I’ve been planting things all around our property, as we’re a bit behind in the building our raised beds for the actual garden area. It’s been pretty liberating just planting stuff wherever there’s a spot available
-Jaime
Here we are warding off slugs in two ways… the first is by scattering crushed egg shells. I’ve been told that the slugs slime over them and cut their bellies and die. It’s sad, but good for the plants. The second way is by little tupperware full of cheap beer. They are attracted to the beer and drown themselves.
I’ve done the beer trick in the past…maybe I should set some out there….
June is such a transitional month here in the garden. It’s still 40F most nights, and monsoons haven’t come yet, so it’s crazy dry. But thank goodness for greens. The salads are ever-flowing.
I love seeing the fertility of Virginia, cute little baby limbs, your chickens and bees and all the wild beauty on your homestead.
Peanuts will grow in Virginia, but I think it’s been a little cold for them this year. They seem to prefer sandier soil too, don’t know how yours is but we have heavy clay that stops root veggies, enough top soil for everything else but it’s not deep enough for things to burrow.
I thought the cool temperatures might be part of the problem. Our soil is more of a sandy loam…I will try the peanuts again next year I think.
That garden is amazing!! Do you water that by soaker hose?
No, but if we were smarter we would. The boys and I water by hand.
My dad used to pay us to pick potato bugs and cabbage worms–there is something thrilling in the hunt when there’s a bounty involved, for sure! Your garden looks beautiful, and I’m inspired by the way you make it work with little ones helping.
I too have wanted to give peanuts a try, I suppose I am much to far north, however, in northern Indiana!
We’ve been eating squash and zucchini for two weeks now. I started ours as seeds in peat pots in February and then transplanted them in late April. I am with you on the squash bugs….I despise them and would pay 10cents per bug too. Great system!
I also despise slugs. Supposedly you can put a pie tin with beer in it at the base of the plants and they will climb in there and drown. I haven’t tried it yet.
the beer thing does work!
I weep for the peanuts! I was sooo looking forward to the boiled peanuts post!
And I wish I had that clover in my backyard. I need some that’d be good in shade, if there’s any like that around.
Love your blog, try to do yarn along as well. Your garden is looking great, I have always wanted to try potatoes but have no idea what or how to do them, any suggestions.
I plant them on top of the soil and cover with straw. You can google something like “planting potatoes under straw” and find lots of good tutorials. They are so easy.
Such beautiful pics. Oh, to have such a big space! I’m sure it must be overwhelming at times but you’re so lucky! We have just a teeny tiny space but I really cherish it.
Love these pics! You seem to be a pro at getting that gardening done with little ones! We have the same adventure, around here. Our middle ones plant, and I try to keep the littlest ones occupied in the sandbox, although they do like to ‘help.’ This year’s garden just got planted, so hopefully we will be eating from it in a month or two!
As a kid, my dad paid my siblings and me to catch grasshoppers. It backfired just a little- those things now gross me out more than anything else, even tomato hornworms! Still, I’m happy to now be able to pay my own kids to find the garden pests.
Your garden looks great!
Ginny, I am so glad to hear that one set of your cucumbers got devoured. Mine did too. I have to re plant, but I just can’t find the time. I also have beans to put in, but keep forgetting to get out and do it. I’m linking with the post I wrote last week… just to get in the habit of linking. Thanks for hosting, your gardens are beautiful!
My garden pales in comparison to most of yours. Hopefully it will eventually take-off! Best wishes to all!
Joining in for the first time today! I just love the layout of your garden and the beautiful shots you get!
And squash bugs!! UGH. They destroyed any chance of a pumpkin or squash last year.
I would love to have grapes but to do so without pesticides or fungicides in our climate is so very difficult I think it would all be in vain
Happy Saturday!
Wonderful garden photos (as always!). It’s amazing what a solid bit of work in the garden can do for the space and for one’s enthusiasm! I managed a good bit of weeding the other night while my husband was grilling dinner and I felt so productive! Our garden is loving the cooler June in NC this year and I’m eager for those first tomatoes and cucumbers!
I love the kids in the garden! One of my favorite parts!! Looks like your garden is doing great. Fun to follow along!
pretty!
I really think the secret to keeping plants from the squash bugs is hiding them in your landscaping and moving them each year… and because they squash and melons are some of the few things which can grow under a walnut tree… I wonder if I am having better luck (by default) by planting them under the walnut’s drip line.
IT’s funny when people ask about gardening with all.those.kids (I have seven) because that is “the way” people have gardened since the start of time…lol….
We have never had luck with black raspberries berries….because… the love of my life is always killing them on “Accident”…I have tried a zillion times…it’s actually a joke. And I have this wonderful recipe for black raspberry custard passed down through the generations…. but no black raspberries to make it with.
your garden is beautiful and I loved walking it with you this morning.
T
I am gardening with my 10-month old (who already walks) and it’s quite challenging. Often it’s just the two of us so I don’t get much done. Every time I look at her she’s eating the soil. Oh well. She’s getting an early start and I’m just hoping she’ll be an Organic Gardener Extraordinaire! Thanks for letting me link up!
If it’s any consolation, the wipeout of the bugs now also dents the life cycle for the next couple of years as the numbers are so drastically reduced. I paid my girls to eradicate the snails one year and numbers were naturally low as a result for the following two years. I think it is money well (organically) spent
Wow, I am the first one! Of course it is just a little piece of my garden, but….what a surprise!
When I was in line at the grocery store yesterday, I had a conversation about produce and gardens with the lady in front of me. She sounded like she was from Germany (she called herself any “army brat”) and was familiar with European gardening methods. She told me about a product called “soap nuts” which she uses as an organic insect repellent in her garden (she also uses it to wash her hair and clothes). I think she said it was a product from India and that Europeans have been using it for decades and that it is easier to get in the US than it used to be. I haven’t had time to investigate it yet, but I thought you might find the info useful.
BTW, I pay my younger boys to hunt snails. I don’t pay per snail – they get a big bucket and start hunting and when they are done I look at how much is in the bucket and tell them how much I think it’s worth (to get rid of them and as munchies for the chickens). I’ve been paying my daughter $10/week to do the laundry since I always get far behind in the summer as I neglect it for gardening and home repairs. She was ecstatic to be able to buy her best friend a birthday present yesterday with “her own money!” Whatever works.