More peas and greens

It was a beautiful sunny (and warm) day in the mountains. 

A quick trip to the local farmer's supply yielded 5 bags each of mushroom compost and composted cow manure.  The commercial compost in the raised beds has settled and shrunk since their initial filling last year, so needs more 'soil' additions and a nutrient boost before spring planting.

The mid-summer beds were lush, so plenty of nutrients were taken up and harvested.

raised beds in late July 2010

The mushroom compost was the best I've seen - it looked like the 'real thing' - light, fluffy. amended with sand, and without the sticks and debris of other bags I've purchased labeled 'mushroom compost.'  The cow manure was also a bit close to the real thing, being a bit aromatic of cow manure!

After topping off the beds and turning over the soil a bit, I hopefully sowed a round of sugar snap peas and snow peas in one of the front beds, along with broccoli raab, mustard greens, and spinach.  I tucked in some broccoli, parsley and red cabbage transplants from one of the big box stores and am crossing my fingers for a moderate late winter and early spring.

Raised bed gardening

One of the first gardening activities I did back 'at work' today was helping plant and get ready to plant two raised beds at the Clemson Child Development Center. One is for the 2 and 3-yr olds; the other is for the 4 and 5-yr olds.

This is a grant-funded activity, but supported by volunteers.  I'm there in my 'official' capacity, but am donating all the plants and seeds personally.

It was such fun to get the potting mix ready, mixed with sustained release organic fertilizer and mushroom compost.  Then we helped the kids dig small holes, as I showed them how to plant the collards, broccoli, and lettuce transplants, and sow radishes and carrots.

A great afternoon.

Swiss chard

The Swiss chard is doing great -- I harvested another large bunch this evening along with a good-sized handful of arugula.

The front raised beds are looking good, too; I've packed them with vegetables and herbs, so will need to be attentive to extra nutrient additions, in spite of their excellent soil (aka compost).

The various beans are growing well, and I'm going to plant some Asian winged beans (soaking now) on another trellis (hmm, I need to find room for it) tomorrow.

Amazingly, a flat of spinach seedlings is looking quite nice. I'll have to find a shady place to put it, since some hot weather is on the way.

Tomatoes

I harvested the first tomato of the summer today.

Admittedly, it was small (a Sweet Million) from the earliest planted tomatoes in the large raised bed here in the mountains. But all of the tomatoes are growing vigorously, and I'm training them into their cages, supports, or spirals!

More exciting, to me, is that I've got beets developing plump roots (!) That vegetable compost with composted cow manure must be good stuff. I've not had any luck with beets before, so I'm thrilled. Not to mention how robust the chard is looking (and it's quite delicious, too).

Growing plants

I find growing plants to be a wonderfully satisfying endeavor -- from vegetables to natives. It makes a difference for me, to feel like I'm restoring habitat and growing food.

I was reminded looking at some past photos, about the growth we've had in our raised beds here in the mountains.

I guess the raised beds are really 'mine', but we both built the beds, and both of us filled them with compost! Not an insignificant thing.

Everything is growing well, and I (ruthlessly) pruned the very robust tomatoes, and hopefully trained them up through the tomato cages or supports with ties, in some sort of proper manner this afternoon.

Hmm, I've not trained (or pruned) tomatoes before, but I know it's a good practice.

Check out some of the videos online (Fine Gardening and Johnny's Seeds) have nice ones.

Lettuce abundance

My raised beds in the mountains are producing prolific lettuce; undoubtedly the rich soil and cooler temperatures are favorable to excellent leaf growth.

I've had nice mesclun mix in flats for many years, and good lettuce in my main vegetable garden in the Piedmont, but these lettuces reflect how lots of nutrients (from the compost in the beds) and plenty of water produce succulent leaves.

Yum.

Raised beds for vegetables

It's amazing how good 'soil' (in this case, commercial compost and composted manure) can support excellent growth. The lettuce, tomatoes, and other vegetables in my raised beds in the mountains are flourishing.

Now these are permanent beds with stone, but you don't need them to have raised beds. They can be formed without support, actually, and be wonderfully productive.




But it reminds me, again, of how MUCH vegetables need nutrients (compared to trees, shrubs, and perennials).

These lettuces are much bigger and more succulent than any of those I've grown before, obviously thanks to LOTS of extra nutrients in the compost!

And these French breakfast radishes (seeds were from Renee's Garden Seeds) look great!

More raised beds, lettuce, mesclun, and radishes

The two raised beds below the house turned into three, with 'leftover' stone and soil. The third is just to the right of the deck, barely visible in this photo.

The view from above.

And from below.

I tucked the rest of the leek seedlings and lettuce into one bed, and sowed mesclun mix, radishes, and arugula in another.

They're placeholder crops, and probably won't amount to much without frequent watering. There isn't rain in the forecast this week, so I hope that the rich organic soil will hold moisture well. But experiments are fun.

Leeks, beets, chard, lettuce, and herbs

After I finished two more stone beds this morning (below our small mountain house), my gardening companion filled them with soil.

They're yet to be planted, but I worked on the previous four beds this afternoon.

Planting new beds is fun.

An afternoon trip to a local nursery snagged herbs, a couple of Cherokee Purple tomato plants, a Sweet Million cherry tomato, and seedling leeks.

Added to the flat of lettuces that I'd brought up from Clemson, and along with radish, beet, and chard seeds, among others, I'm set for now.

And waiting for the weather to warm up!