seeds!

Oh February, are you still here? What a week. I have a little boy who still has an ear infection that just won't go away (I know, it never ends! Poor guy). So I've been doing lots of snuggling, caretaking, and being quiet at home with my guys. In between elderberry lemonade, warm packs and mountains of library books, my seeds have arrived. I love posting my big list of what we are growing each year to the blog so I can go back (10, 09)and compare years and have a record of it, and also so I can hear what works for you, what new things you are trying, and get that whole garden energy spring is coming juju rolling!

**seeds 2011**

Some of these seeds are left in my 'stock' from previous years, some are new to the garden this year. The list is what we are growing for 2011, with all new seeds/varieties for '11 marked as **.

Before you think I sound crazy with this big list as I write often about how small our yard is, I don't plant a ton of anything. Most of these plants we plant only a FEW, spread out throughout the shaped beds. We also plant in quick growing things near the slow growers, so that we get multiple harvests from the same space. I also use a lot of containers on deck & porch and grow almost all culinary herbs in pots. I also grow UP as much as possible! This is all very do-able in a small space. Some items are specifically to repel pests, and some are to attract beneficials as companion plants. Some things are literally strewn as I go, wherever I find an empty spot or have just picked an opening - like greens and radishes. It all works together in the end, and it looks nice too!


beans:
bush beans: bush blue lake
pole beans: purple podded pole, blue lake
drying beans: good mother stallard
**Dragon Tongue
**Envy Edamame

beets: (for garden planting as well as microgreens)
detroit dark red
jewel toned (red, gold, candy stripe)
**albino beet

cabbage:
ruby perfection

carrots:
**Chantenay Red Core
**Tonda di Parigi

cucumbers:
crystal apple
**Parisian Pickling

fruit (from seed):
ground cherry
wonderberry

kohlrabi:
azur star

melons:
minnesota midget
Pride of Wisconsin
**Sweet Siberian Melon

onions (to eat & as repellent):
evergreen long white bunching
yellow of parma (late)
yellow borettana chipollini (early)
**red baron bunching
**Red Welsh

peas: (for garden planting as well as microgreens)
oregon sugar pod II
de grace snow & snap
tom thumb dwarf
**Blue Podded Blauwschokkers

peppers:
beaver dam (hot)
healthy pepper (sweet)
**albino bullnose pepper

potatoes: to come (grow bags)

radish:
long scarlet
purple plum
red meat
helios
Cincinnati market


greens: (for garden planting as well as microgreens)
giant japanese red mustard
bloomsdale long standing spinach
mizuna
swiss chard - lucullus
swiss chard - bright lights
swiss chard - flamingo pink
lacinato italian kale
wrinkled crinkled cress
garden cress
siamese dragon stir fry mix
pepper cress
**Ornamental Fringed Mix Kale
**belle isle cress

lettuce: (for garden planting as well as microgreens)
mesclun
red wing lettuce mix
rocky top lettuce mix
heritage lettuce mix
green oak leaf
farmers market lettuce blend

summer squash:
lemon squash
summer scallop trio (patty pan)

tomatoes:
lime green salad
window box roma
tommy toe
**Bison
**Red House Freestanding
**Isis Candy Cherry

winter squash:
early butternut
fordhook acorn
(winter squash didn't do so hot last 2 years in our tiny space, planting only a few this year)

general veg:
white egg turnip
purple of sicily cauliflower
early purple sprouting broccoli
**tendercrisp celery


culinary & 'other' herbs:
cilantro
oregano
common thyme
florence fennel
giant italian parsley
sweet marjoram
lettuce leaf basil
red reuben basil
genovese basil
**lime basil
kerala red amaranth
feverfew
tooth ache plant
yarrow
fenugreek
greek mullein
**Anise Hyssop
**German Chamomile
**Dill Bouquet
**Bergamot

flowers:
**frosted salmon poppies
mammoth sunflower
**italian white sunflower
**butterfly weed
**resina calendula

in ground::
golden raspberries
red raspberries
strawberries
white currants
chives
lemon balm
borage
lovage
rhubarb
mix prairie flowers for rain garden
chocolate mint
lilacs


Also New This Year::
fruit/veg (on list this year to plant, bare root or young tree )
**2 columnar apple (golden sentinel, northpole)
**1 dwarf cherry tree (blackgold)
**1 dwarf peach tree (reliance)
**1 cultivated elderberry
**pink thornless gooseberry
**sweet purple asparagus (might do this next year)
and, thinking of grapes or hardy kiwi for arbor

So my big change is more medicinal herbs and fruit bushes/trees...things that stay year to year and don't require as much day to day care. All of the trees will be dwarf or columnar so they will fit in our small space and not cast too much shade. I'll be doing more things in pots again - to get more sun and heat on my peppers, tomatoes, culinary herbs, etc. And we will be designing a few more ways to grow things UP so I don't have to bend over, and so they don't take as much room. More on all that later, as we plot and plan. We hopefully will have some big changes in the shape and bed spaces, the deck, and other infrastructure details too. Can't wait!

What are you trying this year that is new (for you)? What are you most excited about planting?


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garden 'tour'

The garden is starting to look like summer. We have been getting a few pounds of strawberries a day from our small front bed. Our golden raspberries are starting to ripen and are eaten directly from the cane, rarely making it into the house. Greens are growing like mad with all the rain, and peppers, squash, tomatoes and other late summer veggies are flowering (and today we found our first little green tomato!). I am starting to get that cozy secret garden feeling I love as all of the external foliage is getting thick and green.


I have had a lot of emails asking for a 'tour' of the garden ... I am exactly the same way - while I love the close-up shots of peoples gardens I want to see how it is laid out, what it looks like as a whole. So, here is a bit of a 'tour' of where we are mid-June with some close-ups, and some bigger views.


I have had lots of questions about fruit in a small/urban garden. We are growing currants, strawberries, raspberries, and garden huckleberries this year. We have two areas where we have raspberries. We have a small spot right up by our front porch where we have golden raspberries (we get a lot from a small space). It is probably a 4 foot deep by 6 feet long. We can reach raspberries from the front porch or yard, so we could make it dense since we can access from two sides. I like the early golden raspberries because while they do spread and cane out a bit, it isn't out of control, and we have been able to keep it mostly in the one spot. They also start fruiting in June, and continue for most of the summer! Yum.


We have a second raspberry plot in a small strip of space out back right next to our driveway and alley (below) which contains late season bearing red raspberries. It started out as a few gifted canes last year and this type of raspberry is much more invasive, um, I mean aggressive and has taken over an entire bed, and escaped all around the (lined) bed (must be all the coffee grounds I've been putting on them since last summer). We are letting it go this year and will be thrilled with the massive amount of raspberries we will have, and will pull and pass along canes next spring to all who want some.


We have two large white currant bushes along the outer wall of the garden and it looks like we will be getting a lot of currants this year (yay!). The huckleberries are spread within the inter planted beds, wherever we had some space. Our strawberries are in a 4'x8' bed that we put right up in front next to the sidewalk. Once the strawberries are done, there are some of the brightly colored hot peppers that will take over for the rest of the summer!

While we don't get full sun all day in our garden due to the two houses side by side, we do get decent radiant light from the light colored buildings. We are careful to use a dark mulch, fertilize with kelp and fish emulsions often, and use what we know of where the sun is during the day to keep things like tomatoes in the 'hot spots'. We get great fruiting and growth in less than ideal light.

Our beds have been widened a little bit every year, and we have about a 6'-8' wide strip of grass left - just big enough for a little pool, soccer game, picnic table or water blasting match. ;)

I love walking out into the garden each morning and weeding, watering pots, filling the birdbath, seeing what is ready to harvest, and saying good morning to our resident chipmunk. It has been so nice bringing in bowl fulls of goodness from the garden again - I love that.



Everything is still pretty small right now, but in a month or so it will be very filled out, many feet taller overall, and pretty much jungle-like on the sides - as the taller plants shade ground plants, and everything is mixed in closely with flowers, fruit, vegetables and herbs.


Our deck in back is a very used spot - Ms. Hunka has her outside hutch there, we sit and read and hang out at the table/chairs in the shade, and there are tons of herbs and veggies in pots tucked into every available spot (the front porch is full of pots too!).


To make it feel more like a room, we grow clematis, peas and beans up the deck rails and by mid-July we are almost completely enclosed and shaded. Just in time for the hottest part of the summer.


We also have a lot of lemon balm and other herbs planted around the deck to discourage mosquitoes and to smell lovely on those hot summer nights. This year our lemon balm bushes are massive, and I'm excited to dry a lot for tea and make some infusions and oils.



It is small, but it is ours, and we love it. :)

So there is a tour of most of the garden - I'll do some more next week. I think I'm going to go outside and sit on my deck with Ms. Hunka and have a glass of wine while the boys play in the alley! Have a great weekend!