Little Susie Homemaker

Category: Gardening

  • Garden Update – July 2024

    *This post contains affiliate links

    July is THE month for most of what we have in our backyard! All of the berries are ripening and with the heat starting, most of the rest of the garden is growing!

    We’ll start with fruit trees. We have three apple trees, a mulberry tree (technically a berry, I guess) and a quince tree.

    One apple tree decided to not blossom after a pretty significant pruning. Hopefully it’ll come back full force next year. Another apple tree is growing a ton of apples….on ONE side of the tree! The third apple tree is a columnar that has a bunch of apples on it.

    And finally we have one quince on our quince tree. It was planted last year, so the fact that it has ANY fruit coming in is amazing!

    Apples!!!
    Columnar Apples
    Quince

    Next up, the berries. See my previous post about our berry varieties and my Bubba Gump issue when I start in talking about our berries.

    The black currants came in seemingly early this year compared to last year. I don’t know what to do with these (please share any ideas!) so I tend to forget to harvest them. The blackberries and boysenberries are starting to ripen. I’ll need to wear gloves for the blackberries. Those thorns are no joke!

    Black Currants
    Blackberries
    Boysenberries

    The blueberries are ripening well! I’ve had two days already that I’ve been able to pick over a pound each day.

    Blueberries
    I need to go pick this afternoon!
    Look at the size of those berries!

    The Tayberries are starting to wrap up. I think there is probably another week of those. (For those not familiar with what a Tayberry is, think a really large, dark red blackberry).

    The alpine strawberries are doing really well. But the berries are so tiny, when I put them on my scale (I track everything I harvest), they don’t weigh enough to register. And finally, the spring raspberries are finishing up. We’ll get another harvest of those in fall – thank you everbearing raspberries!

    Mystery berries – I think they’re a Tayberry??
    Alpine Strawberries
    Tayberries

    The garden is doing alright. The potatoes look like they’re growing perfectly! I hope they are doing as well underground as they look like they are above ground. I have Huckleberry Gold potatoes in the garden and in a pot. The sweet potato plant (Manihi Treasure Island) has taken off. I guess it likes the heat!

    And we have two types of tubers – Oca and Mashua

    Oca Tubers
    Huckleberry Gold Potatoes
    Manihi Treasure Island Sweet Potato

    The garden looks better than it did, but I will admit, I don’t have high expectations for it. The potatoes, yes, they’ll do fine. But the rest, it’s a good thing we’re close to grocery stores!

    The asparagus popped up 2 more stalks for a total of 8 this year. They all get to go to seed! The beets are still at it, but I’m not seeing any sign of actual bulb growth! There is a bit of some sort of lettuce growing in one spot, so at least one old seed germinated!

    I have several tomatoes planted throughout, but none are growing all that quickly. I’m beginning to wonder if they’ll have enough time to bloom and actually grow any fruit.

    The two pepper plants are similar to the tomatoes. They’re growing ever so slowly, but I’m thinking they’re going to run out of time.

    I have one lone cucumber which has made a bit of progress after last week’s hot streak. Time will tell what it does. We’ll get a small batch of peas from the garden. The peas on the side of the house are wrapping up.

    And lastly for the garden section, I’ll be excited if I see one bean! The black beans germinated the best, but also seem fairly stunted. They’re coming out of their initial slug eaten state, but are quite slow.

    It’s all a learning process!!

    Asparagus, tomatoes, cucumber and potato leaves
    Beans, tomatoes, peas and potatoes
    Peas on the side of the house

    Sorry, not lastly, one more garden section – the Mashua Tubers and the Delicata Squash on the side of the house are coming along. The squash seems to be in the same state as some of the other garden. I wonder if it is going to have enough time to do anything before summer is over. Time will tell.

    These items are on the end of the row of raspberries, but all of that area has lots of daisies all along the walk. And I planted a hosta at the end near the bamboo that a neighbor was going to throw out. It has done REALLY well! The hostas are about ready to bloom!

    Daisies block the view of the squash and tubers
    Squash and tubers (in front of the trellis)
    Hosta

    For this update, I decided to add a few pictures of the flowers around the yard. We have quite a variety that are all meant to help provide plenty of food for hummingbirds and bees.

    We have some hydrangea and lavender next to each other and the purples are beautiful.

    There are also a couple of roses blooming and the Lucifers are starting to bloom. (The hummingbirds LOVE the Lucifers.)

    Flowers
    Hydrangea and Lavender
    Lucifers and Roses

    Last piece of the yard/garden to share is the bunny garden. The bunnies did NOT get the message that they’re allowed to eat this stuff. Oh well, I guess if they don’t eat it, I can harvest some. It looks like the cilantro is what actually germinated.

    (Oh and at our house, the bunnies go by the name Henry. The hummingbirds are Philip and the bat (when she’s around which she hasn’t come back this year) is Genevieve.)

    Bunny Garden (think this is cilantro)
    Old picture of the bunny garden – this took well over a month to germinate

    The harvest from the backyard so far this year is up to 23.2 pounds!

  • Garden Update – June 2024

    June has arrived and it’s been beautiful! The garden is growing, but I’m not expecting much this season. Thankfully the yard has a LOT of perennial plants which are producing well!

    I took these pictures at the end of the week, left to go backpacking for the weekend and came home to quite a bit of progress in the berries!

    Boysenberries
    Currants
    Honey Berries (Haskaps)

    Just today, I picked over a half pound of honey berries (haskaps). There are more on the bushes that will be ready for harvest in the next couple of days.

    Some of the boysenberries and raspberries are starting to turn. I think they will be ready earlier this last year.

    Alpine Strawberries
    Blueberries
    Raspberries

    The more standard berries are ripening as well. I’ve picked about 5 alpine strawberries, and about an ounce of raspberries. Just today, we picked 2 blueberries! I’m always excited when things start coming in and there’s some production in the garden.

    Apples
    Thyme

    For the other stuff that returns or grows every year, our apples are coming in well on 2 of our 3 trees. The tree in the middle was pruned quite a bit this winter, so I think it’ll be fine next year.

    The thyme has blossomed and looks beautiful! I’ll try harvesting some of the stalks that haven’t bloomed to dry for use as spices this fall.

    Now for the garden, I’ll start with what is doing really well! Peas and potatoes!! We have blossoms on both, but peas are starting to ripen.

    Have you ever smelled a potato blossom? I wish I could provide you with a scratch and sniff picture because they smell AMAZING!

    Peas
    Potato Blossoms

    The garden rows are still looking rather pathetic. But, so be it. The radishes I had planted went to flower, so I pulled them up. I would say I harvested probably a total of 7 radishes. The beets that were planted at the same time as the radishes just didn’t grow. I have one that grew to about 3 inches and stopped. And several others that grew to about an inch tall and stopped.

    Once I harvested the radishes, I cut of the stalks and threw them on top of the garden to let them rot back into the soil.

    The asparagus barely came up with a whopping total of 6 stalks but what came up grew and is going to seed. I’m hoping that it will help replenish the crowns underground and we’ll get a lot more next year.

    The spinach has bolted and is either going to flower or just go to seed. I’ll be pulling out the spinach later this week. I’ll plant more in September when things get cooler again.

    I also got the tomatoes and peppers I had started from seed moved into their final spots. We’ll see how they do. We just don’t get warm enough for most tomatoes and peppers.

    There is plenty of room to get some things planted for fall. The potatoes in the garden are doing well. There’s a small patch of peas that are about a month behind the other peas. And the black beans seem to be coming out of their slug-eaten state and are growing new leaves.

    Black Beans
    Spinach, Asparagus, Beets
    Peas, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peppers

    We also have some delicata squash starting and some Peruvian tubers planted that are doing well. The tubers were done last year and were kept in the fridge to plant again this year. We’ll see how they do. That is one of the ‘exotic’ plants my hubby likes to try out!

    Delicata Squash
    Peruvian Tubers

    And finally, I threw a bunch of old seed packets into a section of the yard that the bunnies can get at. I figured if something grew, then the bunnies could feast. It looks like we have some cilantro starting in that section. Feast away bunnies, cilantro is gross!!

    There you have it. The garden is doing its garden thing and I’m waiting patiently for it to need me. See you next month with the next update!

  • Berries in bloom

    “Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that’s about it.” Bubba from Forrest Gump

    When someone asks what berries we have in the backyard, I suddenly feel like Bubba from Forrest Gump when I start listing out all the berries we have.

    My husband loves having unique plants in the back, plus things that will flower that the hummingbirds, mason bees and other neighborhood bees can eat from. We have quite a variety in the back yard.

    Before I met him, he’d walk around the backyard in the summer and have dessert. Now that I live here, I harvest the berries for us to fully enjoy through the year.

    In fact, I still have 1 bag of raspberries from last year and just opened the last bag of strawberries that I picked at a nearby farm.

    I love the idea of having an edible yard with a lot of things that come back every year. Seeing how my vegetables are extremely pathetic (its old seeds – at least that what’s I’m claiming), having perennial plants around help with the overall harvest.

    This is the first spring that I’m paying much attention to the blossoming and ripening of the berries instead of just the harvesting!

    Here is where our berries are at beginning(ish) of June!

    The earliest to harvest are honey berries, or haskaps.

    Honey berries, or haskaps, are the first to ripen in June. They grow under the leaves and look like an elongated blueberry. I find them very tart and pick them, freeze them and then throw them into smoothies over the winter. But it is fun to have something non-rhubarb to harvest early in the season.

    Next up are blueberries which are already starting to ripen and turn colors. (do you see that bit of pink in the picture below?)

    This year, we have 2 new blueberry plants which are pink lemonade blueberries. They will be pink when ripe, so I think it may be a “by taste” test to know when they’re ripe. (that is an affiliate link)

    One of the fun berries we grow, but they are a bear to harvest are the evergreen huckleberries.

    These are actually pretty easy to harvest, but you end up picking up a ton of debris as you do it. It’s the cleaning that is really the chore. But, these are fun tiny little berries, like miniature blueberries. I have gotten almost a gallon zip bag full the last 2 years. That leaves plenty of berries on the plants for the birds to pick at too!

    We are in the second year of transplanted ever-bearing raspberries. I pruned them back in the early spring just as leaves were starting and pulled out all the canes that weren’t growing any. Ever-bearing will produce a spring AND a fall crop (first year canes vs. second year canes). After the second-year canes produce, those canes have finished their lifecycle.

    You can see the berries starting to grow from where the blossoms were. They’re so cute!

    I love strawberries (as an adult). Growing up, my parents had a small u-pick strawberry patch, so of course I had to help pick berries. At the time, I hated strawberries. Boy am I glad my tastebuds changed with age!

    I have a spot in the yard that is fairly shaded, so we have planted alpine strawberry varieties (mignonette). They’re fairly novel and oh so tiny, but I’m looking forward to eating the couple of tiny berries these will produce. (that’s an affiliate link)

    (They are surrounded by chicken wire to keep the bunnies out!)

    One of the berries that I’m surprised at how much I like are boysenberries. Think huge, long blackberries!!! I made jam with them last year, both by itself and in a triple berry blend. I also threw them in a bag in the freezer as I harvested them (at least the ones my husband didn’t eat right as I brought them inside) along with tayberries & loganberries for a mixed berry blend. (affiliate link above)

    We have several other kinds not listed or shown. “We have blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, boysenberries, honey berries, tayberries, logan berries, goji berries, lingonberries, huckleberries, strawberries. That’s all I have to say about that!” ~Little Susie Homemaker

  • Garden Update – May 2024 (later)

    I know I already posted about the garden for the month of May, but I find myself walking around the backyard multiple times a day just to gaze at the dirt.

    There is something so satisfying about watching things grow.

    I have harvested rhubarb, radishes and spinach so far. The rhubarb is excelling! If only I could excel in how to use it all up!

    First Radish
    First Spinach Harvest

    I have 4+ cups frozen ready to do a batch of raspberry rhubarb jam. I only hesitate because I still have jam left from last season and the strawberry rhubarb is my least favorite flavor. But, I’ve never had (or made) raspberry rhubarb so I’ll give it a try.

    I also have 4+ cups of frozen raspberries that were given to me, and they were already frozen solid. I figure this is a great way to use up both items!

    The radishes are coming in well, but so far, the ones I’ve picked have all been split. At first I thought something was eating them, but once harvested, I realized they were split and not bites out of them. I’m also finding that they don’t keep. I’ll need to look into how to keep them, although I’m harvesting 1-2 every few days, so really should just eat them right away.

    Spinach has been planted in 2 different places. I’ve done multiple plantings in both spots, but so far they’re only so-so in how it’s coming in. The larger garden area seems to not be very hospitable to spinach.

    One of the spinaches looked like it was growing a seed pod, so I snipped that off the top before it bolted. (No idea how it could bolt as we haven’t had much heat yet)

    One of the biggest hurdles to the garden (at least I’m blaming it on this and NOT on my own skills) is that we’ve had old seeds that I’m using up. I decided that was a major issue and decided to go ahead and throw seeds onto the garden just to see what will take.

    There were several packets of miscellaneous ‘greens’ that I figured we wouldn’t actually eat so I threw them into an open area along the back fence that the bunnies can have their fill (if the seeds actually grow something). So far, I’m seeing two areas that seem to be growing. If that will keep the bunnies away from the other things growing, it will accomplish what I hoped it would.

    In the main garden, there are 6 bush beans that have sprouted. And 3 rows of black beans have sprouted! The potatoes have come up and I’ve added more soil on top of the greens, and they’re working their way up over that additional soil. The peas planted under the tomato cages are coming up on one side. And it looks like there might be broccoli and cauliflower coming up next to the potatoes (time will tell).

    Top row (L to R): Spinach, Asparagus, Beets (not growing), Radishes
    Middle row (L to R): onions and carrots (not growing), peas, potatoes and possibly broccoli & cauliflower on the edges of the potatoes
    Bottom row: black beans (3 rows), bush beans (3 whole sprouts :o) and not seen, 2 rosemary bushes on the corners
    Potatoes in the pot! They are loving this pot. I’m excited to harvest this fall!

    The honey berries are starting to turn purple and ripen. These are the first berries to ripen and they’re quick to ripen. (Kind of like an avocado – “I’m ready!!!!” 30 seconds later, “sorry, now I’m over ripe. You missed it.”)

    Blueberries
    Currants
    Honeyberries

    Blueberries, currants, huckleberries, gooseberries and raspberries all seem to be coming in strong. Little green berries are growing, and blossoms are falling off. Thank you, bees!!

    Looking forward to what June bring!

    Garden Tally as of 5/26/24: 7.78 lbs harvested (thank you rhubarb!)

  • Garden Update – May 2024

    The garden is growing.

    Well, some of it! I know I’m using old seeds in order to use up what we have in the house, so I’m attributing that to some things just not doing anything!

    First up are the peas, spinach, thyme and chives next to the house. There were 3 different packets of peas planted, but only 2 came up. Even after a second planting of the 3rd packet, there are still no peas in one section. Oh well, so be it. And the spinach is growing, but seems VERY slow. Maybe that’s just how spinach rolls.

    Next up is around the corner to where we have a couple of blueberry bushes and a couple of rhubarb plants. The rhubarb is PROLIFIC!!! Recipes are needed, please share! I did see some raspberry rhubarb jam in a shop last weekend, so I’ll make a batch of that. (I still have strawberry rhubarb jam left from last year). The blueberry bushes are blossoming and I’m seeing bees flying about. Let’s hope they’re easily finding their way into those wonderful, pollen-filled blossoms!

    Across from there is the raspberry patch. I trimmed back quite a bit this spring once I could see what was no longer growing. I discovered last year that our raspberries are everbearing. That means that we get 2 harvests (spring and autumn) and the canes will fruit year 1 and year 2 and then are done.

    Around the fence line to the ‘mound’ are the strawberries. This area is partially shaded, so I have chosen to have a feature strawberry here rather than something that will produce a huge crop. I have planted alpine strawberries last year and this year. They are coming along well and I assume they will continue to expand in the area I have them planted.

    (They are covered in chicken wire because we have bunnies “Henry” in the backyard and they are able to hop around in this area)

    Now to the main garden! I planted spinach, beets and radishes in the first third awhile ago. The radishes are coming along well and I thinned a few the other day. The beets seemed to start, but have stopped growing. I keep planting more in hopes that some will do something! And the spinach is coming along (about the same as the spinach in the other part of the yard).

    We also have asparagus in that section of the garden but thought I had killed them last year. Thankfully, we have a few spears that came up. I will not pick these and leave them to go to seed. Allowing asparagus to go to seed will feed the roots below the ground which will make for better crops in future years. (I knew that and had a momentary brain glitch last year and picked them all which is why I thought I had killed them)

    Two of the three apple trees are blossoming. The one not flowered was pruned a LOT this winter. We’ll wait to see what happens with that one. It may need a year to recover.

    In the middle section of the garden, I planted potatoes, kale and carrots. NOTHING is coming up….yet. After letting that area go for a few weeks with nothing popping up, I have now added broccoli and cauliflower seeds to the edge of where I put the potatoes. I planted peas where the kale was (hence the tomato cages for them to climb). I planted more carrot seeds and some onion seeds along the front edge of where I had put the carrot seeds. We’ll see what happens.

    When it’s time to put the pepper starts in the ground, I will put them in the carrot area. One will grow up, the other will grow down. They can share the space! 🙂

    Next up around the circle of the yard is the berry patch. We have more blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries, honey berries (haskaps) and red and black currents.

    The blueberries, honey berries and currants are all blossoming. The other berries should start blooming soon.

    I also planted potatoes in a pot as well as a spot in the garden. Those are coming along well and have started growing above the ground. I’ll let these leaves get about 4-5 inches tall and then I’ll put more soil in the pot to get more to keep growing.

    I’m excited for the potatoes to blossom. Have you ever smelled a potato blossom???

    And finally, I have a little bay laurel waiting to get planted. I’m excited to be able to have bay leaves on hand for future soups!

    Other garden activities have included transplanting pepper, tomato and cabbage starts into bigger pots. They’re pretty puny looking, but hoping that they get bigger and stronger with more room. By the end of the month, I’ll start moving them outside to start the hardening off process.

  • Garden Update – April 2024

    As spring is approaching (or here), I am excited to share my garden pictures. If you’ve ever grown a garden, then I know you understand my excitement for what seems like weeds popping up in the dirt!

    In the spot we usually grow tomatoes, I started out with peas and spinach. I have had to replant from one of the pea packets as nothing grew from the first round of planting. We’ll see if anything grows this second time. If not, then those seeds will go to the trash as they are no longer viable. (Or I’ll just throw in the ground somewhere and see if ANY of them grow)

    In front of the peas, I have two types of spinach planted. Of the first round planted, about 7 have popped up. I sowed a second planting in between the rows of the first planting. (First and second plantings were about 3 weeks apart). I am beginning to get an idea of just how much I may have to plant to be able to actually get a salad from these plants…I may need to turn the WHOLE backyard into a salad garden in order to grow enough. In the photo below, the spinach are the things that look like blades of grass (bottom left corner and middle left). There are some weeds in there too that are getting plucked out as they are big enough to actually grasp.

    As I walk around the side of the house, we have a couple of blueberry bushes, and rhubarb plants. I harvested 2 lbs. of rhubarb yesterday!! Any ideas on how to use so much rhubarb? I can only do so much jam, sauce or pies. (I still have strawberry rhubarb jam leftover from last year)

    Across from the blueberries is a raspberry patch. These are coming along nicely. They are everbearing raspberries, which means we get a spring/early summer harvest and then a fall harvest. I learned that last year and was pleasantly surprised with our large fall harvest!

    As I circle the backyard, next up in ‘the mound’ where I have strawberries planted. Because this area gets quite a bit of shade, I chose to grow alpine strawberries here. I won’t get a big harvest from these, but they’re cute and a good use of this space. I’m hoping that over the coming years, these may expand out and fill in a bit more.

    Here is the Mignonette strawberry plant from last year that has new growth this spring. The second picture is the two Mignonette plants I planted this spring. There’s a pretty considerable size difference between the plants from one year to the next.

    On to the actual garden plot, my radishes are coming up well. My beets are barely visible (I’m pointing to what has come up) and there’s more spinach. Because the beets and spinach haven’t done so great, I did a second planting of both of those about 3 weeks after the first planting. I’m hoping I’ll start seeing that second planting in a couple more weeks and that the first planting continues to get bigger!

    And finally, rounding out the backyard, we have flowers coming in on the honeyberry (haskap) bushes! These are an interesting early berry that when ripe, looks like an elongated blueberry.

    The bees are starting to come out so having flowers for them to pollinate is fantastic. My husband put out his Mason bees and I’ve seen some bumble bees buzzing around.

    I have also planted potatoes, kale and carrots in the garden. But nothing is showing yet, so I won’t bore you with pictures of dirt.

    It’s exciting to see things blossom and grow in the spring and quite fun to see what works in our garden and what doesn’t.

    My goal for my 2024 garden is 100 lbs. harvested from the back yard.
    Goal status: 2 of 100 lbs.

  • Garden 2024 – Start of the Season

    The garden for 2024 has begun!! Hooray!!!

    Anyone who knew me in my childhood or early 20’s, you’re probably wondering, ” “who in the world is THIS Susie?” LOL

    Rhubarb is coming in well, berries and other trees are starting to bud, and the hyacinths are up! (If you have any good rhubarb recipes, please share!!! I’m at a loss beyond, jam, pie, or sauce)

    Earlier I consolidated all of the chives to one spot. They’re doing well. I have cut some to have with dinner a couple of times. I’ve never just walked out, cut herbs and thrown them into a dish before. I definitely see the appeal of it! (that is thyme in front of the chives – that got pruned significantly at the end of January – we’ll see how it does this year and with a bit more attention when watering)

    Mignonette strawberry plants arrived and have been planted. They are tiny little alpine strawberries. The spot where we have the room for them if also fairly well shaded. Alpine strawberries do quite well in the shade, so I’m going that route rather than getting frustrated by trying to do regular strawberries in a bad spot. The plant I had last year yielded about 5 berries and they are about the size of the first knuckle up to the end of your pinky finger. I think I may need 1000 plants to actually get enough to do anything with, but I’ll worry about other better producing things and enjoy the novelty of these in my garden.

    I have planted spinach in two spots in the garden. Peas, radishes and beets have also been planted in the ground.

    Seedlings started in February are a mixed bag. One type of pepper has done well, as have the marigolds. But just about everything else I planted has done nothing. I’ll do another round in hopes that I’ll get some viable plants.

    I’m excited to see how last fall’s efforts to improve the soil result with this year’s garden. Hooray to the start of the season!!

  • Garden 2024 – the start

    I’ve started gardening for 2024! Yep, you read me right, I have started gardening.

    We have a large variety of seeds, but I think many are so old they’re no longer viable. The only way to find out is to plant them, give them time and see what happens.

    On January 31st, I planted 3 different lettuces in milk jugs. 2 weeks later, nada. I’m not giving up yet!

    Next up, February 12th, I planted what need to be started inside – peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, parsley and marigolds. I have two flats and three more milk jugs.

    If these seeds aren’t viable and don’t sprout up, then I’ll plant more in another week or so or buy starts from a local blogger I found last year who is in my USDA zone.

    I’ve marking my labels with the seed packet I’m using (brand, not just what the seed is). If they don’t sprout, I’ll throw that packet away.

    After last year’s rather first attempt at a garden, we have amended the soil. Last year, we planted in dirt and hoped for the best. This year, we started in the fall by adding a couple of inches of fertile mulch, grass clippings and a light layer of leaves. Last month, I turned that over and raked it in together to help break up what had matted down. I will get more compost added to the garden before I start planting outside.

    My goal for my 2023 garden was 50 pounds harvested and ended up with almost 100 pounds from the back yard. (Thankfully my husband had several types of berry plants planted years ago and a couple of apple trees.) My 2024 garden goal hasn’t fully been decided yet, but it will be over 100 pounds.

    I’m happy to get to play in the dirt already!