Rhubarb came up Apr. 22 this year, about average timing. A cubic yard of 95% peat moss and 5% steer manure was added to the garden in April, the first imported soil (and some new weed seeds) to the garden ever. A mild May got the garden off to a good start.
After enjoying spinach and swiss chard for several weeks, the garden was hammered with marble to nickel sized hail for about 40 minutes on July 5. Fortunately the spinach was already starting to bolt and the swiss chard was being ravaged by leaf miners, so there was no major loss. The rest of the garden recovered well in the following weeks thanks to plentiful and regular rains. The zucchini really took off (see above and below before and after photos).
The green barrel above is the neighbour's rain barrel which froze and cracked. It now has a second life as a composter after I cut the bottom off and drilled some holes. The plan is to establish some Thyme around the paving stones above.
Clockwise from top: Scattered Chervil, kale, sage, spinach, kale again, chives, chervil, thyme.
Sage and thyme are new this year.
New garden expansion with raspberries from the neighbour. One plant's leaves looked odd, so I dug it out in case it had a virus. The rest seem OK, although some berries seem slightly deformed. We'll see if they improve after they establish better.
Foreground: Oregano bush and delphinium behind with hail damaged leaves.
Mint was added this year (foreground), with rhubarb and raspberries behind.
Other non-garden urban homesteading news includes successful and delicious homemade beef jerky with the new dehydrator! Best way to get the kids to eat meat and of course handy for camping.
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