May 2022 Garden Up Date

We finally got all of the raised beds in our Potager Garden built and planted--and just in time too!  We lost all of the early spring planted strawberry plants--I think I planted them a bit too early--but the asparagus came up nicely.  We should see a good amount next year!

We've got radishes and beets growing, but none ready to harvest, .and we've been able to start harvest small amounts of lettuce, but now we should be able to really start getting enough to stop buying store-bought.  

The peas are getting tall and starting to flower and the broccoli and cabbage are getting big.  We should start to see heads forming soon!  The tomatoes and peppers from my greenhouse are in, although they haven't taken off growing yet.  We added a bit of dirt from the chicken yard, wood ash, and grass clippings and are hoping that will help. 

Our potatoes, zucchini and bush beans are looking fantastic! We should start to see flowers on the zucchini soon--maybe another week or so? 

---

Finally, our mini food forest is coming along.  Our baby trees all seem healthy and happy, and the grape vines and hardy figs are all growing well, although they are still tiny little guys.  Our peach tree all have baby peaches growing, about the size of cherries. 

To save prime garden space, we planted all our large melons, winter squash and pumpkins throughout the sunnier areas of the food forest and around the chicken run, They haven't started growing much yet, but they look healthy and strong.   

---

The chicks are ten weeks old now and are getting used to their new home with our two lonely hens.  We lost two of our little girls to another racoon attack when one of the girls accidentally forgot the lock the coop door after making sure they were all inside for the night.  Randy was able to capture and rehome three big guys over 5 nights.  While we had chickens for years at our previous house, major predator attacks are a completely new issue for us to deal with, and it has NOT been fun!  

Hopefully next month, I'll be able to report huge growth in our plants and some decent harvests.  Our goal is to be able to stop buying--or at least majorly reduce the amount of produce we buy from the store during the growing season.   Wish us luck! 

Happy Homesteading!