Garden Tour 2013

The garden's been in nearly two weeks now, but I haven't gotten around to post a little "tour" here, mostly because it's been so blinkin' cold that the plants have just been languishing in their new "forever" homes.We're now in a string of days with highs in the 70s, so hopefully the plants will get the memo and do some serious growing before we dip back down to the mid-60s. I know it's June in Minnesota and I shouldn't be surprised by cool temps, but after a few HOT summers, this cool spring is a little disorienting. We also haven't had any rain for at least a week, so last night Andy and I finally pulled out the garden hose and gave everything a good drink.

Here's the terraced garden. My goal with this garden is to make it "effortlessly beautiful" - a goal I've been working towards for three years now. ;) We need a few more perennials to actually achieve that goal (note the bare soil patches - where I've planted a wildflower mix) but we're definitely getting closer with each passing year.

Poor little chilly tomatoes. They're developing a rusty colored mildew on their larger leaves, but are still putting on a lot of new growth. I'm more inclined to think that the mildew is actually goosebumps.

Four little peppers - three bells and one jalapenos. There were five peppers (two jalapeno plants) but we always end up with more jalapenos then we could possibly ever use, so we gave one plant away to a neighbor. This means I've spared you from a whole summer of "five little peppers and how they grew" references. You're welcome.

Little potatoes poking up.

We pulled off the row covers last night and discovered the kohl crops going nuts: kohlrabi, kale, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts.There's also Swiss chard and pole beans poking up around the edges.At least someone likes the cold weather.

The rhubarb gets bigger each year, but is it big enough to harvest?

The squash plants are getting too big for their plastic gallon cloches. I'm not sure they're really going to like conditions outside of their cozy cloche though. 

Carrots, beans, and leeks hanging out under the row covers.

How does your garden grow?