Is it really June? Because someone forgot to let Seattle know. Longest day of the year and I’m still in fleece. Wrong. Depressing and wrong.
As I’ve discussed, the slugs have annihilated entire crops. I had to buy pepper, eggplant and cucumber starts today to replace the devoured plants and I’ll do another sowing of beans this week.
See? Little jerks wrecked havoc.
So what I’m trying to say is that there is a lot of brown still going on in the garden. Boo. The tomatoes look puny, the herbs a bit straggling and the peas are few.
See what I mean? Barren raised beds. Sad.
However, the nasturtiums are happy
and the patio got finished. Nice huh?
And the 'eco-lawn' got a spring trim.
It is a great lawn & clover- only needs a trimming 2x/year!
'Knee high by July"? Seems doubtful.
The cabbage is growing
and so are the carrots,
snap peas,
itty bitty broccoli,
and a few snow peas.
The lettuce is fantastic,
the strawberries are delicious
and the blueberries hold promise.
The kale is growing by leaps & bounds.
A somehow untouched summer squash has survived.
The potatoes have filled their Tater Towers.
The apples are protected (from codling moth & apple maggots).
The asian pears are looking ok (& still need protection).
The hops are (at least) still alive
and so are the various cane berries (raspberries & marionberries)!
We have a few serviceberries.
Some wildflowers are tucked in some holes.
And the first chicken crows. Yes, Jesse is officially a rooster.
I’m hoping July Mid Month Meanderings will show the effects of some sun & heat! We’ll be on the West Seattle Edible Garden Tour July 10th, so I hope you’ll come and see it in person!
Grow & Resist 
Oh poor Jesse – so cute but so destined. Everything looks great despite the weather. I love your knife markers! I’ve lost my first 2 rounds of dill and cucurbits as well. The tomatoes are loving it though – they are surrounded by gravel (radiates heat) in raised beds lined with red plastic mulch and metal border 24″ high to help keep out the rats (also reflects red, sun’s rays from north and east). This is a very good year to plan green tomato enchilada sauce canning sessions…and not so much for getting any melons at all.
I love the “itty bitty broccoli”! Looks like things are growing well, despite the cooler weather. You have quite the variety of deliciousness growing there!
The pattern we had in New England last summer was also cool and rainy the entire time, thus all the perennials were leggy or infested with fungus from the damp conditions. We finally have what looks to be a “normal” (well, as normal as it can be for this area!) summer. Things are looking pretty good once again.
Annette- can’t wait to hear about the green tomatoe enchilada sauce. I’ll be making a lot of that! I’d love to see pics of how you have your tomatoes.
Glemorangi- yep, ‘itty bitty broccoli’…my experience with broccoli here is that we get really small heads and giant plants. I keep saying I’m not going to grow it because it is a space hog for little output…but I love it! Hope your summer stays drier than last!
where on earth did you put that adorable patio? did you remover the brick patio in exchange? where ever you put this in it is so so so fabulous!
It is in the area in front of the aspen trees, closest to the driveway, etc. Turned out pretty cute huh? Wish you could come up and sip a mojito with me on it!
So sad we won’t be able to make your tour – that’s a busy day! Our garden status in North Seattle is much like yours but our raspberries went belly up. Not sure why. Kale and potatoes are going crazy though. Tomatoes still promising.
Meg that is why I grow broccoli raab. Also the Adolpho sprouting broccoli seems to give more shoots and heads sooner than the other varieties I’ve tried but I pack the broccoli raab in between the plants until they get bigger. Of course now that I have mildew and am taking out the raab I’ll probably get it in the broccoli as well. I guess I’ll put something mildew proof in that bed next, or just buckwheat and hope for some chicken food.
Tiffany so sad about your raspberries! Do you need new starts? I have suckers coming up everywhere.
Bummer on the raspberries! We only have a few in the ground this year.
I’ll have to check out tht broccoli and try the raab too!
hi, i’m living in new orleans for now, but my true home and gardening zone is north and west of you, in cordova alaska. we have massive black slugs there, in repulsive quantities. i’ve seen the garden of stubs you’ve got going on. i tried all the classic tricks, but the only thing that seemed to work was copper. they don’t like going over it. i got some copper tape which worked for awhile, but seemed like it stopped working after it tarnished. some day i am going to surround my beds with copper pipe, which could be scrubbed clean once or twice a year. expensive, but thought i’d let you know. if you get desperate.
also, i’ve always wanted to plant the clover lawn like you have, but read once that clover can increase slug populations (…?) and it scared me off forever. maybe if you could just make a buffer stone path between lawn and beds…?
good luck!
Yep…moving on to copper. I’m going to wrap PVC pipe that I have already with copper tape this year. Then when I get some more cash I’m going to cut some copper rings that I can clean up and use yearly.
We don’t have any slugs in the lawn…just the raised beds. Sigh. I guess at least they are contained!
Neato!
I have my first flower on the tomatoes this week (in California), so I think it is a late season this year. They are only about knee high, too. The peppers are starting to look a bit sturdy.
The chard has bolted, the favas are done.
The fig tree (Osborne Prolific – they even set fruit in foggy Santa Cruz summers, it might work for you up there) is loaded; I didn’t have a single blossom make it through the late rains on the plum or the apple.
The strawberries (in the shoe pocket thingy) are going like gangbusters, but I do have to water them every other day. Speaking of which, I posted the Berry Can Jam post – oh, what a disaster, but it was still fun.
Regards,
Tengrain
can wait to read your can jam post….i sort of forgot about it this month and just went out of town for a few days and lugged along my canning stuff to work on while I’m away.
Your garden looks great despite your pests and weather. Are you using the hops as an ornamental, or for brewing? I want to add a row to the front yard. We used to brew but for some reason gave away all our equipment; I’ll have to keep y eyes peeld for replacement stuff.
Thanks! Brew at some point/some year. For now, ornamental. (If they ever get more than 4″ tall!)
Oooh, I want a tatter tower.
Love the update in pictures! And you’re right, our americanas have the same fluffy cheeks! I love it! 🙂
Love your tater towers. Am thinking of doing the same but using old car tires. Do you have any tips and tricks to pass onto a novice in South Africa 🙂 People seem to recommend ” seed potatoes ” Can I use any potato that has sprouted? All the best. E
Hi Elaine- You can definitely do them in car tires…however the risk to that is chemicals/residue leaching into your soil and into your edible yumminess. Another way to do this would be to grow them in burlap coffee sacks. Annette at sustainableeats does them this way with great results. I think I linked to her in the post.
You should def. use seed potatoes though!
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