Backyard Chaos

I am a little embarrassed by my backyard because I haven't given it as much TLC as the front and it shows. It has however been productive in some ways.

The best thing I've got going here is my cilantro bed. Everything in here is self-sown and though I should probably weed it, it is mostly cilantro. In addition to cilantro are chives and numerous mitsuba, a japanese herb that I am not fond of but I haven't had the heart to eradicate. I did however pull up the original generation of mitsuba and replant it in a dark corner. That is why there is some bare soil here. I also poked in a couple tall growing snapdragons just for fun.

This white queen tomato is my centerpiece. In front of it is some giant red mustard, all self-sown. To the right behind it is some birdfeeder sunflowers that I transplanted here. There's more stuff in the background. I'll try to get to that later on.

Here's the Dr Wyche straw planting. I have tided up this area a little bit. The bark mulch helped a lot but I think Iwant to lay down some sort of stepping stones as well. I might want more bark mulch too in other bare spots.

Here's a spot that was planted with a thyme groundcover that has turned into weeds and parsley. The jug has some weed tea. I am trying to really go all organic and LOCAL, as far as fertilizer is concerned. So far I think it is working out pretty well. I feel I'll feel certain as to whether this really works for me when this growing season ends.

Backyard

I've been doing something with the back. I recall Bob Flowerdew's advice in his book the no-work garden, not to do too much at a time. I haven't finished reading this book but have found some good advice. There really is no such thing as a no-work garden but that's besides the point. The point is to make the work you do seem more like fun. If you are breaking new ground, like I am you will enjoy it more if you start on a small scale and you are more likely to succeed.

I started this raised bed last year. I intend to plant a tomato here. I don't think it will grow as well as the ones in front as it is less sunny, but I'm out of room! The majority of plants here are haphazard, the exceptions are the barely visible just planted leeks. Remaining life is giant red mustard, birdseed sunflowers, cilantro, roman chamomile and burnet.

Here's my raised beds. I covered the surrounding ground with shredded bark. It was a weedy, muddy mess. I think that this will be a good spot for things that like it cooler. Currently present are bull's blood beets, lettuce, arugula, peppers, chamomile, radicchio, lemon basil, red russian kale, fennel and corn salad.

Here is a view of the boxes from the other end. I transplanted almost everything from the front yard. It took a few days for them to get over transplant shock. Most have survived.

I've noticed that robins seek out gardens. I think that they've noticed that we often do things that bring worms to the surface, like watering. Framing the robin is some very healthy dandelions, a laundry basket filled with straw that I will plant a tomato in, and a very large sewerpipe that my landlord insists on storing here.

Summer Garden

Sally sits on the stepping stone. She sits and stares as the carrots and radicchio sit before her.











Raindrops drip off the rosa bianca eggplant.













The porchmelon chose to grow on the porch wall. This is a good thing because otherwise I would have had to make some kind of sling.






This is a close up of an artichoke bloom. It's larger than lifesize but not by as much as you'd think.









Here is sungold cherry tomatoes co-mingling with scarlet runner beans.








I rather miss this.

Fall Veggies

This is the only radicchio to survive the repeated ground hog attacks. It seems to be forming a nice head now.

It is pretty yes? We'll see how I end up eating it. I must look at recipes. Any ideas out there?

I have had it with something or other that was pretty good, but it is a veggie that I still have had little experience with.

Next we have some giant red mustard. This stuff has some spicy kick when raw, but cooked is very nice indeed. The other night we had some turkey sausage with mustard greens. delicious!

The dead twigs overhanging it is the mother plant. I started with one and though I ate a good bit of it, I let it go to seed. There were hundreds of seedlings which I still am thinning. I highly recommend red mustard.

Finally we have a black radish. You cant tell from the picture but this is as big as a softball. I googled recipes for this thing and the most appealing to me is peel, slice them thin, salt a bit poor some beer. Eat slice, take sip.

Supposedly they are good for your thyroid. They also tend to taste better when they've been sitting around for a while, not harvested right away.

I still have some other things to eat out there such as parsley, kale and cilantro. I have some fennel that sprouted new shoots that I hope will become big bulbs.