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Larrapin Mid August
We’ve been creating the Larrapin landscape for three years now and it was only when I looked back at the pics we took when we purchased the house did I realize how far we’ve come in three fast years. When I add in the facts of our one to two inches of topsoil over a gravel/clay mix, then I realize that these gardening methods I’ve learned from my many teachers really, really work!
Here’s the front of the house the day we bought it:
And three years later:
Here’s the side yard the day we bought it:
The dirt gash you see in these pics is where the owner had just installed county water in addition to the (very deep and productive, but slightly-sulphur-smelling) well we use for the garden now.
Here’s the side yard now:
Here’s the front yard, future site of Larrapin Garden in August 2005:
And Larrapin garden in August 2008:
Now I can’t claim credit for *all* the increase in green, because this year we had already reached the year’s average total rainfall by mid June…while in 2005 the area was in a drought…
Am I ever glad we took those “before” pics just so I can see our progress! I can see a productive, mostly edible, naturally grown, wildlife & bird friendly landscape inspired by many garden teachers and (recently) the ideas of permaculture, starting to take shape!
Thanks for visiting the Larrapin Garden Blog. I’d be delighted and honored if you would leave a comment by clicking the comment link below this post so I’d know you stopped by!
Read MoreMid-June Garden Goings On
First let me say: how the heck did it get to be mid-June already! My grandmother always said time sped up “when you get older.” I thought she meant 80’s — not 40’s! The speeding up of time though, is making me choose what I spend my time on much more carefully than ever… Gardening ALWAYS passes the where-to-spend-this-speeding-time test! There’s a lot of good garden eating going on around here as seen in the pic above. I love beets. Now that I figured out how to use a juicer I really wish I’d planted more – they are delicious with carrot and apples.
While the amazing amount of rain has been disastrous for the yellow squash, the kale is still going strong. I haven’t been quite bold enough to juice kale, but I hear you can..
Here’s Larrapin’s golf-ball sized watermelon. It’s a variety called “Blacktail Mountain” is is supposed to be very early. I’ll say! Hope it does better in the damp than the squash have — which went from lovely to covered-in-mildew literally overnight. Eeek. I’m planning to replant rather than try to save it I think (and hope for more sun, less dampness.)
The zuchinni are currently surviving….
Aren’t borage blooms amazing. I plant them to keep the tomatoes company and the bees love the blooms too.
And I’ve got stuff to plant that I don’t have space for! Sigh. Garden is never big enough. 🙂
Bush beans going strong. The little fence is enough to keep the bunnies at bay during that irresistable 2-6inche stage, which these have gotten past. If we get some good sunshine, we’ll have beans before we know it.
The dill has managed to attract a celebration of swallowtail caterpillars. It’s nice to be able to walk by and say words of encouragement and praise to a future butterfly.
So I was standing back admiring the garden, thinking what a beautiful place I have the privilege to learn from, when who should fly down from her nest in that tree at the end of the garden path but…
One of the roadrunners. This may be the female and maybe that nest is more serious than the usual piles of sticks in trees (and in the garage) that we call their “hunting blinds.” She stood all puffed out in the sun, drying out for a moment in between rain showers.
Thanks for taking a mid-June walk around Larrapin!
Read MoreGood Eatin At Larrapin This Week!
These pics are from May 28th – Spring stuff to eat! The strawberries are Ozark Beauty. It’s a great variety, but with all the pouring rain we had, they were a bit watered down… Strawberries like everything *just right* to be their best..
Broccoli and Oregon Sugar Pod peas. Sugar snap peas, our favorites, are so persnickity that I went with a different kind this year – and wow are they productive. It was nice that they were only about 2 foot high at max and just draped over a tiny garden fence instead of requiring real trellis.
Nice group portrait! You know you love your garden when you photograph your food!
Pak Choi (Joy Choi is the variety) grew so fast a lot of it went to the chickens b/c we couldn’t eat it fast enough. I’ll have to work out a more gradual planting on this. It was SO much faster than traditional cabbage and delicious in stir fry.
A little tribute to the garden on my way off to work…
Read MorePost Garden-Tour Recovery!
Whew!! I was one tired gardener after weeks of prep for a charity garden tour that took place June 7th. The Omni Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology has a fundraiser every year that features gardens in the Peace Garden Network. It’s a fun day and we had upwards of 50 visitors over the day. Many were our old friends who came to hang out and socialize — what a great day!
However, most other projects in my life were on hold during these weeks, as you can tell from the lack of posts on my part! So I’m back again to share glimpses of Larrapin Garden over the summer season, which is just getting started. We’ve had so much rain — I think we’re nearly 20 inches ahead of normal rainfall for the year — that everything is lush, green and happy. A beautiful time to be out in the beauty!
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