New Berries

Everyone in our house has been eyeballing this small and perfect strawberry. It so sweetly hangs over the edge of the planter ripening in the glow of the afternoon sun. Who will be the lucky one? 

My guess is HEATHER! Hahaha 
Our dear friend Heather plucked our very first cherry tomato from the vine a few years back.  Everyone would admire that tomato and we would talk incessantly about how proud we were for having grown it. I look back and still chuckle at that.  She saw it, it was ripe and needed to be eaten, so she ate it! 

Wrapped in Plastic

We have been overrun by the Alki flu that hits our house every year, so in between popping our vitamin C, sneezing, and wheezing, we have been slowly but surely prepping our garden for Autumn. 

First things first, wrap the beds in plastic. That was all we got to today... Like I said- slowly but surely. ;) 

Blurry Potato

The first potato of our 2014 harvest was a cute heart shaped potato. 💚 Cute or not, it has friends and they will taste splendid with a pat of butter and a pinch of s&p! Muwhahahaha!

--

Today we received our packet for the Seattle Tilth's Urban Farm Tour. We are motivated to get things tidied up and to fix a few things before the 12th rolls around. Please stop by and say hello!  We would love to see each and every one of you! If you need another excuse to come to West Seattle, it's also the street fair weekend, so visit and make a day of it! 

Peas, brother.

Pretty potatoes!

Our potatoes have pretty purple flowers blooming amongst all that green! I don't remember them from last year, but I think they are from the Red potatoes and not the Yukon Gold. We only had YG last summer which explains why I don't recall the purple.  Flowers or no flowers, I can't wait to boil the tiny and tasty new potatoes!  

Strawberries

The strawberries returned this year and they are bigger than ever! The plants not the berries... I'm not sure, but I feel like we should be seeing little green berry nubs by now. Isn't the end of June strawberry season?  Maybe I'm just a tad antsy and anxious for those sweet little berries. *sigh* 

In progress

I just now noticed these three photos on my phone. They aren't from the same angle, but you can easily see the differences.  It's incredible how big and fast our veggies have grown! 

Lookin good!

We are off to a good start. Our cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, tomatoes, lettuces, and garlic are looking great!  They are enjoying the rain and continue to grow without consistent sunshine. I'm excited to see what will be around come harvest time. I tend to be a bit pessimistic because of worms from the past seasons. I do, however, feel differently about this year's crop. I've even been talking to the plants more. We'll see if that works....

Papas

One of these years I'll get it right. I absolutely love growing potatoes. They are so darn easy...IF you do them right. I really wanted to grow them again this year because I loved watching Andy sneak them from our planter, boil them up and scarf them down. His face would glow with excitement and amazement that something so small could be so satisfying and delicious. 

We agreed to grow them in the large box this year. All I had to do was ask for advice, but we just went for it.  Potatoes should be planted in a sort of trench. When their leaves pop up, you bury them with soil and continue to bury them every time their leaves reach the surface. The tubers grow off that vine and the deeper you bury them the more they will produce. It will end up looking like a mound of dirt or a mini hillside of soil. Well, we scattered them in the planter and forgot all about that trench. The greens have surfaced and I continue to bury them, but I'm not sure how deep we will be able to go in our front yard. Any suggestions?  Ideas? ALL are welcome! 

Corny corn corn

The corn has been transplanted and is looking good. Let's hope it stays beautiful and grows tall like it did last year. While we're at it, here's to hoping for a larger yield as well! 

Popeye would be proud!

Our spinach is looking good! Our little plants are really coming in. I want to eat the baby leaves, but I will patient and wait until there is enough to go around....or until there is enough for a salad! 

Green Onions

These puppies are really taking off!  They have been batted down by the hard rains lately, but they are growing pretty tall. 

Anyone notice Evan pulling weeds in the background?  I hadn't noticed that until I was ready to send it to all of you. What a big help that was! 

Hard at work!

Planter Box #6

I came home from work to find Andy working on yet another box. It is now in its permanent place out front. It sits to the right of the tree in the photo. It is a little larger than the ones we already have.  What should we plant in it?  

A duck pond.

We couldn't resist putting the decoys in the thawed out pond. We'll see how many passerbys take a second glance! 

Home Sweet Home

Corn Stalks

After picking the remainder of corn, we just couldn't part with their beautiful stalks just yet. Andy bunched them and stood them out front. They make it feel like autumn and are nice piece to welcome friends, family, and neighbors. I love coming home and seeing these tall stalks still serving a purpose albeit a decorative one. 

Not the best picture...

But it's a picture! 

This funny looking "lantern" is a tomatillo!  Salsa verde is coming to a canning jar soon!  I can already taste it! 

(Yesterday) Standing tall

Our corn is really growing. It towers over that buff guy that lives in our house! 

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

I've been a bit under the weather over here, so Andy and the girls were responsible for pictures. I thought these three were great photos!  The cucumber pic is my favorite!