It's time to plant garlic

I built this new raised bed in about 45 minutes, cost $25. I used cedar fence boards from the local box store, $2.25 each. I filled it with a sphagnum peat moss and composted manure mixture.

I used hemp twine to break the bed into 6 sections. The tomato staked in the back happened to be in the area I wanted to put this bed. I would have ripped it out but it is one of two OSU blue tomatoes that are producing for me. 

I ordered a 6-pack sampler of heirloom organic hard and soft neck garlic from Botanical Interests. I really like this company, they are always fast and the seeds have great germination rates. 

Here is what came in the sampler package: 

Back left - California Early soft neck 

Back center - Silver White soft neck

Back right - Inchelium Red soft neck

Front left - Chesnok Red hard neck

Front center - Metechi hard neck

Front right - Purple Glazer hard neck

I will be braiding the soft neck varieties next summer at harvest. I can't wait to have real heirloom garlic for the kitchen. The garlic you get at the grocery store is typically bland compared to the varieties you can grow, very easily, in your own backyard.

If you are reading this mid September through mid October and are anywhere near me geographically, you still have time to get a crop in the ground for harvest next summer. Again I recommend checking out http://www.botanicalinterests.com/ if you want a great heirloom organic product.

Homestead Update

Its been a while since I walked the property and took pictures. Here a few images from around the yard and garden. These pics were taken with my cell phone so I apologize for the poor quality. I find if I take pics with the cell phone I do more posts because its easier. It's a trade off.

In the center are our beach roses "rosa rugosa". The purple / pink are the flowers and the red you see are the rose hips. These roses produce one of the largest rose hips of all roses, full of vitamin C.

Here is whats left of our corn. A squirrel came in the day after I planted and dug up close to half of the corn I planted. Squirrel season starts Sept 1st, my corn should be ready towards the middle of Sept..... squirrel corn stew?

I planted over a hundred pole beans yesterday. The left row is a green bean and the right row is scarlet runner bean. We plan on canning a bunch in Sept.

Here is the compost / raised bed / volunteer plant nursery. We got our first ripe tomatoes of the year from volunteers that came up in the compost pile. The raised bed in the foreground has spinach, various herbs and okra planted in it. 

Here are my cascade hops. I was very busy with school when these came up in the early spring. I did not string them up right away so they did not grow to their potential this season. 

Once you plant borage you never need to plant again. Half of this raised bed is full of beautiful blue flowering borage. The flowers are so good. I eat a handful everyday I am in the garden.

This is the horseradish. It is doing very well. I want to split and move half of it to another location in the garden soon. I dug some up earlier this year, the flavor is amazing!

We still have 6-7 heads of cabbage getting bigger and bigger. I just planted a variety that gets up to 10 pound heads.

Here are some peppers. The peppers I start from seed always start out slow but once they hit the heat of summer they go crazy. 

All the stakes along the fence have a tomato I started from seed staked up to it. The tall sunflower looking plants on the right are Jerusalem artichokes. I can't wait to harvest them in the fall.

Here is the asparagus patch. I have been very good and have only eaten one spear over the last two years. This coming spring will be year three and we will be enjoying fresh asparagus for a few weeks.

Here is a shot of the garden. I finally got all the straw down after a storm coming in and blowing my hard work all over the yard.

I have upgraded the arrow target. The round bale was to short and we lost a couple arrows over the top.