Garlic & Asparagus in Winter

One great thing about a garden blog is that I can look back at pics from the summer and marvel at how green and lush everything is. Right now, those are not words that would come to mind looking at the garden and surrounds.



This is the asparagus patch's first winter. It grew very well it's first year - seems to love the raised bed and rich soil. I plan to plant another bed of it this spring. We should be able to sneak a batch of these this spring to steam and dip in butter, then by Spring of 2010 we should have a strong supply going. I understand asparagus can live for decades. It's a great garden investment, but one that require a few years patience!



Meanwhile, over in this bed we have the baby garlic that went in the ground in either late October or early November....



So next summer, hopefully, we'll have fresh garlic out of the garden. Exciting! Meanwhile, we're expecting two nights this week down to 10 and then 4 degrees. Yikes. Got to go rake a big pile of leaves over the fig "bush." You can see it this past summer in this post "What a difference two weeks makes"

July walk around Larrapin (Video)

Back in late July I did a walk-around video of the garden for two friends who were supposed to visit that week, but couldn't, due to illness. The video turned out to be kind of fun, a way to keep track of how things look, where various things were planted this season, etc. I think I'd like to do a walk-around video every month to see how it all changes... So here's what it looks like in mid/late July 2008:

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!

Mid-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!

Good 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...

Post 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!

Spinach Fortress: Don't Laugh -- It worked!

Spinach Fortress: Don't Laugh -- It worked!, originally uploaded by Gardener At Larrapin.

The spinach seemed to draw the bunnies as well as the guinea hens (see "Guineas Under House Arrest" below...) so out of desperation one day I put up this stick fence around the spinach and pea bed. You can't see the peas because the guineas had munched them to the ground when the rabbits weren't doing the same. It worked! With the guineas secure in their pen, the fence keeps the bunnies at bay. I think it's kind of cute, so I left it.

We've had several spinach salads out of this bed already. It's spring planted so it's just now getting going really well. Year before last I planted fall spinach and overwintered it -- now THAT's the way to have big delicious spinach really really early! I hope to remember to do it again this fall.

Path in Progress

If I hope to get ahead of the bermuda grass in my garden paths, I guess I better start in January. I just wish the folks who thought bermuda grass was a good idea had checked into that common name of "Devil Grass!"  

My plan of attack is to cover the dormant grass in leaves, top with thick cardboard and more leaves. When the spring rains wet it all down I hope it will rot out the bermuda grass. This is the only non-chemical way I've found to overcome it. I got the idea from noticing that a thick layer of oak leaves that have matted down over the lawn and left patches of bermuda-free zone (for a while, at least). 

I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for stopping by!

Here's a happy veggie tale

Here's a happy veggie tale
Originally uploaded by larrapin67.





Lesson learned: Kale seeds last a long time! Story tomorrow.

Strawberries Survived thanks to straw and goat contributions!

The strawberry bed, prior to the freeze. This may be the one bed that survived. I packed it thick and covered it with stable straw (yes, including those warming goat pellets...) and then covered it with a tarp. As of last night, the blooms were still warm and cozy. We'll see...

Blogs begin somewhere...

I've wanted to start this blog since I moved to Fayetteville, AR in 2005. Now it's February 2007, but here goes. This was the scene last week, a light snow and nighttime temps of ten degrees. As I write this now, a week later, a warm spell had the peepers in the cow  pond next door singing for the first time last night. The gardening year is about to begin.