Sunday, May 3, 2009

Third and Fourth Raised Beds

The next two raised beds are done! They house members of the allium family. One has 56 King Richard leek plants; the other 70 Super Star onion plants and another 20 leek plants.


17 comments:

  1. Love the raised beds - my question is - how do you keep critters out of your garden? Between the bunnies, groundhogs, and deer, we find our gardens to end up more their menu than ours.

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  2. That's a lotta leeks! Can we anticipate many leek-based recipes in the future?
    Karen

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  3. the soil looks rich and the daffies look wonderful. Happy spring.

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  4. I spent the morning planting out the seedlings I've been nurturing. It is so satisfying to see them coming along, isn't it?

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  5. They look great! I can't wait to see the squirts of green poke up! Happy day to you, Nan. :)

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  6. That's great! You will be having leek soup and all sorts of other wonderful things. I wish I had room here to garden in raised beds. I really miss mine! Good luck and happy gardening!

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  7. Those look great. I have never done raised beds before. I'm getting ready to till up our garden. Now I'm just wishing it would warm up a bit!! The flower header is gorgeous!!!

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  8. I like your new raised beds. Can't wait to see everything growing and hear how you like them.

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  9. You two have been busy!! I can't wait to see the photos as the crops grow.

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  10. Susan, that's a very good question. I read on so many blogs about people having trouble. My guess is that it is because we live rather in the woods. We have pastures right around the house, but the woods are not far away. Those deer we fed in the winter haven't been seen for ages. We hardly ever see a rabbit, and if we do, it is on the edge of the woods, not near the house and garden. All we have are some moles in the lawns. I think the animals prefer living away from us, and the woods provide all they need to eat and live for most of the year.

    Karen, the only way we ever, ever cook them is in leek and potato soup. The recipe is on the sidebar under main meals. It is one of our favorite meals, and by planting so many, we get to eat it often.

    Oh, yes, Nan, that soil is rich - from donkey, chicken, sheep, and goat manure. I have a very hard time capturing that group of daffs in a photo. That's why the header pic was taken of flowers in a vase. I don't know enough about cameras to figure out why, but I've just given up. Yellow flowers in general don't come out well in my photos. Maybe it is too much like taking a photo of the sun itself. :<)

    Cait, they are really very simple and simply made. I think I'll try to link back to how they were made each time I feature them on the blog, so that people may build some if they want.

    Maureen, what did you plant? You are right about nurturing. Children, animals, plants.

    Colleen, those little squirts are already there, though tiny tiny, because we bought leek and onion plants!! For years we tried starting them ourselves but they were never satisfactory.

    Sherri, as long as there is a summer farmers' market near, you are all set!!

    Staci, this is our first year. And NO TILLING. Tom tilled for hopefully the last time in the fall. We are beyond thrilled with these raised beds. We rave about them all the time.

    Lisa and Les, the photos will be coming often, I'm sure. We are so excited about this new way of gardening. You *can* teach old dogs new tricks!!

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  11. Nan, I don't have all the lovely space that you have so I just grow a few potatoes, peas, beans and tomatoes. I have a nice raised herb garden and an old Belfast sink that I use for lettuce and sorrel but I cannot imagine planting 70 of anything in my little cottage garden.

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  12. Maureen, the raised beds are 8 ft x 4 ft. It sounds like you plant plenty!!

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  13. I love leeks, anyway you like. The beds look wonderful, you must be so thrilled. I am amazed and impressed that you aren't invaded by animals wanting to feast. I had a house in the woods once and they used my garden for the a la carte menu....all the time! Here I have countryside all around but the badgers still prefer my small cottage garden to dig in. Do you have slugs and snails up there, or do the cold winters scare them off? Big problem here.
    Darling laughing dog, seems to like the beds too.
    Carole

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  14. Hey Carole, please email me with how you cook leeks! We have no badgers, and the rabbits are nothing like in England. One of our greatest, greatest thrills when we were there in 1992, was walking down a lane and seeing a whole field of them. I would happily give up the garden to see rabbits all the time. Ever since Watership Down, I'm a big fan. :<) We don't have an English 'wood' we have woodS - 200 acres of them! Once in a great while I'll see a slug. Never any snails. I so loved your words about Sadie. She loves all the praise. :<) Of course, animals may stay away because of these two BIG black dogs!!

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  15. Those beds look pretty good - I'm sure your veggies will like them. We've found them far easier to grow things in than growing in a traditional plot - easier to manage and keep tidy.

    Leeks? One can never have too many. Cook them with rabbit, bacon and cream or as a vegetable with peas or soya beans.

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  16. Ha, ha mountaineer! No rabbit or bacon around these parts! But I do thank you for the encouragement. We are thrilled with them.

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