Main Pictures What We're Growing Now Harvests

Welcome to our garden! We've been working on it pretty much since we moved here in January, but we're just now getting around to putting up pictures of it all. We started out with a small plan to plant a few vegetables, maybe a few strawberry plants, but somewhere around March, we went a bit gardening crazy. We've not got two huge patches in our backyard where we grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs, we built a makeshift greenhouse (AKA "The Biodome") to cover our tomato plants and some herbs, we've planted herbs along the side of the house, and we're growing flowers along another patch and in front of the house. I guess we figured if we planted some of everything, something was bound to live. It's undergone a few iterations over the past few months (lettuces were harvested, seedlings have become freaking enormous, Biodome Version 2.0, etc), but we're going to try to put weekly photos up from now on. That way everyone can see what we've been up to, and it's also a good almanac for us for next year's crops. Click here to see a list of what we're currently growing, here for more detailed pictures of individual crops, and here to see pictures of what we've harvested (and if you're lucky recipes for what Lauren did with them!). 08.08.2004 We've divied up our garden into six sections: Left Side Right Side Biodome Flower/Pumpkin Patch Flowers/Herbs in Front Herb Patch Left Side Ironically, this is the left side of our garden. We're growing thyme, rosemary, mint, green sage, red sage, sorrell, peppers, jalapenos, leeks, zuchinni, walla walla onions, frisee, artichokes, carrots, and spinach here. Right Side Also quite ironically, this is the right side of our garden. We're growing basil, oregano, marjoram, cucumbers, cilantro, arugula, strawberries, walla walla onions, chicory, and endives. We've also got sage, sea holly, and leek seedlings growing in starter pots. We've got about a dozen lettuces that have bolted, but we're leaving them in for the time being because they attract wasps and bees, which pollinate flowers as well as kill slugs and other harmful insects. 100% ogranic, baby! It almost makes me wish I could redo that insect project in high school. Almost... Biodome This is the outside of our makeshift greenhouse. Tomatoes up here in Seattle are susceptible to blight, which occurs when they get wet and don't get enough airflow. So we put up trellises, built a rudimentary frame, and put some plastic over the top. Our first version of the Biodome did the job adequately, but it leaked and was only 5 feet tall. Version 2.0 is about 7 feet tall in the middle and has plenty of room on either side for us to move around. It's kept our tomato plants dry and it stays warmer in the greenhouse. The tomato plants are looking pretty awesome, and we're optimistic about having quite a harvest of them over the next few months. We're growing 15 heirloom tomato plants inside the Biodome (Abe Lincoln, 2 Brandywine, Dona, Garden Peach, Great White, Gregory’s Altai, Hillbilly, 2 Lillian’s Yellow, Moskvich, Purple Calabash, Stupice, 2 Sweet Million), as well as basil, celery, globe onions, flat-leaf parsley, beets, and radishes. For pictures of the tomatoes and the inside of the Biodome, visit the Pictures section. Flower/Pumpkin Patch The left picture shows 7 pumpkin vines, which sit just below the Left Side section. We're going to put up some kind of trellis around this so we can direct where the vines grow. We're also a bit concerned that Dexter might mistake young pumpkins for a ball and rip up the crop. We don't call him Pumpkin Killer (AKA "PK") for nothing. The right picture shows our flower patch (and a single pumpkin vine which is hiding just offscreen to the left). We've got about a dozen sunflowers growing here. We also planted Maltese Cross and Sweet William but so far none have sprouted, or they've sprouted and look a lot like weeds. The flower patch sits beneath the Right Side and stretches past the Biodome. Flowers/Herbs in Front We put some flower pots outside the front fence so they could grow with plenty of sunlight and be free of the wrath of our dogs. We've got passion flowers, dahlias, tarragon, lemon verbeena, and aloe. Also pictured here are our indoor pots (basil, mint, chives, thyme, and red sage), which were looking a bit starved for sunlight so we're giving them a week in the sun to help rejuvinate them. We've also got a few sunflowers growing out front. We planted a bunch, but so far only 2 have sprouted. We also want to plant some green sage out front to help line the walkway to the house, but that's a project for another month. Herb Patch We don't have any pictures of the Herb Patch right now, because there's really not much to show. We had a bunch of weeds and inedible mint plants growing along the side of the house, which we ripped out a few weeks ago. In its place we planted spearamint, peppermint, green sage, and rosemary seeds. Hopefully in the next few weeks we'll see some seedlings emerge, and we'll definitely post some pics when it happens. But to save bandwidth, we'll save you from having to load a picture of unblemished dirt. Please visit other pages of our gardening sections for more details about individual crops, what we're growing, or recent harvests.