Tuesday, July 01, 2008

It's looking like it may be a good gardening year after all!

We had a late start and now it is just hot but the garden seems to be weathering it all. And after all, isn't there always something about the weather to complain about? Every year it is too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry or too something.

Mostly my garden is doing great. I had spotty germination on the parsnips and some of my carrots and Andy's sunflower fort has seen better years - but overall it is doing well. We have been eating lettuce and radishes from the garden for some time.

The strawberries were great this year. The currants and raspberries are loaded. The apple tree doesn't have any fruit this year and it looks like I have lost the peach tree - the green that was there has shriveled up and died. But I keep watering the tree hoping beyond hope that there is some life left in there somewhere! LOL! My plum tree has plums for the first time - I can only find 3 - so not a huge harvest but I'll take what I can get and it is still a very young tree.

I snapped a few pics of the garden this morning -



2 views of my raised bed from opposite angles.


Wayahead Tomato


The dead peach tree.

7 comments:

B said...

Your tomatoes are Wayahead of mine. ;)

Glad things are growing well.

Michael said...

For a basic topiary design to add to your formal garden, try using techniques to coax smooth curves in your hedges, helping the shape of your garden to flow. Or, if you still have something that's got a lot of right angles and corners, start growing shapes at the corners to add decoration; think of the ornaments you see at the corners on fancy staircases and molding in structural Garden design.
By incorporating topiary into your formal garden design, you can take basic lines and create art, all adding up to a good-looking, green space in your home.
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1) The Bookstore - there are books on every topic, and they are typically more complete than the internet

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Anonymous said...

Did your peach tree die? We were considering buying a peach tree and read that peach trees are typically zone5+. But since you were growing one in mn, we thought we might give it a try. Would you still recommend planting a peach tree here?
P

Kathi said...

Yes, my peach tree died - but it was nothing to due with the zone. It split in two.

We planted a new one this spring.

There are peaches that have been cultivated for this zone.

Our tree is a contender - I would definitely recommend it - there is nothing like fresh peaches! The ones we got from our old tree were wonderful!

Anonymous said...

How old was your peach tree? I'm guessing it wasn't a dwarf tree, so how long does it take to start producing peaches and how many do you get(approx)? Does it need any special care for winter?

Thanks,
P

Kathi said...

The peach tree was about 6 years old. It started producing in it's third year - the first year was only a few, but boy were they good.

We got a decent amount of peaches each of the next few years. In it's final year it was really really loaded - I think the load of the fruit contributed to the split.

We had enough to eat fresh for several weeks and I made a batch or two of jelly.

It was a standard tree. We have replaced it with a dwarf.

It did not need any special care for winter - it was cultivated for this climate.

Anonymous said...

Thanks! I will check out gurneys for contender peach tree. We've got two plum trees from henryfields and they're doing good. Last year(we planted about a year ago) and this year we got about 20 plums total from both of them. They're really fragrant, juicy and very delicious. Peach tree sounds like a wonderful addition now. Our Pear trees are not doing as well, I'm not sure why and not sure where to find someone to help!
P