Garden report 2 - Eating our weeds

I wasn't sure we made many gains in the garden this week until sifting through these photos.  

Maryanna prepared her own garden bed and decided that rocks would be a great place to squat and weed.  She planted two pepper plants, some cosmos, coneflower, and marigolds.  It was a full day's work for her and so far she is committed, it may be tidier than her room!  

In another corner of the garden peas are starting to climb.  We have never done peas and hope this will be a favorite snacking spot.

We had a dance with some very low temps last week, down to 38.  The sweet potatoes were under plastic and I still believe we suffered a 50% loss of them.  I added some sorrel, cilantro, marigolds, and a few zinnias and sunflowers.  I see the Asian greens, beets and turnips coming up and was worried about the lettuces.  I had them recorded on my map but when there wasn't any sign of them I wondered if I actually got around to putting the seeds in.  Just this morning though I'm happy to report a faint whisper of green right where I recorded them planted.  Gotta have trust in that map.    

The front bed was cleaned out and filled with herbs, cucumbers, peppers, hollyhocks, lavender and too wide a selection of colors and flowers to list here.  A neighbor noted, "I see you went totally crazy" and I said it was to match the vibrant energy that lives within the house, it will prepare any visitor for the life and noise that may hit them just one step inside our door. 

I'm also pleased to report I was successful in barricading the chickens and dog out with a double fence but used a variety of pots just in case.

Some heavy storms came through, a tornado just 10 miles north of us.  The rain left behind a nice mud pile and when temperatures reached almost 80 it was squishy delight for the youngest four.

We got two cherry trees in, one bing and one tartan.  These were the thoughtful mother day's gift from my family and they were planted just between the blueberries and asparagus bed.

I added two late season blueberry bushes to our small patch, we now have 9 but I feel like we may need 100.  A friend suggested planting service berries because they are bigger and will produce more, I've never heard of them and I am curious.  My plan is to move more berries to zone 1, within 20 feet of my front door.

We got in 30 tomato plants and I still have 32 more to plant.  We are going to have to move the giant compost pile in the middle of the garden order to allow space for them.  I swore I would never bring home another living thing (plant or animal) until I was sure I had an immediate spot to put them, these tomatoes were another reminder.

And now for the weeds.  Having not tilled the entire space I see the grass is threatening to take over.  We are putting the goats on it but that can be tricky, too often my goat herders sleep on the job and the goats so easily drift to something that should not be eaten.

This is Arabella, she may be my favorite goat.  About once a week I'll pull her aside, hug her, pet her, tell her how much I love her then tell her to go after that little patch of poison ivy in the garden.  She does just as I say and one of these days I'm going to have to brave digging up the roots.

Nettles and lambs quarter have been plentiful.  We are harvesting what we can use.  James filled a 2 qt jar with lambs quarter for me and we covered it with apple cider vinegar.  It will sit for 6 weeks and provide an excellent calcium supplement.  

The kids are learning what plants are edible and enjoy snacking.  As Peter weeded he fed the lambs quarter directly to Charlie and Peter could not weed fast enough to keep up with the demand.  

                 
I sure wish all the weeds could be controlled by eating them but there are way too many and they so quickly can consume me if I let them.  So I've learned to operate a weed whacker, it is loud and stinky but so worth it every couple of weeks simply to find my breath in the garden.  Long term plan includes cardboard and loads and loads of mulch.  In the meantime it is chop and drop with an occasional meal for us and the goats. 

Here's a peak back at week 1 in the garden