raised bed #1: dwarf gray pea, sugar daddy pea, sugar snap pea, imperator 56 carrot, Parisian carrot, red cord chanty carrot, long imperator 58 carrot.
raised bed #2: Oregon sugar pod 2 pea, gurneys sugar Anne pea, top-notch pea, green magic broccoli
raised bed #3: melting sugar snow pea, Cascadia sugar snap pea, sugar daddy pea, black seeded simpson lettuce, mandarin spinach, french dressing radish, cherry bell radish, purple top white globe turnip
raised bed #4: snowball cauliflower, long island brussels sprouts, Catskills brussels sprouts
raised bed #5: Waltham 29 broccoli, calabrese broccoli
9 four foot rows of peas planted. Bed one has dwarf gray sugar daddy and sugar snap. Bed 2 has Oregon sugar pod 2 gurnee’s sugar Anne and top notch sugar. Bed three has melting sugar snow pea cascadia sugar snap and snap sugar daddy.In between the peas in bed number one I planted imperator 56 carrot Parisian carrot red cord chanty carrot and long imperator 58 carrotIn bed number five I have broccoli. eight plants of Waltham 29 and eight plants of celebrese.I planted 12 plants of broccoli green magic variety in bed number two in between the peas.In bed number three in between the rows of peas I planted black seeded Simpson lettuce, Mandarin spinach, French dressing radish, cherry bell radish, purple top white globe turnips.In bed number four I’ve got eight plants of snowball cauliflower for Long Island brussels sprouts and four catskills Brussels sprouts.4 foot high fence around raised beds to keep chickens and other critters out
I’m trying once again to direct-seed cool weather plants in the heat of summer. The ‘feels like’ temperature was 105°F today because of the high humidity due to the 2.8″ of rain this morning. Nice to have the rain though! I was unsuccessful in direct-seeding plants like this last year.
Raised bed #1 w/ strawberries – planted about 16 cauliflower
Snowball Y Improved Cauliflower
Raised bed #2 planted 24 broccoli
Green Magic Broccoli
Raised bed #5 planted 14 brussel sprouts
Long Island Improved Brussel Sprouts
Raised bed #3 planted carrot
Imperator 58 Carrot
Earlier this weekend before it had rained, I was able to move a lot of top soil out of the “pond” area and place it on the eastern part of the Hügelkultur bed #1. Just before dark I added straw mulch and planted about 50 bean plants, then distributed a packet of buckwheat cover crop to a lot of the bed. The plants I’ve had growing in this bed haven’t done very well. I think it is a combination of not enough soil, the typical first-year poor performance of a hugelkultur bed, and not enough water. I added more soil to this part of the bed compared to the part I already have plants growing in– hope that helps. I’m eager to have plants growing in it to hold the steeply-sloped soil in place. I figure beans are a good choice.
I cut all the bean plants and cucumber vines to make room for 12 new cauliflower and 6 new brocolli plants. It was sundown when I was taking the pictures, so they didn’t come out great. You can see my big watermelons in one of the pictures.
Even though I’ve had terrible luck in the past with bugs in the spring attacking Brassica plants, I went ahead and planted 6 cauliflower transplants. The thought of fresh vegetables is too irresistible. I also put in 24 sugar snap pea seeds and 12 turnip seeds. It was good to see all the rich loose soil when I moved my leaf mulch back!
