Inspired in part by the Hive community, I began reclaiming lawn space, building raised boxes, and blogging about my adventures in gardening. This might be year #5 of the ever-growing garden that officially launches this weekend every year.

There is a new curation engine in play named @GardenHive for us Hive green thumbs and I think you should check out the intro post here https://hive.blog/hive-174578/@gardenhive/gardenhive-introduction-hive-garden-community-curation-account Thanks to @skylinebuds for creating the curation account and @simplymike for introducing me to it.

In this update, things are growing everywhere and I take a look at each of the raised beds from a high level.

How we started:

This shot is from about 3 weeks ago where we had everything planted and seeds sewn. I will make sure to snap a shot every week from here on in to compare the progress and maybe make a GIF when the season is done to bring it to life.

Since this shot, we have had plenty of sun and a couple spots of rain. I have to augment the watering every evening or 2 with the hose water I would rather avoid in favour of rainwater. Either way, roots need water and need to grow in order to support strong plants.

The OB (Original Box)

This is the first box I built a few years ago out of some old 2x10s I had lying around from when I had a backyard rink. I shoveled it more than the kids skated on it so they are better used growing food and reclaiming lawn space.

I found myself rattling off the different plants we are growing this year to someone who asked and found it was quite a long list. From this angle, most of what you can see are tomato plants. Beefsteak, Big Beef, Early Girl, Roma and a couple cherry tomato vines to be specific. At the bottom of the shot you can't see the long green beans but you can see the marigolds I plant to fend off bugs and add a splash of colour. You can also see a few asparagus sprouts I planted 3 years ago, and was talking with @farm-mom about how they take 3-5 years to really produce the asparagus you might see in the grocery store.

At the other end are green and red peppers, cucumbers, pickles, squash and some snap peas growing at the far end.

Bring the HEAT!

The second raised box we built was a nice square one we have used for hot peppers for a couple years. The last couple years we have had hundreds of hot peppers so we decided to plant them here again this year.

As for species, the Ghost pepper was the hottest thing I have ever tasted from last year. This year, we have Carolina Reapers and Trinidad Moruga peppers which are both supposed to be even hotter than the ghost ones! The rest are (from hottest to mildest) Habaneros, jalapenos, chilis, hungarian wax and a sweet green pepper thrown in for good measure.

@sequentialvibe is as good a fermenter as he is a digital music composer so we should have some FANTASTIC fermented hot sauce again this year.

Strawberry Patch

The nicest surprise last year when we built this third raised box, was the flourishing and first year yield of 4 strawberry plants. This box used to be half strawberries and half carrots but, this year, we are letting the strawberries tube and run and take it over. There were a couple bare patches in the bed so I planted a couple new strawberry plants from the nursery to fill it out.

The amazing news to a family of strawberry snackers is that we are already pulling a dozen berries out a day even in early June. The revelation is that my youngest one was convinced she was allergic to her favourite berry because the store-bought ones gave her a stomach ache. These organic ones with no preservation spray on them sit just fine and she only has to walk to the back yard to collect them. Her happy place is between the flower bed and strawberry patch and that makes me happy as well.

Let Us

The newest addition to the garden is this long bed that was inspired by a visit to Thunder Beach Acres https://www.facebook.com/thunderbeachacres/ which is owned by family. They have so much lettuce and greens that I was instructed this would be the only suitable expansion this year. Most of what we grow is for the chicks anyhow so I was happy to comply.

We have an assortment of greens including Boston lettuce, swiss chard, kale, mescaline, purple lettuce, and a bunch of other greens scattered in this box. We have augmented out of sheer lack of willpower with radishes, horse radish, and a row of carrots along the right side. Not much early luck growing from seed but the nurseries around had a few sprouts we could add. We already have fresh and colourful salads coming from the garden so this is an early victory!

Herbs!

I do love my fresh herbs. These are a couple deck boxes with 3 kinds of basil (mammoth, italian and another) as well as some dill (for the pickles!) rosemary and thyme. I also have spots with parsley, greek oregano planted among the tomatoes, chives and probably a couple I have forgotten.

I think people with zero ground in which to plant should grow themselves some happiness in the form of planter herbs! Start with basil for some pesto if you get too much.

Flowers!

My garden posts are long enough without showing all the flowers we have every time. Still, I am proud of my @lynds Lupins! They have taken over their little corner and have flowered this second year. Not only that, each of those fuzzy little pods is full of seeds I can spread on the ground in the fall so they come up even thicker.

Punk Rock Flowers!

It seems that every year, I have a patch of mystery flowers. Whether they skipped a year, were a result of my little hippy just tossing seeds, or just native flowers blooming, something comes up every year that has me scratching my chin.

This year's official punk rock flowers were thought to be calendulas which are edible flowers we have grown before. Turns out they are daisies! These bright and cheery little blooms will be spared the mower and allowed to grow unhindered. Great in bouquets, cherished by the bees and a nice decoration right in the middle of the lawn.

Gardening is Tiring

I will wrap this one up with a shot of my old girl happily snoozing in front of the strawberry patch. She really likes this specific area because the can fall asleep fending off birds and bunnies, it is fluffy and soft, and we are approaching the dog days of summer. We have a new brittany spaniel on the way in about a month which may make it harder for an old girl to snooze but she can lounge in the meantime, feeling like I do in the middle of a warm afternoon.

I will save a deeper dive into flowers and veggies for future editions of The Pickleman Family Garden.

Mom started me along my path of growing stuff when I was a kid. Motivated by so many blockchain blogging gardeners, I figured I would plant and share and learn as I reclaim as much grass space as I can. It has turned out to be a fruitful experience and I hope to inspire others to sow and grow no matter what your location or experience level is.

Then, blog about it using #gardenjournal and the new #gardenhive tags as we network and curate the journals of other green thumbs, outdoor enthusiasts and fresh whole foodies.

What are you growing?