Columbus Foodie

After putting in the raised beds last year, I was super psyched about gardening this year. I got a late start this year, though. I didn’t order or start seeds in time, so I got stuck planting seedlings. And didn’t even manage to get those in very early – we were definitely past the last frost date (May 15 in our area) in getting everything in. With the exception of the Sun Gold tomato plants (4 of them), that is. I planted those in containers, so I got those planted at the beginning of May. What that means is that by the end of May a handful of them were already ripe.

So, here’s an overview of what I have planted this year, and where everything was at the beginning of June. Since it’s so picture-intensive, I’m continuing the entry under the cut.

Those grapes I put in last year were going crazy, pretty much taking over all of the railings on that side of the deck, and just starting to set fruit.

Ditto with the blackberry bush – not only did it come back as strong as ever, but it is also shifting from blossoms to fruit.

One of the raspberry plants came back, the other one, not so much. I’m still waiting for these berries to ripen, over a month later.

The blueberries came back with a vengeance. Again, slow to ripen, but once they start turning, all of the other ones follow pretty quickly.

The biggest surprise was the strawberry patch. From the 16 small plants I put in last year, they came back and not only took over the box, but the walkways around the box. I debated on whether I should cut it back early or after the harvest, and after seeing how many berries there were going to be, I decided to hold out until after they go back into hibernation.

Since I planted 2-3 different kinds of plants, I got both big June bearing and also these smaller and sweeter ever-bearing variety.

The mulberry tree was finally ripening at the end of May. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to harvest many of them this year, so the birds enjoyed them much more than I did.

This will give you an idea of what a daily harvest of berries from my backyard looked like. During the height of the strawberry harvest, I easily got 2-3x this amount.

With my newfound love of beets, I decided to put some into my garden this year. Unfortunately, P. planted them in a row rather than 16 to a square foot like I wanted him to. I didn’t realize this until after they started germinating. Lesson learned for next year, I suppose.

In addition to the red beets, we also planted a golden variety.

I’m not much of a chilehead, but I did plant some of my favorite peppers, which are poblanos.

I put in two zucchini plants this year (I know, I know – one is more than enough, but I really do love zucchini), and they were just starting to blossom a month ago.

The kohlrabi was starting to form the shape that it ends up when ready to harvest.

And the banana pepper plant was already ready with at least one pepper.

New this year are leeks. I’m not sure if it will be successful yet, but so far so good.

I didn’t do as many eggplant plants as last year, but have at least two of the skinnier and longer Japanese variety planted.

Also new this year is celery. It doesn’t look like much in this picture, just leaves at this point.

The hardneck garlic already was forming scape, and was just a few weeks away from harvest at this point.

I love tomatoes but hate waiting until August when they ripen, so put in a couple of Early Girl plants. Not a heirloom variety, but pretty good flavor, nice amount of yield per plant, early ripening, and very compact.

I did manage to find some Paul Robeson seedlings at the farmers market. This is hands down my favorite variety of tomato.

I’m experimenting with growing tomatoes in Topsy Turvy bags this year. Looking to see if it actually works as advertised. The thing I hate most about planting tomatoes is all of the caging and staking you have to do.

I’m also growing fennel bulb this year. It is one of my favorite things to put in summer/early autumn salads.

As usual, I have my big pot of basil growing. With some pineapple sage planted in the middle because I ran out of places to put it.

And I totally stole this idea for a herb garden from someone on CU who saw it on a DIY site. Working wonderfully for herbs, but I wish I would have used a black shoe organizer because the dirt and minerals in it are discoloring the canvas. So it’s working like a charm but doesn’t look pretty.

Are you gardening this year? What do you have planted in yours?