June 07, 2009

Gourds Gone Wild

This was the birdhouse gourds the last week of May.

This is the birdhouse gourds today. They have really taken off finally. So much so in fact we had to use some pipes and wire to make their trellis taller. That is the compost pile behind them. I thought the gourds might make a nice, natural screen for it. Our compost bin is basically just cattle panels with tarps on two sides, the open panel used as a trellis on one side and the last side left open so we can get to it to add or remove compost as needed.

For some reason many of the zucchini seeds I started indoors did not grow, however the ones that did have really done well this year once I was finally able to get them outdoors in the garden. This is the zucchini the last week of May.

This is the zucchini today! We planted two plants on each mound and we got the first zucchini off of one of them today.
Judging by these flowers on them, I think they are gearing up to produce more though!

Here is some of the tomato plants that is planted in the vegetable garden this year. These are Better Boy tomatoes. We also planted Celebrity, Beefsteak and Yellow tomatoes.

Here is my lonely strawberry plant. I had ordered about 25 that came bare root and I guess I did not plant them soon enough after arrival or something. For whatever reason they did not grow so I bought one plant from the store. It has produced two strawberries, so by my figures that means I paid about $2.50 for each berry. We should have had them in champagne at that price. (smile) The planter is an old wash tub, with some holes drilled in the bottom of it for drainage. Someday when I find the time I would like to paint it and pretty it up some. I love being able to find new, interesting uses for old things like this.

A full moon in the evening sky is a nice ending to another beautiful day on the farm.

Just a reminder, there is only one day left to enter in the Soap Giveaway! Don't miss out!

21 comments:

KathyB. said...

Sometimes it just doesn't pay to add up expenses, does it? I like your clever composting idea and yes, using old things as planters is pretty nifty AND economical.

nobody-but-us-chickens said...

Wow, you are so far ahead in your season, here we are only able to plant and sow now, we still had frost at night all week. Things look great in your garden.

The Three Little Bears said...

Beautiful! We have Better Boy and Beefsteak tomatoes as well!

Our strawberries did quite well (we actually waited two weeks before planting the bareroot stock we ordered). But the raspberries I planted right away and they barely came in. Who knows...

Bears Fan said...

Zucchini already! Yikes! Way to go, we are so way far behind you guy's. And where I live, higher elevation, harder to get things going, I have to rely on cherry tomatoes as the bigger variety's won't get red! Nice garden, sorry about the strawberries! Always next year!

Becky said...

Yep, those birdhouse gourds will take over if you let them.
Your garden looks like it's coming along nicely.
Not one of my strawberry plants came up. Guess I'll try again next year.

brokenteepee said...

Wow! Everthing looks so lush. We are still at seedling state here. Except for the spinach. That is growing like mad.

Unknown said...

Your garden is doing really well, even if you're short on strawberries! Looking good so far.

Nancy in Atlanta

crowson2000 said...

looks like you guys are doing pretty good so far. the only fruits i've harvested so far are a few onions i picked accidentally. :)

Joanna Jenkins said...

I would love a garden full of tomatoes. They're my fave. Unfortunatley I'd have to fill in the swimming pool to have a garden and my husband won't hear of it :-)

Christy said...

Your garden is much farther along than mine. I don't have a trellis for my gourds. I thought they'd just run over the ground. Might have to rethink that.

Jennifer said...

I love what you did with the old wash tub! I've never had any luck with ordering strawberry plants, either.

Mary Humphrey said...

Your garden is unbelievable already.

I always think zucchini plants are beautiful. And from the look of yours, you are probably going to be freezing some, and giving some away! :)

I zoomed in on at that wash tub with an eagle eye. I agree, taking something old and making it useful. I have a couple of washtubs that I purchased new, I love them, but there is nothing like the real thing!

I enjoyed the full moon last night. I love how we get used to seeing things (in the darkness) and noticing the moon before we even look up and see it is full.

Girl Tornado said...

Hey, if that's last night's moon, that looks pretty similar to the photos I took *grin*

Your garden plants look terrific. We ran out of time to get a garden started this year - what with painting the house and all the fence repairs and myriads of other property stuff - next year we'll get it started. In the meantime, we're marking off a plot and we're going to get the soil ready. I potted a few tomato and pepper plants, so we'll have a few bits of fresh produce... hopefully!

Nancy M. said...

Your garden is looking good! We're getting lots of squash and zucchini now. I'm sorry about your strawberries! They were kind of expensive when you put it that way!

Savvy-Motherhood said...

That is amazing. I wished I could do that.

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

wow Jennifer, you're well ahead of us. Everything looks great.

farmlady said...

I love the "price" of your 2 strawberries. That's funny.
The reason your gourds are doing so well is because they just love getting out of control and they're having a love affair with your compost pile.

Vickie said...

Your garden is doing great! We have zucchini and yellow squash coming out the kazoo right now. THey always do well. I'm going to try some gourds one of these days... I hope you savored every single taste of those expensive strawberries! Cute post!

Please enter me in your soap giveaway! Thanks! I love your goats!

The Silver Age Sara said...

Wow, I can't believe how far along your garden is compared to ours in the almost always frozen north. I'm so envious and I loved the photos.

Jennifer said...

Wow, I such at growing things! I hope to get one of those upsided-down plan growing things off of TV so I can grow some tomatoes or something!

The Grown-Up Child said...

What beautiful plants. I agree, it looks like your zucchini will be producing more! Love the last picture of the moon too.