This is for @simplymike's Hive Community Garden Journal challenge.

You might remember last time that I was struggling with some nasty soil with a nasty invasive weed... I also was running out of time for putting plants in before they'd die in their pots... Here's what grew in June.

I'll start with the experimental beds which were looking so much better than the conventional ones at the end of May...

This is the bed that I built on top of the ground with a newspaper lining, then alfalfa, then manure/compost.

We've had a poor germination rate which may have been partly due to whatever was digging in the bed early on. What has grown, however, has done fairly well. This corn is so much taller than everything else in the garden so far, with probably only about a week head start on the others.

I had been worried about weeds since I was planting on top of a bale of alfalfa hay, but that hasn't really been a problem. This bed is moist compared to the others as well.

Something has munched on the lavender plant in the middle, but it seems to be doing okay.

Next, we have the fennel, planted in a lazy bed on top of the bad soil. It's doing pretty well. Looks like I have a bronze fennel. (I didn't care which color, I was so happy to find it!) No sign of the seeds I planted around it though. (More fennel, including bulb fennel.)

The potatoes are in another similar lazy bed - and are extremely happy. So far, I've seen no sign of the other potatoes I planted in another (conventional) bed - and it takes a lot to kill off potatoes!

The strawberries are doing okay, though have stalled - and something seems to have eaten one of the plants. Again, another lazy bed.

As for the REST of the garden...

The corn has germinated well, but is struggling. I have some beans coming up and some sunflowers (being eaten by something) and the curcurbits (squashes/melons) are doing fairly well.

There's clearly something wrong with this soil though - in addition to the wild geraniums which seem to be everywhere.

More corn poking up between the wild geraniums.

Miraculously, these two brussels sprouts plants seem to be doing quite well... unlike the rosemary behind them.

I guess some of the scratch feed for the chickens sprouted... this bed seems to be invaded with (probably) wheat and other grains. This pumpkin doesn't seem too bothered by its neighbors though.

My cabbages are doing surprisingly well. The sage in the middle is okay, but we'll see. The intercrops seem to have failed completely.

I have seen a cabbage white butterfly around though, so I need to watch for caterpillars... (the chickens will like those.)

The artichokes really got to a late start and nearly died when I first transplanted them. They're doing okay now, but are unlikely to fruit before frost, sadly.

The tomato plants that I nursed through the winter are doing okay, but not really thriving. I should be able to take starts in the fall again, but the poor soil is really taking its toll.

Sadly, it's been a bit of a disappointment this year. The soil is simply too poor to grow anything in without considerable work (which will come this fall.) Most of the purchased plants that went in there died within the first few days. (Except the cabbages and brussels sprouts and some of the herbs.)

I actually have to wonder whether there's something wrong with the soil more than what would be expected in our sandy clay soils, whether the cheatgrass has left a legacy behind (that is being fed to the chickens with every chance.)

I do feel that the experiment with the easy-style raised beds has been a success and definitely worth continuing in the future even if I fall behind schedule. In hindsight, I should have kept up with the "lazy" beds, at the very least despite the expense of buying bag after bag of compost/manure.

After the new chicken coop has been built (the Maran has started crowing), I will start on the frames for next year's beds - they don't have to be tall, I don't think - just enough so that I know where to heap the leaves and horse manure I plan to add in the fall.

Photos taken in June 2020 with my Nikon D7200.

Past issues...

Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
(Buy my work at RedBubble, TeePublic, PicFair and DeviantArt.)
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(Buy my books at Books2Read and at LBRY)
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Garden Journal - June 2020 - Homesteading

Past issues...

Poultry

Gardening in Wyoming

Indoor Gardening