Like many, we have been stuck being close to home due to social distancing and stay at home related to the COVID 19 crisis. It’s one of the reasons we are thankful to have the farm, we can get out and have plenty to keep us occupied. We already had some big ambitions for the garden this year, but our ambition coupled with a few weekends without other distractions – our garden doubled in size.
We added three (soon to be four) new raised beds, two of them are double-height for root vegetables. In addition, we moved the herb bed close to the greenhouse, added an asparagus bed, and have some squash/melon mounds planned out front.
New Beds seeded 
drip line 
Space for one more 
Onions transplanted – pre gravel footpath
This year we are starting most of our plants from seed. We did some work to upgrade the greenhouse and we no longer have issues with slugs or pests killing seedlings. We mostly use Territorial Seed Company for our seeds, they are a family-owned business in Cottage Grove, OR. They are helpful and have a huge selection, although this year they had problems keeping up with demand which limited supply of some varieties. Apparently everyone is gardening this year!
First round of seeds 
A few store bought plants just in case 
Seed packs from Territorial Seed Co 
More seeds growing 
Asparagus crowns 
Corn from a cob we saved last year 
Roma tomatoes, tomatillos, and arugula
Bridge is having a blast working with seedlings in the greenhouse – we may end up having to sell or give away some of the surplus plants. She is working from home, giving her some extra time at the start and end of the day to give some TLC to the little green things that give her joy.
Sun flower and ornamental grain bed by the greenhouse 
Sunflowers in 
Invader in the greenhouse 
Rosemary and mint 
The rest of the transplanted herb bed
Aside from the new garden beds we are trying a couple of other new things – we built some hoop trellis to grow vines on, installed drip irrigation for better water efficiency this year, and of course a different selection of plants. This spring planting includes the usual (garlic, onions, snap peas, cabbage, etc.) but we have some new things that we have not grown before:
- Carrots
- Parsnips
- White radishes
- Beets
- Dwarf Kale
- Blue Kale (we might have had this one before – just recall the variety)
- Red and white potatoes (In felt bags)
- Dragons tongue bush beans
- Pole Beans
- Loofah (yep the sponge – it’s a gourd)
- Asparagus (25 crowns in a separate bed).
We also planted wildflowers and nasturtiums in the garden for additional color. Bridge has a project for some morning glory, moonflowers, and hollyhocks as well.
We are looking forward to what the summer brings! More to come as things get growing and an update soon about our cottage garden plans.