Garden Transitions

I get asked a lot to show pictures of how my garden looks like in different seasons. So here we go!

Start preparing the garden when the last frost is over. If you have trees, roses and perennial plants then many of them will be at a dormant stage. Also this is the time to prune and clean up your garden.

Your garden should be clean and free from remnants of your previous gardening activities when it is time for planting. Check the last frost date in your area before you start planting. Some plants tolerate cold well while others need a higher soil temperature before they can grow. For example you can plant potatoes 2-3 weeks before the last frost date while Okra, squashes, most gourds needs a much warmer soil temperature (upper seventies at least).

In the below picture you can see my chives all green and growing. You can also see the blackberry plants climbing up the trellis in the back. And don't forget the the little red robin in my garden who is probably looking for a worm treat :-)

As of April 28, 2020 my raised beds looks like this.

Dormant Fig

 When the winter sets in my figs go dormant. 

Once the land is cleared it is time to start planting. Check the USDA zone in your area and then select plants accordingly. Here in Long Island depending on the county you will be either a zone 7(a) or 7(b). My garden is in USDA zone 7(b). Many of the perennial plants like asparagus and rhubarbs will put out shoots when the soil warms up.

The below picture is taken on May28, 2020. You can see potatoes, chives, some asparagus peeking out of the soil and black berry bush on the trellis at the back.

Each bed is 10'x10'. I also have smaller beds of dimensions 18'x8'' and 18'x 10".

A month later we have this. The below photo is taken in July 2nd/2020.

And the below photo is from yesterday (07/15/20). It looks like a forest but I promise that was not my plan when I planted everything :-). I thin out a lot of plants every week to keep it more manageable. How ever I had two pumpkins growing with out my permission in my garden plot and you can see them climbing up the back wire fence. May be I can appease my neighbor by giving her a pumpkin? :-). I just don't have the heart to take them out. I usually have cherry tomatoes and Asian Amaranth greens (red and green variety) growing every year by itself and causes over crowding if I don't thin them out.

11/17/20 - Almost all the plants are gone. You can see the asparagus plants with yellow -green leaves. Parsley is still green. And this is the circle of life.