In the Garden: July 10

Oh Lordy- things have been crazy here the last two weeks or so (or maybe they're crazy all the time and I've just realized it- as one of the chief 'makers of crazy' I'm not always clear on when things are 'too much'). Anyhow. On to the garden. It's suffering from the crazies right now- lots of non-weeding going on- it looks a bit feral which is okay sort of- but things are going to start suffering for it soon if I don't get the weeding going here.

Two weeks ago I was going to write a post about weeding and how this year- it's more like thinning than weeding, because the volunteers are awesome and so game to grow. We companion plant- which means that things sort of grow all over the place- borage with tomatoes, plants that pollinators love- calendula, bachelors buttons, etc. are let to freely roam where they will- so long as they don't interfere with the things meant to be growing there.  It's messy looking to some- but really beautiful at the end of summer when the flowers are all in- and helps things grow well too. This year the plants that self seeded are really awesome (free plants always though right?)- here's a list:
Borage
Calendula
Cilantro
Coreopsis
Beets
Carrots
Spinach
tomatoes (though we don't keep these ones because we don't know what varieties they are)
Larkspur
Lavatera
Dill
Summer Savory
Red Poppies
Blue Breadseed poppies
Nigella
Gypsophila
Oats

I've been letting these beneficial plants grow where they will- and only weeding them out where it's too much. The best example of this is what I was weeding two weeks ago; Sunflowers down the center of the row- with cucumbers growing at the base (I'm hoping they'll twine up- but I have no outside source of this working- so stay tuned), that's what I planned there- and that's all growing fine except some volunteers got in and I managed to weed it before they took over so it's quite charming now- summer savory at the bases of the plants, dill ferny and lovely between stocky sunflowers, Lavatera growing up so that I'll have bright pops of pink between the yellow of the sunflowers, and the light green of the cucumbers- if it works out it will be utterly fantastic.

So in some spots the weeding is more like thinning plants, and in others...well... it's more like pulling the leg hairs off of the jolly green giant. Just ripping 'em out by the roots and tossing them over your shoulder. My Carrots and Beets are the worst hit by the weeds so far- showing through patchy and thin where I've pulled out the mallow. I've got lots of volunteers of beets and carrots throughout the garden- so I think we'll be fine- though I may start some more because they'll have enough time to get to a decent enough size I think.

Otherwise we're eating lettuce and the peas are blooming- can't wait for them! the spinach is bolting, and the greens are taking off- the beans are in bloom too. We've also had our first ever giant pick of strawberries- with enough to freeze some and eat in the house, as well as the kids raiding the patch when ever we're out there (it's baby A's first, and most frequent stop in the garden).