Do you want it to be a garden bed? If so, I would do something to define its edges, ie does it extend to the cement sidewalk? Or is the edge further in with a rim of grass or stones between the sidewalk & the bed?
@Cayuga Morning..i think that they will edge the inside of the white fence (see pic). They are not the spreading kind of comfrey, but i believe i can picture those big plants right there...since i now have a garden spot....hehe...i have five of them to start growing around the area...maybe two there and 3 along the fence with the gate at the bottom of the pic that you can't see here..hope squirrels don't like them. Thank you @Jewell ... they are surprising me so quickly. That's why I love comparing the before and present pics...i'm just amazed.
Hi Y'all: 5/17/19 Update: The gardens are doing well. The veggies that were planted after I made the beds are producing. Both the crooked-neck squash and zucchini are doing great. Should be ready to pick next week. A cat just pooped in one and I pulled out the cayenne pepper this morn and went to shaking. The garden in the side yard is doing well..a few more plants to put in their forever homes this weekend. Those shrubs ended up being gardenia and they smell heavenly. I'm still popping in bulbs and plants as i go though. Sowing sunflowers, zinnia, cosmos this wknd. Have a bokashi composting set up coming tomorrow...so excited for the food scraps that we make. The worms are really going to love it. I've already used it in a plastic bag and it really does compost with no foul smell...more pickled than anything. Finally getting to smell the roses. Plenty of deer netting around the wire.
5/30/19: @Sjoerd, @Gail...I am loving the garden and it's starting to produce. Since the last update, the zuc and yellow squash were picked and grilled. They were sooo good. I now have chinese red noodle beans that I just picked...17 inches long along with orange okra, burgundy okra. The noodle (yardlong) beans are so easy and fun to grow, that I have already sown more at the base to have a continuous supply. Have more to pick when i get home. They literally grow overnight. I finally have baby maters growing...most of which i lost the labels...I do know Aunt Ruby's German Green though out front. I have Black Krim, Brad's Atomic Grape, Rapunzel, Pink Tie Dye, Beauty, Galinas, San Marzano, Blue Berry and I believe more that I can't think of right now. I just got the seeds for Sun Gold and Blue Indigo. I have Little Prince Eggplant plants sewn from seed..not producing yet, but soon. I don't eat eggplant, just love the plant and the look of the fruit. Will give it another try since I'm growing my own. The cucs are finally on their way...Persian and Beit Alpha. Peppers are on their way. The Mammoth Jalapeno that I have been growing since 2 moves ago, is doing its thing. For some reason, i have started growing hotter peppers for their appearance and heat..can't wait to see those. I have slowed down building beds though. Just want to enjoy the garden and continue plugging in bulbs/seeds where i see the need. I already know a particular plant has become a favorite and will be a staple...anisse hyssop (the pic with the bee). That plant is amazing!! It's the first plant that you really see and see through when you turn into the driveway!! OOOOOOhhhhh, I believe I mentioned making an experimental garden for the seeds that I've had forever....well you would be proud of me. I chose the raised bed behind the pool. It was really overgrown and had knee high grass/weeds starting to grow in it. It got on my nerves so bad one Sunday morn, that I cleaned it out, added potting soil/mushroom compost/worm castings, made a trench right through the middle anddddd I buried my kitchen scraps from the freezer, covered it with the grass and weeds I just pulled, and covered all with new soil. I've been burying scraps in holes as I plant them. I think I've killed all my worms in the bin. Had to put them outside because of the gnats and to say that it is warm here, is an understatement!! So now it's just a compost bin....still yay!!!! I can actually lay or sow something in there and it would literally take off!! By the way, does anyone have any viable mexican sunflower seeds or seedlings that they want to part with. I will gladly take two off your hands. Pics will be uploaded when i get home....hehe
@hummerbum i'm just settling down mate First of all I would just like to say these two plants are stunning. Some of the plants your growing and eating I've never heard of but you seem pleased in what your achieving nice one but your welcome to hot peppers..my mouth would be on fire. Yes you want the worms out the road and it must be really hot where you are..why not buy a few (Callistemon) Bottle brush tree's or standards as they adore heat being an Australian plant and also attract bee's plus would look stunning in the amount of ground you've got there to play with and I just like your little veggie patch Well your doing well mate but how are the neighbours taking it
@Gail..thank you and I love bottlebrush, but they get ready large here and where I would put them..there are underground lines all through the front yard. I took pics to remind me where they are. That's why I have to be careful with the digging in the front yard. I am going to order those mammoth elephant ears for the pool area outside the pool for now. The beans pic taken with the tank, is from today...those beans are 19 inches long....I picked them also. I harvested a squash, okra, noodle beans and regular green beans. There is a pic with Aunt Ruby's German Green Tomatoes growing. There is one with Brad's Atomic Grape Tomato with a hint of purple starting. The seeds I sowed Monday are coming up in this heat already. The neighbors...are still doing their thing..too hot to fight and try to be cute Even though I need to trim, i'll get to it. We are having our Annual Girls' Weekend here this year, the third wknd this month, so getting ready for that. Stay tuned for more later.
Oh Hummer, Hummer, Hummer---Just look at you, meid!! I loved those pics and saw some great things there. Those foot-long beans look great. They are very popular here. BTW--are they green when boiled? I have never seen red ones. This type of bean (if it is a true bean) I have only see as green. Pity that we cannot grow them here. The hyssop I especially like and have had from time to time in the lottie. My Bride was over the moon with the swimming pool of yours. You guys have really done a great job with that. This outside growing is a bit different from the hydroculture isn't it. Do you still do some of that indoors?
Hello There Sjoerd.....Thank you. You do not boil the beans...yes they turn green when sauteed and is a true green bean. Finding out the longer you leave them on the vine, the more the bean starts to plump out. Thank you and thank your bride for her excitement of the pool. I am (noticed I said "I" am) finished for the time-being..(Hubby is not an outdoorsy kind of person..so things that happen outside are on me until i need him to do the reaching or lifting)...have to get a new filter (lasts 15 years) really soon. Yes this outside growing is different from hydro, but i'm really enjoying it and making mental notes for next year's spring/summer garden. I really need to start a journal to know what worked and what didn't. I haven't really been successful at growing a full in-ground garden before now. That's why i decided to watch and follow someone who grew close to my chosen style and knew what they were doing... I do not have any hydroponics indoors at the moment, but i feel it coming on, especially for lettuce, because it's so hot and humid here now. Don't want to give the slugs more to chew on. If anything I may plug in a container or two around the inside of the pool, since it does not need pollination. I do have boatloads of dragonflies and lizards, which is awesome!! Your garden, Sjoerd, is beautiful and can't wait to see it in full bloom.
Oh Hummer--I am so delighted that you appreciated my comments. Thanks so much for adding more comments to expand the explanation of how things are going there. I can well imagine that you will continue to grow at least some things on hydro--you were unbelievable successful at that, annnnnnd it would be great to grow things for salads and so forth--why, they'd right on hand for use. Too bad that you have to replace the pool's filter. When we moved into our new house, there were a host of things that had to be replaced in our present apt. It just makes me sigh. Too bad that your man isn't an outdoorsy sort, but everyone to their own thing, right. Good that he helps you for certain things. Keeping a lil notebook of what works and what doesn't is something that we do every year. We also put other things in that little black book as well...like the crop rotations and veggie types that we have tried and the spuds---where planted and how many and what sorts . We record many things in it, for we cannot remember everything. You know Hummer---it was Albert Einstein that once said, "Never commit to memory what can be found on paper". I figure that if that is good for the likes of him, then I don't have to be silly about failing memory...hahahaha. Well, that's my story, and I'm keeping to it.
well at least you have it organized and by your recent pic's your plants are maturing lovely..shame about the bottlebrushes as they adore heat and cheers for explaining what your growing. Well I must say the pools looking splendid JEALOUS
Ok @Gail your swimmer is too cute!!! I need to attach updated pics...the garden has filled out more than really expected and with the rain, i'm loving it. I must say, i have started giving away zucs and chinese noodle beans. I think I've been winning the battle against the vine borers on the squash. As for Aunt Ruby's German Green tomato, that thing is monstrous..had to use my plumbing know-how and rig up a trellis for that joker...spray painted it orange for a pop of color and speaking of color...can't wait to show you the black-eyed susans...gorgeous plants. Had to let the worm bin go though..too hot and they all died. Everything on that side of the house is doing great. Did find out something...2 roses were package mislabeled. One was supposed to be a climber and the other a normal rose.. ...guess which is taking off all over the place in the WRONG PLACE inside the garden!!! The one normal rose is just sitting by the banister that was supposed to be for the climber....not only that- the climber is buried with compost in the ground....the normal rose is in a pot!!!!
