Update on the Urban Farm

Things are growing on the urban farm. There are dozens of flowers in full bloom, like these marigolds that help keep pests away from the tomatoes.

I bought this rhubarb at the local farmers' market. It has been growing well without the anticipated transplant "shock".

All around the house, I've been pulling up the perennials that have apparently not been separated in several years. Getting under the root systems proved to be rather complicated. But beds halfway around the house like this one above, now have tomatoes, arugula, cucumbers, beans, zucchini, peppers, and summer, spaghetti and butternut squash.

The potatoes are doing great! I've added potting mix as they've grown and it's up to the brim now. The only thing left to do is occasional watering and to wait for the harvest (plus...keep the pests off!).

Three bed bags are filled with tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and zucchini, plus marigolds and different types of herbs interspersed for pest control.

Several varieties of basil are planted throughout the tomatoes. A pot of oregano sits in the bed bag too. Rosemary in another bag is also a good pest deterrent.

These potted Mortgage Lifter tomatoes are coming along well and should be ripe within the month.

The corn, Asparagus Yard-Long beans and Christmas Lima beans have all sprouted.

The Rainbow Chard has been harvested for baby greens and is still going strong.

A bed of crookneck squash, Luffa gourd, Rainbow chard and tomato has had some great blooms lately. Plus, we've harvested a few Chioggia beets from the pot in the background.

We've also planted several annuals to bring the pollinators, which are scarce in this area.

Impatiens have always been one of my favorite annuals, but in the apartment, we never had a shady place to put them. Here on the urban farm, we have one strategically placed plant hook that makes impatiens a possibility again.

Along with lettuce, chard and beets and a plethora of Tendercrisp celery, we've harvested some less than stellar cauliflower, red cabbage and broccoli. With temperatures that rapidly go from 40s to 80s in May, the wide variance and upkeep on water demand evidently influenced the final product. I'm thinking that a fall harvest may have a much better chance and that gives us time to get some beds built for late summer plantings. We've already started several cauliflower and celery plants that will go out in late July to early August. 

This photo was taken almost two weeks ago. The cauliflower are starting their third set of leaves and the celery have just sprouted in the last day.

From this update, you can probably tell that it's been quite busy here on the urban farm. My eldest chastised me (via Houston) that I was pulling up all the pretty plants in place of veggies. [I should point out that she's the Vegan. Irony?] Anyway, she arrives home from Houston on July 31st. She'll probably miss the flowers, but just to prove her wrong, I've left an entire side of the house in bloom.

Enjoy Abbey!