Sweet Potato Homestead

My winter sadness stuck around and turned into summer sadness so my garden is not really where I was hoping it would be by mid-July. Despite it all, things are growing and thriving in the weird New England rainforest summer we’ve been having.

deck plants

(Top Left): Two kinds of pole beans (Scarlett Runner and Jade), mostly for the hummingbirds but any fresh or dry beans would be quickly eaten by me~

(Top Center): Bottom pot was sprinkled with Rose Mallow and they’ve all appeared to germinate. I’ll be moving some out into the back garden once some of them get a bit taller. Top Pot is a mix of Calendulas and a Lime Balm variety I found from Strictly Medicinal Seeds. I’m excited to see what variety of calendula come up since I’ve lost track of what was planted where but the Lime Balm is pretty meh. It doesn’t pack the same punch as Lemon Balm and reminds me of an overpowering house cleaner but maybe it gets better as the plant gets bigger. I’ll find out!

(Top Right): A little mix of Lemon Balm, Chamomile and Mini Mint huddled in the center. The Lemon Balm has been lovely as it always is and the few leaves I’ve harvested was a good addition to a smoothie~ The Chamomile has been slow going but I’m going to overwinter some of these pots so anything that might have self-sowed will show up next spring. The Mini Mint (or Corsican Mint) is small but mighty and I hope it takes over the pot where the others won’t. Eventually I’d like to transplant some into the side yard to smother the gravel and other annoying things.

(Bottom): These Yarrows once lived along the cabin in some dappled sun. The ones I’ve moved to the deck have blessed me with lush green leaves and some delicate flowers. Here’s another pot I’ll probably overwinter to keep the Yarrow train going~

(Top Left): Middle Pot- Strawberry Spinach! A fun combo of a lush, triangle-ish shaped leaf and, if left to flower, a slightly-sweet sort-of strawberry fruit~ So far, the leaves have been a great substitute for greens in my smoothies and have an unoffensive taste. I will have to break up some in this pot so they can go to flower but I’m really happy with their progress. Bottom Pot- Either Valerian or some sort of Mustard, via the Seek app. Again, I’m figuring out the best way to label seeds after transplants and so far, my sea shell method is proving to be just OK.
(Top Center and Right): This Blue Flax isn’t doing the best. I was excited to try it since it’s a great seed plant, flowering plant and fiber plant, but I didn’t give it a great head start. Next year, I think I need to make a dedicated grow area and experiment with growing wheat, amaranth and other grains.
(Bottom): I have been finding Shrubby Cinquefoil here, there and everywhere on this property and it’s such a great find. I’ve transplanted two wild Cinquefoils onto the deck and they have been doing well despite the heat and rainy weeks. This great medicinal plant has already proven useful against sunburned shoulders and I’m excited to see how my Cinquefoil and St. John’s Wort tincture comes out~

back garden

The back yard is still very much unfinished.

(Top Left): There’s still loads of gravel and boulders that need to go somewhere else, the outdoor shower isn’t going to live there, and many of my hugels feel incomplete.

(Top Center): I’ve just moved my two Honeyberry plants from the shady side garden to a much sunnier spot. Hopefully the tail end of this heatwave won’t fry them but I think they’ll get settled and appreciate the sunshine.

(Top Right): Between the Honeyberries is one of a couple of comfrey patches I was gifted by a farmer’s market friend. They’ve been doing well, putting off their purple bell flowers, and winning the war against the slugs. I’ve snipped a few leaves here and there for some localized applications but want it too grow as much as possible before the end of the season.

(Center): All of the pole beans I started last month germinated so I had a lot extras to litter around. Since I’m not doing any tomatoes this year, tomato cages have come in handy for giving them things to grow up. I also sprinkled four different wild seed packs I had leftover from last year and those have started to come up in all of the mounds.

(Top Left): Over in the medicinal plant bed, this Evening Primrose has been a delight to see come up and give the bees something other than St Johns Wort. I believe there’s a few more of these that should come up before the seasons end, as well as other medicinal herbs.

(Top Center): Next door to the medicinal plants, these red Amaranth have sprouted after self-sowing last year. I didn’t expect so many to germinate but their beautiful fuzzy cones are a nice edition to this bed and will be a great attractor for birds in the late summer and early fall.

(Top Right): One of the transplanted Plantains I moved from along the driveway has been getting bigger by the day. It’s surrounded by more wild flowers, pole beans, red clover and other native creeping plants.

(Center): I wanted to make use of four hog wire panels we had from a left over project and integrated some quick hugelkultur mounds into my plan. There are more Jade and Scarlett Runner beans here as well, along with a mystery squash that survived a slug attack.

in the wild

(Top Left): Lots of rain and now days of hot sunshine have done wonders to this mix of Plantain, Wild Strawberry and Dandelion. Potato worked through the Wild Strawberries through June but the large broad leaves grew to fill in the cracks of gravel. Some leaves were harvested for some herbalism practice but I think I’ll keep most of them there to create the illusion of a lawn.

(Top Center): I noticed this wild Pineapple Weed our first summer here and it’s come back a little more each season since. I have transplanted some to the deck and plan to move some to a bed before the season ends, cause it’s a great tea plant and I can’t get enough of those~

(Top Right): Found along the driveway in various spots, as well as the back yard, this blackberry has been coming in great among the tall ferns. Their white flowers in the spring was an exciting find and I’ll be able to get a more exact cultivar once the fruit ripens.

(Bottom Left): Near a spot I cleared of bushes and a short Witch Hazel sapling, natives grasses along with clovers and peas have filled out the dirt pit. By the end of July, I’ll probably trim these down for biomass in the backyard garden but until then, they’ve been providing birds with some seed variety and crickets and dragonflies with places to perch and hide. Among the grasses, Lamb’s Quarter, Dandelion greens and Rabbit Foot Clovers give splashes of colors, seeds and tasty greens after a vinegar rinse.

(Bottom Center and Right): The wild Raspberry patch is truly a monster this year, towering over Evening Primrose and Goldenrod. The dogs have been harvesting the lower hanging fruit while I’ve been sticking to the tops, adding little tart handfuls to smoothies every week. I plan on cutting a lot back in the fall, separating plants into other sunny areas, as well as dig some up for others!

May the rest of the season be not too warm and not too rainy~