blackberry winter comes without a warning
just when you think that spring’s around to stay
and you wake up on a cold, rainy morning
and wonder what on earth became of may
Hilary Kole singing Blackberry Winter, which was written by Alec Wilder. I have a hunch 
On to my garden, my yard, my piece of the earth, my sustenance and my protection.
was it just me
or did May flit by like a swallow -
purposefully
and out of my hands?
A shady spot for contemplation
The Trees
My previous yard was much larger than this one, but mostly shaded and oddly shaped with a huge house smack dab in the middle. I longed to plant trees, and had nowhere to put them. This tiny yard, which is barely 900 square feet, has offered up a few places for dwarf varieties. So far, I've gotten in one peach, Contender, and one crab apple, Sargentii, in a barrel.
I fell in love with Sargentii crabapples forty years ago at the Brooklyn Botanic gardens. Their trees were many decades old, craggy, low, wide-spreading and extraordinary. While my little tree won't do that and will have to be planted in the ground in a few years, it is growing like the dickens and seems quite happy in its half barrel, which is on a dolly so that I can wheel the tree around for its requirements (sun) and mine (shade and privacy). I'm hoping I can train and prune it into an interesting shape, so that it spreads wide and will provide a canopy of loveliness and tiny fruits over a seating area.
Three of my fourteen peaches
Sargent Crabapple
The Raised Beds
I'm determined to grow a good deal of my own food, even in this tiny space. This is my fourth year growing veggies, and my fourth season blogging about it. I think I am getting the hang of both, thanks in large part to all of my fellow gardening blogger!
Three raised beds are filled with composted cow manure. I was a bit hesitant to use pure cow manure, as I had read that roots do not develop well in it, but several local organic farmers assured me that this stuff is different. So far, everything is growing really well, there are few weeds, and it's really easy to work with, much easier than planting in the ground has been. I'm working on getting more hay for mulch, because watering these raised beds is a water guzzler. The middle bed has all my nightshades in it; if blight strikes, I can empty that whole bed for next year.
June 7, shot from the southwest corner of the yard
From left to right: Beets, radishes, arugula, spinach, lettuce and onions. Okra, basil and Kentucky pole beans behind those
Onions, kale, chard and dill
View from the northeast corner
The Challenge, The Pest, The Love
I was terribly worried about groundhogs, deer and rabbits because those three critters gave me quite a lot of trouble in the last yard. But it turned out my primary challenge in vegetable growing is going to be my puppy, Hazel. She's a digger, and a marauder, and, well, a puppy. I had to think up some containment options, and fast. These turned out to be a few dog training pens from Tractor Supply, and a couple dozen handy-dandy small green trellises, all barely visible in my photos above.
Hazel, who has necessitated quite an assortment of containment contraptions
With everything changing spectacularly nearly every single day here in the northeastern United States, I found this post to be particularly challenging. Choosing what to show you, from the great many things I would like to show you, was daunting. Hence, I'm posting this entry just a few hours before the deadline. And now that it's finally done, I have time to properly peruse the others.
Thank you so much for reading this!
Much love to you all!
Color in my neighbor's yard
This is my entry to Hive Garden's monthly garden journal challenge. Come join us!!!
images are all by me