I am officially going to have blueberries this year, even if I had to resort to blinding the local wildlife to get them! This weekend, I built custom box frames for my bushes by upcycling years of old election signs (thanks, Democrats!) and locked them down with high-quality bird netting and a truly prodigious amount of zip ties.
Then, I crossed a major milestone: I visited a Dollar Tree for the first time in my life, walked out with a dozen disco balls for around 15 bucks, and strapped them to the frames. The constant, chaotic flashing of the mirrors acts as a visual deterrent—so if the tight netting doesn’t keep the birds away, the backyard rave light show definitely will.
I seriously can’t say enough about this bird netting. It’s made from polypropylene HDPE and raschel knitted so it isn’t stiff and doesn’t fray when you cut it. It comes on a roll so you aren’t battling fold marks when you undo it, and it drapes beautifully. It pulls tight so birds won’t get tangled in it, and the netting is of a size that pollinators can get through it. It ticked all the boxes I was considering when I was looking for decent quality netting to protect my blueberries. I’ll use it to protect my tomatoes later this summer as well.
Rainy Day in the Greenhouse
Saturday it rained to beat the band here in Kalamazoo. I spent some good time in the greenhouse thinning basil and packing up spare seedlings and basil thinnings to share with fellow garden friends.
I have been working hard to get things in the ground so I can have my weekends back. I don’t begrudge the effort I’ve put into the garden this spring, but I’m ready to not be doing it all weekend every weekend. I will say that I was pleased to see that last weekend’s install of gutters on the south end of the greenhouse really made a difference, when paired with the earlier DIY install of gutters on the north side of the greenhouse. My DIY four-barrel catchment system is going gangbusters now, and I was able to fill a bucket from the east tap today!
Garden Planting Update: West of the Driveway
The Back-Door Bed (6′ x 4′)
Fully Planted. All 8 tomato plants are completely supported using tomato cages with Indigo Apple, San Marzano, Midnight Snack, and Gardener’s Delight. There are also three Ace 55 heirloom tomato plants in grow bags next to the backdoor lineup. They don’t look like much now, but I’m sure looking forward to these in a couple months!
The Standing Planter (6′ x 4′)
Fully Planted. Dedicated entirely to lettuce, kale, and spinach under a cut and come again plan.
The Side Bed (Bed C – 8′ x 2′)
Fully Planted. Four Lunchbox sweet peppers grouped at one end and 6 Bushmaster cucumbers covering the rest.
I pulled up the rest of the radishes today to make room for the cucumber seeds I had a very strong harvest of Royal Purple radishes, and a much lesser harvest of Wasabi radishes. I will not grow Wasabi again, but I will absolutely grow more Royal Purple. I’m slicing them thin for salads! This photo is from the other day – today’s pull covered the hood of the Jeep!
Front Yard (Beds D & E – 8′ x 2′):
Bed D: Fully Planted. All brassicas! Waltham Broccoli, Cabbage Babies, and Long Island Brussels sprouts, all in the same shaded cool bed.
Bed E: Partially Planted. Half the bed is locked in with Mardi Gras bush beans; the other half is holding for the beets and carrots on watch. If they don’t look alive in two weeks, there’s a second planting of Mardi Gras beans lined up, or maybe butterhead lettuce.
Garden Planting Update: East of the Driveway
The Pedestal Drum (South of Beds A/B)
Fully Planted. Spoon Mini Cherry tomato growing freely from the elevated container. It’s looking a little limp after the transplant, but if it doesn’t make it I have a couple of backups to pop in there. You’ll remember from the video from a prior post about Spoon tomatoes – I’m excited to see it cover that DIY strawberry planter from a 55 gallon drum that didn’t work out as planned. I won’t get rid of it, though, bc my Dad helped me make it. I miss him most this time of year.
Pots on the ground next to Bed A:
Yukon Gold potatoes, five Black Beauty eggplants. The potatoes are starting to sprout!
Bed A (8′ x 4′)
Fully Planted. Everything from seed – two Green Griller bush zucchini, three Santa Fe Grande peppers, three Purple Bell peppers, and 6 Dwarf Siberian kale.
Bed B (8′ x 4′)
Fully Planted. Asparagus, strawberries, and sage down the middle.
Former herb bed – assorted size frames
Partially Planted. Ramps, shallots, mints, garlic, wild raspberries are all happily co-existing. I need to dig out one long frame yet and then two Honey Butternut squash plants and two Sugar Baby watermelon plants will have room to sprawl as they choose.
Front bed (26′ x 8′)
Fully Planted. All my perennial flowers are here. Currently, comfrey is taking the starring role, along with grow bags of thyme, Chinese chives, lemon balm, oregano, and lavender. In front of it, there’s a sloping berm to the sidewalk full of pollinator plants. Behind it, grow bags of Magic Molly potatoes. Next to it to the west, four blueberry bushes and a brand-new redbud tree.
Once I get that back bed dug for the squash and watermelon transplants, I will be fully planted for the season! Then it’s just a matter of weeding, watering, feeding, and keeping an eye on things. In late July I’ll start seeds for the fall cool season vegetables that will go in the ground in September. I’m excited about the possibilities for fresh veggies for my own eating and for sharing with friends this summer!
