End of May Potager Palaver (myths! bio-intensive gardening, herbs, super easy flowers)


The weather is finally warmer so we gardeners can plant our tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, corn, beans... all the heat lovers. Sunshine seems to still be hard to come by though, just spurts now and again. 

The cool weather veggies are starting to bolt at my place. The winter broccoli, spinach, and radishes. My lettuce is still doing okay but will likely bolt very shortly. All of these veggies make wonderful flowers that you can toss in your salads, or leave them be for a while to feed the pollinators.

Garlic is coming along so nicely, things are looking good! No scapes yet but am sure they will soon start, everything is a wee bit later this year.

Alliums are blooming in the front garden and these ones in the potager, as well. They are always such a delight in the spring garden, bright and cheery... the foliage though! Ugh. It always looks yellow, brown, just terrible by the time the flowers show up. Just take off the foliage or grow some bushy plants in front of them, like anemones or catmint would look amazing.  

Here are this week's links, a bit of all sorts of interesting things to peruse. 

These are great tips for everyone, not just new gardeners. Check out #10. If you take nothing else from this article, remember number ten! 10 Beginner Garden Tips That Avoid Bloopers (Great & Small) (empressofdirt.net)


Love these ideas for alternatives to a lawn. There are way more cool ideas than I had ever thought of, plus check out the comment section for even more pictures and ideas! Inspiring Alternatives to the Traditional Lawn (houzz.com)

Here is a really nice article about nurturing a wildlife friendly habitat in your yard. We talk about this each fall and at the workshops, how to make a yard that is eco-friendly and critter friendly to give you an organically healthy yard and garden. The Humane Gardener | Nurture a Backyard Wildlife Habitat | joegardener®

Super easy-to-grow flower/shrub ideas for great colour in your foundation bed or, like us, a privacy garden across the front yard. Coneflowers, Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), Beebalm, Catmint, Salvia, and fall asters are my go-to's for super hardy, long blooming, drought tolerant, colourful mid to late summer plantings. They also feed the pollinators.  8 Plant Pairings for High-Impact Color in the Fall Garden (houzz.com)

Love this article about what herbs to grow in your garden. Herbs for cooking with, decorating with, and best of all, pollinators love herbs of all kinds! 10 Best Herbs to Grow & Why - Recipes, Tutorials and more (thepondsfarmhouse.com)

What Is French Intensive Gardening? (thespruce.com)

Want to really go down some gardening rabbit holes? Here are some fantastic links about mulching, how and why to do it, Ruth Stout, new beds, and this great link about bio-intensive gardening. Remember that workshop that I held in spring about how to grow more food in a smaller amount of space? Here are a whole bunch of short videos with organic food growing information that you can watch in spurts as you sip your morning coffee. See the short video at the bottom of the page and the link is right above it. garden prep: how to make a bed, with cardboard - A Way To Garden 

Happy Gardening - Have a great week! 
Tanja 

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