Between taking a family vacation, working multiple jobs, and finishing up both our high tunnel and front yard garden, the months of April and May were over in a flash. Not only did it feel like we barely had time to breath, but other things, like this blog, were sorely neglected.

At this point, we are generally behind on everything.

So, a month late, here is our garden and high tunnel tour.

Spring Garden Tour

Our focus these past few weeks really went towards building our new garden beds, filling them up, and getting our starts planted. If I never see another wheel barrow of compost again it will be too soon.

Thankfully, I had the for-sight to plant some cool weather crops back in February. We have just started really harvesting from our old garden and it is still going strong. It is slightly weedy from lack of maintenance but has provided us with numerous snacks and meals.

A few of our old garden beds. The Kale in our Onion bed reseeded from our fall garden and quickly took over.

Casper Kale

Dazzling Blue Kale

Since we had mowed almost every week which killed our Dandelions, we let our Kale go to seed to provide flowers for the bees. We don’t need the garden space yet, and they add a nice pop of color.

If you look in the distance, you can see the start of our new raised beds in our front yard.

Forellenschluss Lettuce and Rouge D’Hiver. This is the most flavorful lettuce we have planted and I can’t recommend them enough.

Sugar Snap Peas

Parisienne Carrots

Sugar snap peas have, by far, been the spring garden favorite. We snack on them every day.

Bell Peppers and Banana Peppers

High Tunnel Update

The high tunnel has not only been five months in the making, but it also felt like the bane of our existence. Between snow, material costs, and the enormous amount of rain we have received this spring in Southwest Missouri, there were times I felt like we would never get it done.

I am so glad we persevered. Everything we have planted in the high tunnel has been thriving and it is my favorite place to pull up chair.

Beginning construction in January. The huge amount of snow we got put us a month behind.

Half way through construction we added solar lights. This allows us to be able to work at night and adds a nice ambiance.

For awhile the whole high tunnel just looked like a scattered mess. With the cost of wood being so high, we went with using old barn tin for our raised beds, timbers on the inside, and thin cedar boards to cover any sharp spots.

A high tunnel creates optimal conditions for plants like tomatoes. We’ve been able to regulate moisture and are using the Florida weave method to trellis.

Jewel Nasturtiums

Bell Pepper

Sunrise Bumble Bee Tomato

Marigolds

High Tunnel Issues

There are some things I would go back and do differently if given the chance. I wish we would have extended landscape fabric to the outside of the high tunnel as weed-eating the perimeter has been a pain.

Also, without a doubt, we should have made the raised beds before construction. Maneuvering around an already crowded space wasn’t the easiest thing to manage. It was impossible to level the beds completely and, while the function of the beds is still perfect, the fact they aren’t level sometimes bothers me.

All-in-all, everything has been shaping up and it feels good to have completed two of our big projects. Hopefully, next month, the front garden will be producing and ready to show.

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