Behind the barn on our property is a garden. Many people don’t even realize it’s there because you don’t see it at all and even when you are in the barn, it’s so dark you may not even notice the door in the back. Until last weekend, we couldn’t even see out the windows on the back of the barn because all the vines had grown so thick. But there are actually two really cute windows which need some repairs but add a lot of character.
Anyway, the garden actually has a lot of things growing in it already to give us a head start for this growing season where we’ll just be getting a feel for things. This will basically be our first attempt at any real gardening and cultivation project so it could get interesting. But we have more than enough space and we figure we might as well use it and just give things a try. Luckily we were here when everything was still growing last year so we know what most things are.
What we’ve got:
Raspberries – I’m not sure if we’re going to be keeping these. They didn’t taste very good last year and at least part of the berry bracing will need to go when we get ready to start on the greenhouse. But they may all survive this season if we don’t get that project started in the coming months.
Red & White Currents – we have two red current bushes and one white current which produced really tasty berries last year. We only got to try a few but we had a huge one at the rental house and really enjoyed having our own currents on hand. Last year over Christmas, we even substituted them for cranberries and made a current relish since we couldn’t get our hands on any cranberries at the last minute.
Strawberries – there are tons of strawberry plants and it seems that they are producing in different seasons as well. One patch already seems to have blooms on it although some of the others may have been trampled in the vine removal process. But we figured we would have to reduce the number of plants we have so that we have more space to grow other things so at least this way they’re being narrowed down automatically.
Peaches – we lost the biggest peach tree last year because there was too much fruit and it split the tree apart. We tried to save it but unfortunately it didn’t work too well and we took it out last weekend. But there are two smaller trees that are doing well so hopefully those will satisfy our peach needs.
Plums – we’re still not 100% sure about this tree but I seem to recall they were plums that we saw on there. But we had a plum tree at the rental house so maybe I’m just getting them confused.
Bay leaves – not something we use all the time but the plant is growing rather heartily despite the winter.
Sage – not 100% on this one either but it looks and smells like sage at the moment.
Rue-bitterwort (Ruta Graveolens) – this is already growing in our garden and we don’t know much about it. But after searching a bit, it seems we probably won’t use it much aside from its insect repelling qualities. Here’s a profile.
