Since I’ll be out of town for most of the Summer, I’m taking a risk this year and am starting our deck garden fairly early, betting there won’t be any more frosts. Here’s what I planted this morning:
A bit less ambitious than last year, with fewer large plants such as cucumbers, snap peas, and tomatoes. Nonetheless, if all goes well, we’ll have plenty.
The Chinook hops plant is three years old, and the Cascade plant is two. Both have already started growing new vines for the season. Each year these plants shoot up vines that reach 20-25 feet (we string them up to the roof). The hops flowers mature in the late summer can can be picked and dried for beer brewing. The vines die soon after that, the the roots survive the winter and start the process over again in the Spring.
Here’s a shot of the Chinook vines taken this morning:
In a couple weeks we’ll choose the two strongest looking vines and clip the rest. Otherwise they’ll compete with each other, and will probably all die since they should ideally be planted in the ground.