Just a note

Updates:
Tomato seedlings were planted out May 18th. Some were quite small, but I was ready to move them out of the garage. While that weekend was warm, I knew it wouldn't last so I have put my A-frame window cloches over them. Photos will be along when I return to the computer where the photos are sitting.

In the bed I posted about May 5th, the beet and lettuce seedlings are sprouting. The carrot section was disturbed by Emily & other feet, but I did find a few sprouted seedlings.

The covered wagon cloche is a jungle and has blooming calendula, borage and chives. The chard and lettuce plants are bolting, but now I'm harvesting lettuce & chard from non-cloched patches. Time to decide what I'll use that cloched spot for next. Maybe start some zucchini, cucumbers or squash and use the cloche to provide some warmth?

Finally, a day of spring!

After a disappointing Saturday, weather wise, a beautiful spring day popped up on Sunday. And this little pansy also caught my attention. It has popped up in one of the little succulent pots that sit on the fence in the garden. I cannot imagine how a pansy ended up in this spot!
So what did I do with some sun? Turned over the winter mulch in one of the beds and removed more rocks. Then planted carrots, beets and another planting of lettuce and chard. A few spots of marigolds also. The full green bed, above, has assorted perennial flowers. The columbine is almost blooming. The rhubarb is in the right end of the bed. I've finally joined the others of you who have been harvesting it. Made a rhubarb & berry crumble on Sunday night.
I wasn't going to plant the whole bed, but I did, figuring that I could use any nonsprouted parts for succession planning. You can see by the damp places above, that I planted a row down each side of the bed and a double row in the middle. I've tended to plant across the bed in the past, but that didn't work so well when I had to put in the soaker hoses last year.

As watering usually moves around the seeds and the soil, I made a little planting trench for each row, watered it, and placed the seeds. Then, I covered them with soil. It will rain before long and give it another dose. However, tonight, I noticed footprints through the nice, level bed. I'm sure that disturbed some seeds too.

Eventually, I'll place a soaker hose in the bed down the alley on one side of the double rows and back on the other side of the double rows. If anything sprouts, that is.

Snap Peas Blues

Do your peas hide well?
Do they puff up in their shell?
Do they grow to be great big?
Can you ring them like a bell?
Can you search for ‘em every day
Yet find gigantic ones this way?
Do your peas hide well?

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Spent the morning blanching and freezing young peas and broccoli. I also picked every last giant pea pod that has been hiding out, in hopes of continuing the harvest of new peas a little longer. Some of the vines are starting to show signs of the warming summer, but others are still flowering.

Next came more beet harvest. Cooked & pickled some for the week. Added the young greens to the salad and prepared the medium sized greens for cooking tomorrow night. The largest and slightly yellowing leaves went to the compost.

Finally, rhubarb! I was starting to have second thoughts about it. How could I tell if it was ready? I understand it doesn't all turn red as a signal. Would it need so much sweetening that it wasn't worth messing with? Would it be too tough? But, I already had strawberries so next came the strawberry rhubarb cobbler. Not bad at all! I'll be having some more here soon.

It actually reminds me of the tart cherry sauce I was hooked on last year. See the post about it here. Since there are only a few cherries this year, I wonder how rhubarb might substitute? (I have more cherry liqueur from Germany now too!)

So now my question is ...how long can I keep harvesting it?

Beet Treats

When I returned on Sunday, I noticed some beets pushing themselves out of the ground. This must mean they are ready to eat so I pulled one tonight. Ummm... tastes like they are ready to eat too!

I have a few more that look ready and then some that are not quite as far along. As DH doesn't think he likes them, and Nikko only wants them if they are fish flavored (see THIS post about this comment), harvesting about one every few nights should be just fine.

You can see them on April 22 here. This is my first time to grow beets.

Sweet Beets

Last week, I noticed cute little clusters of beet seedlings sprouting up along their rows. I can hardy wait for them. (See this post for DH & Nikko's thoughts about beets.)

I had read that beet seeds are actually little seedballs with two to six individual seeds. When I planted them, I looked and thought perhaps these were already broken apart as I couldn't tell that they were clusters. The proof is in the sprouts though! The dreaded thinning will be needed soon.
We've had rather nice weekend weather. A little more of an outside project than I had time for, but the weather called for it! I will be aching tomorrow and will post about it later in the week.

Then, tonight, I locked myself out of the house while DH was running an errand. ... but it gave me a chance to hear the owls hooting because, otherwise, I wouldn't have been wondering around outside at dark-thirty!

Eastershine

Here's a little Eastershine for those you with Eastersnow. Just keep in mind that the sun was gone by 3pm, and we'll soon be back in the 30's at night. Above, you see the cold frames (with their end windows laying against the sides due to the warm temps).

I lost a few windows during the December wind storms. So, rather than use my original set-up from last year (see this link and this one), I decided to set them up directly in the garden. This way, some plants can actually go in the ground rather than hanging out longer in pots while they benefit from some protection. Some of these windows won't last much longer so next year, I'll move on to some sort of tunnel/hoop cloche for 1 or 2 beds.

Left, front A-frame above has volunteer chives and a few lettuce seedlings planted Saturday. Next right has large pea seedlings hardening off before being planted. Next right has just seeded beets and 2 broccoli seedlings just planted out. Far right A-frame has many lettuce seedlings and 2 more broccoli seedlings planted out on Saturday. I'll have some of the lettuce cleared out and the A-frame gone before the broccoli plants need all of the space.
My new (used) Easter (garden) basket. I don't know if the dividers are to separate wine bottles or something else, but they really work to keep tools in place, hold seed packets and to separate the camera from the tools. I've not been a big glove wearer, but now I wear these most of the time. Before the sun moved on, it was just a beautiful time for puttering around in the herb bed, pulling some young grass and dandelions and checking everything out. And these are the little "Easter eggs" I found digging around in the herb bed. I'm also happy to see the bee balm / Monarda sending up shoots. The wonderful rosemary, sorry to say, did not make it though the snow and ice this winter. It was the trailing type and I've found it to be more sensitive to cold winters than the upright rosemary.

Blog Blocker

Nikko started sitting on the monitor as a kitten, but she takes up more room now. She'll hang her feet like that anytime she finds a spot that lets her do it too. More of the DP's stories tonight, after Nikko gets removed. Btw...does anyone have a favorite beet variety to grow? I've read all of the descriptions in the catalog and they all say "choose me, choose me." I'd like your opinions.