Garden shots:
I haven't written much about the gardens lately but they are doing pretty well. Here's where we are with them at the moment:
*potatoes are up! We planted around March 10 and they just poked their little sprouts up last week. They're coming on strong, though, so that's encouraging.
*lettuce and radishes have been eating size for the past two weeks, but the green onions have been less that fantastic. I think the white onion sets I bought from Green's Feed in Charleston must have had too much sprout inhibitor or whatever it is they do to seeds and sets to keep them from sprouting too soon, because the white onions are doing poorly while the yellow onions forge ahead.
*beans are up! We usually plant a row really early, and if they come up, we sell them and make a nice amount on them. These are half-runners, not my favorite but certainly on top of most local people's lists. So we plant them. Larry also planted a row of my top bean, the Royal Burgundy bush bean that has luscious purple beans that turn green when cooked. This year I bought a pack of Rattlesnake beans just to try them. The beans are supposedly very long and twisted. These are pole beans, and I don't usually have much luck with them, but it's worth another try. I might plant them in the new ground Larry plowed this week. What is new ground, you ask? It's a patch of ground not used previously for a garden or crop. This patch was used about 20 years ago so technically it's not "new" but new enough. New ground is usually nutrient, root and rock rich, making it a challenge to grow in, but worth the effort.
*the new strawberry plants are coming along and the old ones survived better than we anticipated so the bed is slowly filling in.
*the asparagus continues to insist that it likes growing in the gravel beside my parking place, and we've had several meals already to prove that the asparagus might just be right. I think it's the lime from the gravel that is making this a good spot for the asparagus; whatever the reason, I'm grateful. I continue to watch the place
we planted new asparagus plants last year, but so far only one has surfaced through the deep hay mulch. Maybe I should have planted them in the gravel.
*one row of corn is planted, the Early Sunglow. Again, we aim early and if it gets frosted, we just replant.
*potatoes are up! We planted around March 10 and they just poked their little sprouts up last week. They're coming on strong, though, so that's encouraging.
*lettuce and radishes have been eating size for the past two weeks, but the green onions have been less that fantastic. I think the white onion sets I bought from Green's Feed in Charleston must have had too much sprout inhibitor or whatever it is they do to seeds and sets to keep them from sprouting too soon, because the white onions are doing poorly while the yellow onions forge ahead.
*beans are up! We usually plant a row really early, and if they come up, we sell them and make a nice amount on them. These are half-runners, not my favorite but certainly on top of most local people's lists. So we plant them. Larry also planted a row of my top bean, the Royal Burgundy bush bean that has luscious purple beans that turn green when cooked. This year I bought a pack of Rattlesnake beans just to try them. The beans are supposedly very long and twisted. These are pole beans, and I don't usually have much luck with them, but it's worth another try. I might plant them in the new ground Larry plowed this week. What is new ground, you ask? It's a patch of ground not used previously for a garden or crop. This patch was used about 20 years ago so technically it's not "new" but new enough. New ground is usually nutrient, root and rock rich, making it a challenge to grow in, but worth the effort.
*the new strawberry plants are coming along and the old ones survived better than we anticipated so the bed is slowly filling in.
*the asparagus continues to insist that it likes growing in the gravel beside my parking place, and we've had several meals already to prove that the asparagus might just be right. I think it's the lime from the gravel that is making this a good spot for the asparagus; whatever the reason, I'm grateful. I continue to watch the place
we planted new asparagus plants last year, but so far only one has surfaced through the deep hay mulch. Maybe I should have planted them in the gravel.*one row of corn is planted, the Early Sunglow. Again, we aim early and if it gets frosted, we just replant.
*in the greenhouse, everything is looking good. Except I'm way overcrowded and thinking about adding another greenhouse next year. Some tomato plants are about two weeks away from planting size, and the broccoli and cabbage might go out next week.
*Larry has the electric fence working around the garden I consider my "spring" garden so it is fairly safe from the beasties that like my young plants.
*I'm mulching, mulching, mulching in the flower beds. About 40% complete.
*the new herb garden is dug and seedlings await the tilling and soil prep. I'm not in a hurry since the soil could be warmer for herbs.
*the fruit trees dodged the frost bullet this week. Whew! It was a close one but the frost here on the ridge was spotty and burned off before the sun came up so our blossoms were safe. I'm not sure people in the deeper, colder hollows fared as well. We should have a good apple crop this year and I'm looking forward to making cider and apple butter again. Last year was a bust for apples.
Now, about that frantic feeling: do any of you get that feeling when the days pass too quickly and there is too much to get done before summer is here? That's how I'm feeling. I know that the next few weekends are going to be busy and I'll have little time for my gardens--at the exact time they need so much attention. Will I be able to keep up? Will gill-over-the-ground succeed in its attempt to take over my little world? Will tomatoes, peppers, beans, corn, squash, etc etc all get planted on time and will they survive if I can't be here to water them? Will it ever rain again?
The questions are endless, and only time can answer them. And all I can do is to keep plodding onward, doing what I can to keep the rampant greenness under control.
My goodness you've done a lot in your garden! We've tilled ours and that's about it. We've been so busy trying to straighten other things up, we haven't gotten much garden work done. I don't know how, but my apples and pears seem to have survived our many frosts that we have had here. Keepin' my fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteThat frantic feeling never stops around here. Everytime I try getting something done, I get interrupted. Usually by outside forces. Yesterday......I'll not even go there. There will probably be a post about it in the near future.
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks great. I'm just getting mine in. It's been a slow process, but it's coming along. But it will never be like yours. I just don't have time right now.