Where's the Spring

Is it really May?? Then why am I bundled up in sweats and sweaters!!

This week has been quite cool most days and only a little rainy. I had just a bit over a half an inch of rain in the garden, most of it soft and soaking. During one thunderstorm, however, the rain was hard enough to unearth many of the newly planted peas so they had to be replanted. But, in general, the weather has been nice and cool for the lettuces, spinach and peas, and everything has responded.


Last week, when cleaning out the garden, one of the 'surprises' I found was this little lettuce plant from last year. It was doing very well...until Shelby decided that the most comfortable place to sit in all the garden was right there! Funny that it could survive the whole winter, amidst the weeds and frost and cold, but maybe not survive one very old lab.


Fortunately, it has survived! At least so far!

Early in May, I had gotten several San Marzano tomato seedlings and a couple of tomatillo seedlings at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. I really didn't plan to set them outside until early June, but they have been growing rapidly - too rapidly - so I decided to set them out this weekend, even though I am afraid it is a little too cool for them.


Even the tomatillo went outside.


So, naturally, now that they are planted outside, there were frost predictions for last night!! I'm sure the bunnies were wondering what was going on with the tent in the garden, but at least these old sheets would keep the frost off the plants. As it turned out, it never got quite as cold as was predicted.


This morning, I found these water teepee's that I had purchased years ago, when I got the idea to start my tomatoes much earlier in the garden (of course, I never did, so they were still new in the package!). These plastic sleeves are filled with water, so they will soak up the heat from the sun during the day and release it to keep the plants warm at night. It should help to regulate the temperatures for the tomatoes, while the peas, spinach and lettuces enjoy the cooler weather.
I have never used these before so it will be interesting to see how the tomatoes and tomatillos like them. Maybe I will get some early salsa! And, hopefully, it won't matter that it seems more like April than May.

Garden 2009 Kick Off!

Here's a riddle:

What do you get when you add 2 full weeks of rain to a couple of warm, spring days?

A HUGE MESS!!!!

It is hard to believe that the end of March, this was totally cleared out. But as the weather began to warm in April, the rains came. It rained for almost 2 weeks straight. Then, a few weekends out of town made it impossible to have any gardening time, so the weeds were left to go wild. And go wild they did!!! This past weekend - Mother's Day - became my Start The Garden weekend. It was cool and, finally, dry!

Did I mention that it had rained a lot?? I actually had to clear my way to the rain gauge with my weedwacker, just to be shocked to discover that we had gotten 4 inches of rain in April, most of that in consecutive days.

Obviously, the first order of business was to find the garden under all those weeds. As bad as it looked, I knew from past experience that much of it would come up easily. I also knew, from past experience, that there were undoubtedly surprises hiding among the weeds. One of those surprises was a big clump of oregano!!

I had gotten 2 small seedlings in my CSA boxes last year, and planted them in one of the empty spots about mid season. They did nothing. They didn't die, they didn't grow, and there was never enough for me to use them in any cooking. So they quietly sat in the corner of the garden, taking up space. Clearing out the box this year, I found that the 2 little seedlings had grown large and bushy. I certainly have enough to use in cooking now!! And I am thinking about putting some in my dehydrator to make my own dried oregano.

And at the end of the day, there was......

....a garden!!! It is not totally cleared out, but the tomato box is ready - whenever it gets warm enough to plant them. And 2 other boxes were readied and planted. I planted Sugar Snap Peas, as they are always a favorite, and new for this year, Lincoln Shelling Peas, an heirloom variety. I also planted a variety of lettuces: Edox Butterhead, Bibb, Forellenschluss Romaine, Santoro, and Mesclun. And, of course, another favorite...spinach. I am hoping for a cool spring.

I also got some lavender this weekend. This is not planned for the garden, but will instead go on the steep part of the hill where the tractor can't cut. If I can get it to take hold, it will be lovely to have lavender line the driveway, not to mention......sachets?? Ice Cream???

And because it wouldn't be spring without some flowers......

Let the garden begin!!! Happy spring!!

Starting Again

Last year was an interesting year in the garden. There were several ‘firsts’…first time planting a Square Foot Garden, first time keeping a blog, first time limiting what I planted to a reasonable amount. The garden was actually a resounding success. Not once during the year did I lose control of it. Some crops didn’t perform as I had hoped, but that is to be expected in a garden. The amazing thing was that it never turned into a raging jungle, and that was another first!

The blog, however, did not fair so well. Oh, I took plenty of pictures of the garden as it progressed, and had the best of intentions, but I think sitting in front of a computer all day makes me less inclined to sit in front of a computer during my leisure time. But I am ever the optimist, and I am going to try again this year.

Today, I planted the first of the seedlings. Yes…today…March 31. The latest I have ever planted my seedlings. Usually, I plant them much too early and they become tall and gangly before I can get them outside. Maybe a little late is better than much too early.

So, what did I plant? My tomatoes this year are San Marzano tomatoes. I’m sure they will not be quite as sweet as the canned ones I buy since I doubt that Lucketts has the same sunny, Mediterranean climate that Italy has, but they are a lovely, meaty tomato, great for sauces. And…I suspect…great for drying in my new dehydrator! I’m thinking dried tomatoes packed in oil! Yum!!

I also started some lettuce inside – Santoro Butterhead Lettuce, Edox Butterhead Lettuce, and an heirloom variety of Romaine called Forellenschluss. Again, starting small…worked so well for me last year.

Until the garden begins to pick up speed with more planting – I have peas to put out as soon as the rain stops and the ground dries a bit – I am going to use this early spring to review last years garden and post some of the pictures.

Last year, there was quite a bit of 'animal nibbling' that went on. In fact, I returned from a business trip to find all the beet plants eaten right to the ground and half the carrot tops gone. A trip down to the local antique store to snag this gate solved the problem for the summer. Unfortunately, during the fall, I found the deer had decided to go for it and jump the fence so this year, I will need to come up with another plan.

It was also a great year for basil. Of course, I did buy many more plants than might normally be needed. This is one plant that doesn't have to follow the rule of keeping it small and controllable....you can never have too much basil!