Monday, April 28, 2014

Update


I did cover the tomatoes and even managed to remember to uncover before work so they did not boil under glass. They are Mountain Magic, recommended by Bill Lord of Almanac Gardener. Aren't they sweet?






It did get cold at night. The beans looked sad until the warm days and nights perked them up. I thought I was going to have a redo for about a week there.

I am now covering the lettuce from the sun with an old beach umbrella. Afternoon sun is too hot for these tender Buttercrunch babies. Looking snappy casual in the back yard on these hot days.






Planted a bell pepper in a jute bag this morning. It worked before. Growing sweet peppers are not my superpower. Banana peppers always do best here, go figure.






Ollas are covered by the potatoes now. During dry spells I push back the plates and fill the clay pots with water. Osmosis does the work. Sure were ugly when I first put them in though. Looked like random dishes tossed out in the garden.





Marigolds, zinnias, shallots, dill and parsley seeds were planted this weekend. Now we wait.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

What to plant, when.


Spring is time of choice. Straddling two seasons one can plant cool weather crops knowing that as soon as it heats up down South they'll be goners, and, looking forward to warm, sunny days, plant beans, squash, and tomatoes.  I have room to do both. Chugging along in the shadiest area of our yard/garden are late winter broccoli, cabbage and mustard. Our hope is that the weather will be moderate enough for them to not bolt. Gardening is a gamble. If we win this game we, and our neighbors, will be living large, in the vegetable category. Natures lottery.
Our current inventory of eats are all things green. Salads every meal. Amish, Summer Crisp, Red Sails, Savoy Spinach, baby turnip and mustard greens. And yes, kale in our morning smoothie.
Because our temps are going to drop to below 40 at night this week, out come the covers for our tomatoes. Checking Felder Rushing on the beans, they will be OK. If it doesn't freeze.
In the category of amazing recoveries is the garlic. It looked awful all winter. I despaired and planted a late winter crop (not doing well at all) sure that our Fall crop was going to fail. And...drum roll please, we have these strappy Elephant garlics growing. I think I've figured them out. Two years, they take. I think.
                                           Spinach. It's been years.