April 30, 2011 - End of April Garden Progress

The weather has been unseasonably cold, and it seems much of the garden is about two weeks behind its normal growth. Even the lilacs are just beginning to bloom, two weeks later than normal. An article in this morning's paper had the farmers lamenting the fact that they should be getting some crops to market, but they are at least two weeks away. That is, if there is even a crop. It seems an early killing frost last November, along with this cold spring, have taken a toll on many of the crops. There will be no cherries this year and an apple crop is "iffy". One farmer stated that his sugar snap peas should be knee high by now, but they are just barely breaking through the soil. My own garden reflects many of the same problems, yet some crops are actually ahead of previous years.


The Garden at the End of April


I brought in my first bouquet of lilacs last night.


Snap peas are just beginning to grow.


Cabbages, broccoli and yellow onions. This is the later planting of brassicas.


The first planting of broccoli, with spring planted garlic. All of the broccoli and cabbage plants are way ahead in growth from previous years.


Spring planted shallots, lettuce and more cabbages. I don't know why I planted so many cabbages! I have no room for potatoes this year, I should have used the other cabbage/broccoli/onion bed.


Uh-oh, a cabbage moth appears to be enjoying the Sweet Williams.


The Walla Walla sweet onions aren't as large as last year's, but they started off smaller and less robust than the ones I bought in 2010.


Even though I separated and then replanted this bed of strawberries, it's nowhere near as mature as in previous years.

The strawberries in the two whiskey barrels are faring much better than those in the bed.


Last year the raspberries were in full bloom by mid-April. This year the tiny buds are just now beginning to form.


The first planted radishes are probably about a week from first harvest. The second planting was consumed by the quail. I set out two tomato plants in this garden the other day, and protected them with row cover. I have follow up plants if these don't do well. I think the weather should be nice enough to plant all of the tomatoes next week, but I'll probably wait until after the 10th. of May to set out the peppers.


If there are any radishes left after the ants get through with them. I've never had ants eat radishes before, but teeny-tiny black ones are just swarming over them this year. I can't find an ant hill, Mr. Granny thinks they must be in the wood.


Look closely. You might have to click the picture to make it larger. The first planting of bush beans has just broken the surface today! Again, these are quite a few days behind last year's.


My-oh-my. I planted carrot seed mats in a 1'x7' plot, and I think germination is close to 100%. I can see a few places where it looks as though our resident robin has done a bit of seed shuffle while pulling out worms, and I'll have to do a bit of thinning, as I put these seeds only 1" apart. Cookie will love the baby carrots as they develop, though.


I combined a bunch of old lettuce seeds in a shaker, and sprinkled them over the surface in this whiskey barrel. When the seedlings get large enough, they will be moved to other areas to replace earlier planted lettuce.

Under the nylon netting, the spinach is beginning to put on some size. Seedlings of beets and turnips, as well as a later planting of spinach, are showing. The chard has yet to make an appearance.


The under-cover bird protected lettuce is providing us with all we and Cookie can eat. The two rows on the left were just picked of their outer leaves, and the three rows on the right will be next. The spinach, in the foreground, is already showing a few leaf miner eggs. I do hope the main spinach crop under the netting escapes them.


Little Gem and Buttercrunch lettuces.


Flowers, lettuces and broccoli are growing well against the fence.


The "North Garden". Three hills of bush butternut squash have been planted in the right foreground. This may cause a problem. I originally planted one hill each of butternut, scallop and bush acorn. Then Mr. Granny and I decided we loved that butternut squash so much, I tried to dig out the seeds of the other two kinds. I only found one of six seeds, but I went ahead and planted a couple of butternut seeds in each of those two hills anyway. Until they grow and bear squash, I'll not know which types are growing!



Granddaughter Alicyn visited us Friday, and I put a pillow on the sofa for her to use if she needed a nap. Otto thought I put it there just for him. Isn't he adorable with his little dwarf legs and his fat tummy?

22 comments:

  1. Your lilacs are beautiful! Ours have just finished blooming. Now the oranges, lemons and grapefruit are in bloom...mmmmm! The bees are working over-time.

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  2. Everything is looking great. I wish my spinach and lettuce were half the size of yours! I hope you got some of the warmer weather this weekend.

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  3. Lynda, that is the lilac tree I keep saying I'm going to cut down. Then it goes and blooms so pretty, and the flowers smell so sweet, so I let it live yet another year. I love the tree, but keeping the suckers out of my garden beds is the hardest gardening chore I have.

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    Ed, I am really happy with the lettuce this year. It's doing better than ever for this early in the season. I doubt I'll reach the 42 pound harvest I achieved last year though!

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  4. Your garden my be a bit behind, but it is looking wonderful.

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  5. Thank you, Hazel. It always looks so bare to me until the beans and tomatoes are growing.

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  6. Our Apple and Plum trees are just starting to bud. Your greens look so yummy!!

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  7. I just adore lilacs. They don't really grow well here so I don't bother trying to plant one, but when we lived in central Washington and prior to that Spokane, the lilac bushes were a big part of our landscape. My daughter used to call them the "goldilocks bushes!" LOL!

    Your spinach and lettuces and brassicas look great. My spinach is really poking along this year. I am suspicioning that by the time it finally sizes up, the longer day length and warmer weather will just rush it to bolt. Oh well, there are other things that are doing just fine this year - just not the spinach!

    Otto has his own pillow! How cool is that?!

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  8. Random, I haven't seen a lot of trees blossoming here. The walnut and sycamore trees next door are just now getting leaves, although our flowering plum finished blooming some time ago.

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    Kitsap, nothing smells more delightful than a bouquet of lilacs. I do wish they lasted longer. I'm tempted to buy one of the new everblooming ones, but wonder if they have the same wonderful aroma.

    Otto looks real proud of himself, doesn't he? He thinks he's special. And he is.

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  9. Wow, yes, April just hasn't been April this year, but your garden is lookign great! Way to go!

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  10. Well, I was going to post my end of the month roundup today, and now I'm EMBARASSED as heck because your garden is looking so wonderful. Sheesh-how far along it is. Dang. Sometimes I just HATE where I live.
    Otto looks like he's had too much beer-LOL! Love the "pouch" on the pooch. He is a doll.

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  11. Your lilacs are gorgeous. The rest of your garden is looking fabulous also!! Let's hope the weather warms up soon!

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  12. Our lilacs are behind yours, which is normal. The Lilac Festival at the arboretum is always the second Sunday in May. My neighbor has a lilac that goes over the fence and a few buds are starting to open. This last week we had above normal weather for a change(even into the 80s one day) and it made things really take off. I'm even weeding out tomato seedlings from the rock wall garden. Next week should be more like normal.

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  13. Everything looks good Granny. Last year everything was early and this year a bit late....which makes it seem really late! I can't believe that you have your squash planted already. I am going to start mine in pots to get them big and strong before I put them in the ground a bit later then normal. I am hoping this will help with the SVB's!

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  14. It all looks fantastic! Having extra lettuce seedlings to transplant when I need them is a good idea I may steal!

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  15. Your lilacs look lovly, we planted a whole long row of them along our fencline 2 years ago and with any luck they will be looking pretty good this year. Your walla walla onions look good to me...especially since I elected not to grow any this year and will no doubt regret it when I see yours all bulbed out.:( Hope yopu have a sunny day...looks like we will for a change.

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  16. Sinfonian, if I can't get my tomatoes out soon, they'll be "trees" like yours!

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    Sue, I was just commenting to someone else the I was embarrassed to show photos of mine this year!

    You think Otto has a beer belly, you should see Annie. We tell people she's our pet seal, she looks just like one when she sits. We call her Miss Waddle.

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    Thanks, Holly. The forecast is beginning to look promising, though still below normal.

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    Daphne, it's actually supposed to hit 70 today, I expect my beans to emerge! Well, maybe.

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    Robin, last year my squash was up by this time. I find it does better for me directly planted, as do cucumbers and melons and nasturtiums. Last year I planted both ways, and the in ground grew larger and faster then the earlier started indoor plants.

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    Erin, my lettuce bed is in an area that gets afternoon shade, so I'm hoping I can keep the lettuce growing through most of the year. As these little seedlings get large enough to move in, I'll begin removing the mature heads to eat. In the meantime, I'm still in the "steal a few leaves here and there" mode. I'd have a real good succession of plants if the stupid birds wouldn't eat all the ones in the east garden.

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    Mr. H., an entire sunny day yesterday! And we're supposed to hit 70 today! Of course, it's not supposed to last.....back down to 64 and 65 for Monday and Tuesday.

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  17. Your brassicas look beautiful! I think that is the plant that I have spent much of this spring coveting. Everything seems to be coming along nicely, even though a big slowly, in your garden!

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  18. Megan it hit 70 degrees today. A couple more days like this and everything in the garden should take off!

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  19. Everything looks wonderful!!

    *I sent you an email..check your spam folder.. LOL*

    Hugs!
    ~Wendy

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  20. Thanks, Wendy!

    Got the email, sent one back atcha.

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  21. Your garden is looking great Granny!

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  22. Oh, Dan, it turned cold again! Everything in the garden is just at a standstill, waiting for a few warm days and some sunshine.

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