The garden 5/7On Wednesday, I set out Cherokee Purple (4), Sunsugar (1), Matt's Wild Cherry (1) tomatoes and Petite Yellow marigolds. I also planted one hill of Bush Champion cucumbers in a container of old potting soil. Chances are they will do poorly, but I need something tall in the corner between the arborvitae and the garden shed. If they grow, great. If not, I'll dump that soil into the compost and begin with fresh mix and seed.
Today I transplanted Rutgers (3) and Russian Baby (1) tomatoes, and Quadrato Rosso D' Asti sweet peppers (4). It was really windy, so the tomato and pepper plants all got plastic bag protection from the elements. Next I planted a double row of Topcrop bush beans and a double row of Scarlet Nantes carrots (home made seed tapes). My first planting of carrots are now developing true leaves, the second planting is just peeking through the soil, and this is my third planting. I'm hoping to provide us, the rabbit and our kids with carrots all year, so I'll be planting them every few weeks until mid-July.
I pulled almost all of the radishes today. They were getting eaten by ants, and some were splitting, so I decided that area could be put to better use. I'll plant more bush beans in their place, as that's another vegetable that we ran short of this past year.
I checked underneath the netting, and it seems to be doing its job of keeping the leaf miners at bay. The spinach leaves are pristine, while those in unprotected areas are already showing the leaf miner ravages. I did an "oops" in this covered bed. I didn't think my Swiss chard had germinated at all, and I thought I had planted two rows of beets. Now that I can identify the plants, I see I have one row of beets and one row of chard, and the rows are only 3 or 4 inches apart! I'm going to have to do some selective thinning, and try to stagger the plants. The turnip germination in this bed was spotty, so I'll be doing some reseeding soon.
Leaf miners in unprotected spinach.
Broccoli, cabbages and green (salad) onions
Lettuce and shallots
Chives, beginning to blossom
Cabbages and shallots, with lettuce plants about to be smothered out.
Broccoli and garlic. The tiny broccoli plant at the lower right of the bed is from the same batch as the others, but the wind broke the stem when it was younger, and it never did recover fully.
Lettuce seedlings, almost ready for transplanting
Parsley is growing quickly, and will soon be ready for picking
The snap peas are almost ready to grab onto the string trellis
Walla Walla sweet onions, reaching for the sky
Leaf Miners? I thought I had some kind of sun scald last year when my spinach looked like that. I guess I'm lucky to have found someone that knows what they're doing!! I'll be harvesting my first batch next week---I can't wait! It's been so so long.
ReplyDeleteThe lilacs sure are pretty!
Happy Mother's Day to you , by the way!!
It seems like things are going well even with the weather. One year we never warmed up here at all. In June we had about as many days with highs in the 50s and in the 60 and days over that were non existent. It felt like late April in June. Things grew anyway. Though I had a devil of a time getting the cucumbers big enough to withstand the massive slug invasion. Some year I'd really like an average year. You know the kind with everyday within 5 degrees of average. But normal just isn't normal.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful garden! I've started my garden too... It sure is wet out there! Time will tell. :)
ReplyDeleteI am so frustrated with this cold, rainy weather. I have almost all my veggies planted out now too, except for peppers and zucchini. I put my tomatoes out under those red plastic Kozy Koats. I'm wondering if I need to make a net covering like yours for my Brussels sprouts, to keep cabbage moths away. I've never grown them before, but I bet cabbage moths like them too.
ReplyDeleteThe lilacs with all that blue sky behind are so pretty!
Granny Granny, my how your Garden did grow :o)
ReplyDeleteIt all looks so good, everything looks neat and tidy ( I bet those bones are stiff as starch :o)...Those sweet onions are tall,I think I have Chives ( I've been using some as Chives :o) Do you also eat the flowers? or is that where the seeds are??
Sue, look at the backs of your spinach leaves for tiny, and I do mean tiny, white eggs. Those are leaf miner eggs, and they can be easily wiped off with your finger or a soft rag while cleaning it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the "happy" :-)
********
Daphne, 2009 was my year. Although I have never had brassicas as large as the ones I'm growing this year. Even with last year's cold spring, they were just tiny things at the first of May.
********
Heidi, at least you have that lovely greenhouse! I have spent my spring doing the seedling shuffle, more than I cared to do.
********
Alison, I've only grown Brussels sprouts once, and they were full of aphid and inedible! The netting certainly would keep cabbage moths away. Next year I think I'll net my brassica bed, but this year I'm trying thyme clippings all through the bed. Thyme is supposed to repel the moth, I guess we'll see.
********
Ginny, I've had this clump of chives for over twenty years, I just dig it up and divide it every few years. I don't eat the blossoms, but I know some people put them in salads. Our friend Villager makes chive vinegar with the blossoms, so I think I'm trying that this year.
Granny, your garden is looking great! I don't know if it is ever going to warm up.
ReplyDeleteEverything is looking good!! And here I thought I was the only one with leaf miner problems. We waged a battle last year. This year I'm ready for them! So far I haven't seen them but I know not to let my guard down!
ReplyDeleteHolly, leaf miners ruin my spinach and beet greens every year. Last fall I planted chard, and it was a mess, too. Just a few years ago, I'd never even heard of leaf miners, they've just appeared in my garden the past four years.
ReplyDeleteLooking good Granny, really good. Your lilacs look lovely...have a great Mother's Day.:)
ReplyDeleteRobin, Mr. Granny was reading today's paper, and it said we can expect this cool weather to stay for another month. That's just unheard of here, we should be in the mid to high 70s and heading into the 80s soon!
ReplyDelete********
Thank you, Mr. H.! It has finally warmed enough to be in the sun without a sweater. Most of the veggies are loving it, but the carrots are sure taking their time. I've noticed a lot of garden growth in the past week, the bush beans are popping up all over. We may get a garden yet!
Raspberries are a full three weeks behind so far. Not a single blossom has opened yet, and last year they were blooming mid-April.
Wow Granny. You are so much further along than I am! Your garden is busy with activity! Kudos to you!
ReplyDeleteGranny beautiful garden. That is interesting about the thyme and the cabbage miller. I have a lot of little pots of thyme growing. Wonder if it would work to just plant it in the area where I plant the cabbage etc. or does it have to be cut to work.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful neat garden . . . and inspiration
ReplyDeleteMeems, it's finally growing a bit, I thought it was hibernating!
ReplyDelete********
Wilderness, thyme is listed as a companion plant for the brassicas, and supposed to keep the cabbage moths away. I do think they are meant to be planted together, but I have only one old thyme, and I was trimming it and removing a bunch of winter kill, so I decided to try just tossing the trimmings around the plants. I have no idea if it will help or not!
********
Thank you, Annie. The east side of the garden was all redone this year, when I removed the wood boxes and went back to wide bed intensive planting. So far I've not regretted that decision.
Everything is coming along great. I like how have everything fenced off from your main yard. Do you have problems with critters getting in your garden?
ReplyDeleteThe garden is coming along nicely despite the cooler than normal spring. I think you were smart to just get the plants out and into the ground - since they were hardened off and I am not seeing any really nasty weather in our two week forcast. My spinach actually started to get a move on over the weekend, so maybe there is hope yet for my spring planted spinach patch.
ReplyDeleteKris, the only critters around here are my own two dogs, hence the fencing. They think "garden beds" are "dog beds". The birds and bugs are my big pests.
ReplyDelete********
Kitsap, I got more plants out today, and hope to finish with the last of the seedlings this week. I'm quickly running out of room!
I got a big picking of perfect spinach today!
I said 'the heck with it' and planted out the rest of my seedlings as well this weekend. Night temps are still in the mid 40's here, daytime windy and 60-something. I am just ready to move on, and hopefully the plants will thrive despite the cool temperatures. Your garden looks wonderful as usual AG.
ReplyDeleteKelly, it sounds like you're having the exact same weather as we are. I'm getting all the rest of my plants in this week....even if it snows, LOL!
ReplyDeleteI love the netting idea. I am totally going to try that this summer, as I hate the way the floating row cover looks. It works, but it looks so bad! I love a pretty vegetable garden.
ReplyDelete