Tomatoes and Carrots

Today I started my tomatoes on the heat mat in the garage. I sowed a double row of carrots in the bed where the leeks were. The rest of the bed is overwintered spinach and chard, which will stay for now until the new planting is ready. I also sowed green onions and chervil in the herb bed against the house. And I planted several herbs that I bought at N and M Nursery. 

And the first two asparagus shoots are up!

Lots of Veggies In

We've had a few days in the mid-80s, so I was anxious to get things into the ground. I've planted eight tomato plants, eight pepper plants, and two aubergines, all in the rose bed. I've planted zucchini and delicata squash and cucumbers in a raised bed, all ones I had started. Two melon plants went into the bed along the back of the house, in front of the raspberries.

I sowed some pole beans along the trellis on the deck where I killed the clematis montana by pruning it too late. I hope the ground is warm enough for them to sprout. And I sowed another row of carrots. Something is eating the first row, but I put Sluggo Plus down, so I hope that stops whatever it is.

The blueberries have lots of fruit coming, as do the new strawberries and the raspberries. And both the asparagus and potato beds are looking good. The pear trees has lots of fruit, and even the peach tree, which looks totally butchered, has quite a bit of fruit. And the mandarin is loaded with flower buds.

Winter Greens

I've sown some winter greens in the holes in the garden beds.  In the bed where the squash was, I planted parsnips, kale, lettuce, and spinach on September 26.  All but the parsnips are up.

 Lettuce:

Kale:

On September 29, I sowed arugula in another bed. It is also up.

I've started taking out the asparagus bed, but the roots of the plants are huge.  There's no way to get the plants out in one piece.  I'll just have to chop them out in pieces.

On another note, the stink bugs have gone into hibernation mode big time.  We're killing many dozen on the house every day. 

The End of the Asparagus

Yesterday we cut all the asparagus down.  It's a little early, but it was harboring hundreds of stink bugs, so it had to go.  We were able to kill the vast majority of the bugs.

First Asparagus!

Tonight we ate our first asparagus.  The stalks were huge but very tasty.

Back from Tucson

After being away for two and a half weeks, things have changed.  We've had some record temperatures.

The red-flowering currant is blooming.  The blueberries are in full bloom.

So are the pear, nectarine and apples.

I pruned the new peach hard.  I should have done it for the nectarine as well, so I may have to do some remedial pruning.

 I've spotted a few early flowers on the strawberries and the asparagus has started to come up.

The fawn lily is blooming.

So are the pulmonarias and brunneras.

First Freeze

Last night we had our first freeze.  In anticipation I had brought in my three big succulent plants.  They will live in the dining room for the winter.

I've cut the asparagus to the ground.  As soon as we get a decent day, I will cover it with steer manure.

The forecast for tonight and tomorrow calls for a 'wintry mix.'  Woohoo!

Back in the Garden

We've had sun for four days straight, and I've been able to get a lot done outside.

I've finally gotten the weeds under control, especially the bittercress.  I like to keep ahead of it because it flowers and goes to seed so quickly.  It has those hateful little seed stalks that explode when you touch them, sending their seeds flying in all directions.

I put three cubic feet of steer manure on the asparagus.  I just left it on top of the bed.  Once it rains it should trickle down to the plants.

With no rain for quite a while, some things were starting to look dry.  I watered some of the pots, including the two citrus trees.  I also watered the asparagus, strawberries, and new fruit trees.  I noticed some things are beginning to come to life.  The red flowering currants out in front have buds, as well as the blueberries and fruit trees, except the apples.  Also, the elderberries and vine maples are showing signs of life.

Yesterday we saw the first crocus on our neighborhood walk.

Asparagus

The asparagus fronds are all brown, so I decided it was time to cut them off.

Before:

 After:

There were a few weeds among the stalks, but not bad.  All of the roots that I planted came up, but some were a lot heartier than others.  I hope they all make it through the winter.

Asparagus!

The first asparagus shoots are finally up.  So far there are six.  And they're purple!

More Projects

Yesterday was a nice day, so we did a few of our projects.  The first was to put up lattice in the corner of the deck where we put our outdoor table.  I'll put pots of plants along the benches.

 David redid some of the edging in the bed where the berries are planted along the side.

And I planted the asparagus and put down IRT plastic in the strawberry bed. 

With the lattice up in the corner we decided that a better place for the hanging bird feeder would be under the trellis along the back.  It took the birds about two minutes to find it.  The pine siskins love it.

The squirrel has made several attempts to figure out how to get to it.  I'm not sure why he's bothering, because it contains the same seed as the house feeder, which is mostly for him, and the stuff on the ground under the other feeder.

Onions

Yesterday I went to 13th Street Nursery and bought lots of vegetable plants and starts.  I bought several kinds of onions, four artichokes, potatoes, and asparagus.  I also bought six more blueberry plants.

The showers eased in the afternoon, so I planted the onions.  After adding fertilizer, I planted three rows of leeks, one row of shallots, two rows of red onions, and four rows of yellow 'Storage' onions.  I also sowed two rows of spinach.

Strawberries

This morning I went to Terra Gardens Nursery, hoping to get my seed potatoes.  I had been told they should have them by March 1.  They didn't.  But they did have strawberry plants, so I bought a bundle of twenty Seascapes.  After unbundling them, I gave them a haircut, then planted them about a foot apart in a double row down one raised bed.  The bed was first amended with a can of all-purpose fertilizer.

I also bought a rhubarb start to add to the one I already have.  This one is called Crimson Cherry and is bright red, unlike the one I already have, which is kind of greenish pink.  Both are planted in the front yard.  I loaded them up with steer manure.

I also added two 2-cubic foot bags of steer manure to the new asparagus bed.