After the Ice

 During the week that our power was out, following an ice storm, I started more seeds. I planted celery, leeks, and onions. 

Out in the garden I sowed lettuce, arugula, Ethiopian kale, spinach, two kinds of chard, and three kinds of peas. 

The first lettuce and chard are in the greenhouse and doing well. The onions and leeks are now ready to put out there. 

Beginning

Today I started the first seeds of this year's garden. I sowed a six pack each of four different varieties of lettuce, plus arugula and Ethiopian kale. They're in the garage on the workbench, under an inverted plastic tub, over the heat mat. 

Uncertain Times

With the unfolding of the coronavirus pandemic, I've decided to plant more vegetables. I went to Wilco today and bought starts of chard, onions, kale, bok choi, cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage. I've planted the chard, bok choi and kale in the bed at the side of the house, in front of the dahlias. The onions went into the center of the onion bed. The brassicas will go into their own bed with an insect barrier over it.

On the positive side, the peach tree is blooming (I'm hand pollinating just in case the bees don't find it) and the pear trees are close. The early blueberries are starting to bloom. I've started more lettuce, bok choi, and kale, including Ethiopian kale. I also sowed a row of carrots. All my earlier starts are doing well under a fluorescent light, except the aubergines, which are not up yet. I think the heat mat was too much for them. I've put some insulation between the six pack and the mat, so it isn't quite so warm. We'll see.

We've had several days of sun and 60s temperatures. Tomorrow it cools off and we have a week of rain coming. I'm happy to have a rest, and the new plants will appreciate the rain.

Status Report - July 23, 2018

Things have really been happening in the garden.  I've harvested the garlic and two of the potato plants.  We're now getting Stupice and Lizzano cherry tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, bell peppers, aubergines, carrots, chard, and kale.  The lettuce was very good (starts from Minto Island Growers) but have now bolted.  I've just planted the third sowing of green beans

and the last two rows of carrots.

 I also planted some cranberry beans.

 The leeks are ready but I haven't pulled any yet.

I started two Kale-ette plants from seed.  I moved them to the potato bed and put them under a shade cover because it's been in the 90s.

The herb bed has been a great success.  I'll do it again next year.

The rhubarb and squash bed is doing well.

The trough planter is really filling in.

 The new bed is filling in gradually.

 And the rose bed has been spectacular.

And last but not least we just picked all the pears on the Ubileen.  It was a bumper crop!

Status Report - June 1, 2018

I've been pretty busy and have really neglected my blog.  Here are some photos from the first of June.

There were hundreds of blossoms on the mandarin.

 The new trough planter.

The new bed along the back fence

Kale and chard.

 Carrots and garlic.

Leeks, peppers, and aubergines.

 And here's the front yard.

Planting and Replanting

Yesterday I sowed kale, chard, and carrot seeds.  Last night something dug up a large section of the carrots.  It was large, with big feet, probably a raccoon. 

So today I planted them again. 

Aftermath

After a good rain yesterday, the snow is finally gone.  Things are alive, but not everything looks good.

The carrots look great.

But the kale, chard and lettuce look a little beat up.

Some Fall Vegetables

We just plain got tired of all the melons.  After having it every day on our cruise, we just couldn't face any more.  So out they came.  The winter squash is still there, doing amazingly well.

I sowed some chard and kale in an empty bed, but only the chard came up really well.  There are a few curly kale plants, but the Tuscan kale never came up at all.  So I found a six pack of starts at 13th Street Nursery and stuck them in. 

I also found a six pack of Brussels sprouts, which I tucked in a couple of other beds.

We're Back!

We've returned from our cruise, and boy, have things changed in six weeks. There must be dozens of melons ripe or almost ripe.  And there are about thirty butternut squash.

The tomatoes and peppers are doing well, although I'm not impressed with the Berkeley Tie-Dye tomato.  It tastes pretty good, although no better than Cherokee Purple.  It has some blossom end rot and is nowhere near as prolific as the CP.

I sowed some kale and chard in the bed that had greens previously.  And I pulled the strawberries (because they looked terrible) and sowed carrots and Romaine lettuce.  I'll put garlic in there as well.

April Flowers

We've been having some really warm weather (in the 80s) so everything is coming to life.  Here's the front yard.

Today has been a day for lots of small projects.  I finished moving the paver path next to the deck.  Now we don't have to duck under the fig tree to get by.

And speaking of figs...

I counted seventeen.

I also combined the contents of two compost bins into one and added some steer manure to it.  The bag had been punctured and was wet and muddy.  But it was full of tiny red worms.  They should love their new home in the compost bin.

I've pretty much finished weeding the front yard.

I planted two new clematis on the lattice along the back fence.

I pulled out the overwintered kale.  It was flowering and going to seed.  The bees loved the flowers. The kale did really well over the winter, and we've been enjoying it all spring.  I planted it last September 26.  I plan to do it again this fall.

Off and Running

We've had two nice days in a row, so I was able to get most of the vegetable garden started. 

I planted Yukon Gold potatoes, and one bed with spinach, a few beets, and chard.  I immediately covered that bed with netting to keep the leaf miners out (I hope!).

I also sowed one bed with kale, lettuce, and arugula.  I also sowed some basil in that bed.  And I started carrots in the bed that still has some leeks and chard from last year. 

I transplanted the seedling leeks into the herb bed, although they seem really tiny.

Just about everything has started to bloom or leaf out.  The early blueberries are in full bloom, as are the peach and nectarine.  The apples and pears are a little behind, but coming. 

We're seeing several stink bugs a day, including in the house.  I even saw a young light green one. Sigh.

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.