Black Plastic!

Anyone who knows me knows that I hate plastic.  And I especially don't like it in the garden.  That being said, however, there is a time and a place for everything.  We've had some cool weather lately, and I decided that the tomatoes would appreciate a little protection.  So out came the plastic.  I'll take it off once the temperatures rise a bit.

The other problem area is the strawberries.  We have lost a lot of them due to rotting on the bare soil.  So voila! Black plastic mulch.

It's pretty ugly stuff, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

What's Blooming

Here are some of the things that are blooming now.

The mandarin is loaded with blossoms, which smell incredible.

 And the strawberries are really going like gangbusters.

It's All In!

We've been having consistent night time temperatures in the upper 40s and lower 50s, so I decided it was time to plant the rest of my vegetables.  But first, I had to remove the overwintered spinach and parsnips.  I had planted the parsnips in September, knowing that they really wouldn't amount to anything.  And I was right.  I saved four to put in my next pot of stock.  Most of them were the size of small, very long carrots. 

I planted four tomato plants and six peppers.

I planted two black zucchini and two Cube of Butter yellow squash. 

I planted five types of melons and one hill of butternut squash in the area where we took out three raised beds.

Lastly, I sowed another row of carrots and a row of gourmet blend beets.

The strawberries are loaded with fruit.  Now we just need some nice warm weather to ripen them.

Goodbye to the Chard

The overwintered chard has finally decided that enough is enough.  We've been eating it for several months now, but it has started to bolt. 

I have more chard coming, but it isn't quite ready to eat. 

I've also pulled the last of the overwintered carrots.  Some were kind of woody, but most were still in good shape. 

More April Flowers

Some of my favorite plants bloom in April.

Cistus 'Greyswood Pink' is in full flower.

Nepeta 'Walker's Low' has just started blooming.  It will continue to bloom until fall.

The helianthemums are in full bloom.  This one is 'Henfield Brilliant.'

The Pacific Coast iris have gotten beaten down a bit by the raim, but they're still nice.

 My 'Lillian Austin' rose has its first blooms.  It refuses to grow upright, but I like it anyway.

Both of my new clematises are blooming.  'Dr. Ruppel'

 and 'Lasurstern'

One More Day

After several really nice days, we have a week of showery weather coming in.  So...

I put compost and fertilizer in the melon bed.

I also turned fertilizer into the squash bed.

The ground is getting hard already, so I'll wait until after the rain to finish weeding.

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.