It's been a bit of a roller coaster spring weather-wise. I could be misremembering, but it seems like it was in the 80's in late March and parts of April. And then April ended and May came in like the beginning of autumn. We've had lots of rain and cool weather - for which I am truly thankful.
The garden saw a planting in early April of radishes, kohlrabi and cabbage, and so far only the cabbage seems a lost cause. The kohlrabi isn't looking great, but it has finally sprouted through the soil, so maybe there will be a few to harvest? And then, a few weeks ago, sugar snap peas were planted, and they are looking beautiful, but haven't grown much since it cooled down again. I do see little vines, though, so hopefully they'll soon be climbing their trellises. If I ever planted peas before, it's been too long ago for me to remember. They feel like an experiment.
Last year I enlarged the garden with cardboard, and after weeding the clover that overtook that new area during the warm early spring, I decided to try growing sweet corn in that space.
I only started to doubt the wisdom of that idea after I told Greg what I'd planted (thinking he'd be excited) and he proclaimed, "The raccoons are going to enjoy it!"
So, I've decided to consider sweet corn an experiment too.
I'm just hoping the racoons don't humiliate me by taking the stalks down to the ground and creating a mess when they discover the tasty ears of corn.
While waiting for the garden to dry out again after several rains this week, I took stock of what else is growing that has needed little attention from me up to this point...
Cherries are coming on - I imagine we'll be enjoying a cherry cobbler in a few weeks.
And the garlic I planted in the full sun amongst the strawberry plants are looking glorious:
Another view (because I can't help myself):
And today I was shocked to discover ripening strawberries - just days away from picking:
It's only the first full week of May, right?
Unfortunately, at least one bird has discovered the strawberries too. I guess garlic leaves waving overhead in the breeze isn't enough of a deterrent.
And this little guy (and his three siblings) interrupted my thistle pulling in the walking onion patch:
After recovering my composure (after screaming when the first bunny jumped out right at my feet), I went back to pulling weeds, and accidentally disturbed the nest:
My neighbor, who grows flowers, hopes the bunnies survived. As a vegetable grower, I'm ambivalent.
And that is spring here on our little near-acre plot. I'm eager to plant more things, but the upcoming temperatures don't look like there's any reason to be in a hurry about it.
How is May coming on in your corner of the world?
Our garden is really starting to grow now. It has been in place for over a month but much of it has been pretty slow growing with the dips of cold weather passing through.
ReplyDeleteEvery now and then I get a pile of fir that looks much like your photo where an owl or a hawk caught a bunny snack. It always makes my heart leap for joy even though my electric fence will keep the rabbits at bay from the vegetables.
Ed, I wonder if some of the seeds I planted in April (that didn't appear to sprout) may end up sprouting in the next week or so as we warm up into the 70's and possibly 80 by next weekend. I was probably over eager to get out there in the warmth we had very early this year, while the soil was possibly too cool for most things. Time will tell - if tomatoes and peppers sprout amongst the sweet corn I replaced them with, I'll know next year to not give up on them as quickly.
DeleteSo many wonderful items growing to grace your table. Finding a nest of bunnies. Hopefully they decided your neighbors flowerbeds are tastier than your garden beds. How hard is cherry picking? We used to pick our citrus trees and it was hard work. So glad they finally stopped producing and died. Although I do miss fresh lemons.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty funny, Marsha - imagining the bunnies taking refuge in the neighbor's flower bed. I think she would be very happy about it. Cherry picking isn't hard because our tree isn't too tall. Some, I can pick while on the ground, but I do need to get up on a ladder for some of them. At this point, I only do that if Hubs is there to spot me. Tilting my head far back to look overhead can make me vertigo-ish, so I'm careful. Now pitting cherries - that is a pain, and very messy. I think it was the first spring we were here, and I tried to pit the first cherries I picked, I got online and ordered a cherry pitter. It's still a little messy, but it's so much easier, and more satisfying. I'm laughing at your relief when the lemon trees stopped producing. While I feel compelled to at least try to pick some cherries and peaches when the trees produce them, I would not replace the trees, or mourn the loss of fruit if they stopped producing. Last year, I'm pretty sure the birds got to the peaches and most of the cherries before I even realized we had any. I felt relieved. :D
DeleteDo share your cherry cobbler with us as cherry pie (and therefore cobbler, too) is one of my absolute favorite desserts!!
ReplyDeleteIn my sidebar under the label Desserts is a post with a link to an online recipe I more or less follow. If I'm able to make it this spring, I'll try to remember to post a picture and the link again. I'm not much of a fruit pie fan in general, but cobblers... Mmmmm. The bready/cakey cobbler is my favorite part. With just a bit of fruit to add some different flavors and texture in the mouth.
DeleteLovely photos! Thank you so much for sharing. I live in a 6th floor apartment in Montreal, Canada, (and I am a senior), so I don't have a garden, but I do enjoy seeing nature and love taking walks to see the beauty around me. Warm greetings to you!
ReplyDeleteHi Linda. My husband and I are seniors too, and no one is more surprised than us that we ended up moving to a country neighborhood at this time in our lives, but it has been a little piece of heaven, I think - for however long we feel like we can manage it. And warm greetings to you, too. I just looked up what your temperature and weather is right now, and it looks like you're just about 10 degrees F cooler than we are here right now, but next week we separate quite a bit as we're due to warm up a bit. You're experiencing what I consider "heaven weather" right now. :)
DeleteStill far too cold here to think about doing any gardening (not that we have one!). The RC has planted his tomato seeds and they're sitting in the window sill waiting for it to warm up. At this rate it's not going to happen anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteMary Anne, I'm curious what kind of tomatoes RC grows. I planted tomato seeds in the garden way too early, I'm sure, and if I'm going to grow tomatoes, I think I'll need to buy starts. I do hope to get a miniature cherry tomato plant going soon in a pot. I should have planted it today!
Delete
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to plant things out now, it's warmed up a lot but still on the cooler side at night. You will have some tasty strawberries soon, mine are still in flower, I covered them in some mesh this week to stop the birds eating them! My cabbages are doing great this time, I didn't have good results previously. Hope the rabbits leave some veggies for you to harvest!
Hi Maggie! I covered the strawberries the first spring we lived here, but unnetting them and covering them back up again was such a pain, I decided I preferred sharing them with the birds. I have thinned out the strawberries significantly, though, and I do think the berries will be more visible this spring. We'll see how I fare getting enough strawberries. I probably should tie tinsel to my garlic leaves. I think those spikey leaves look treacherous, but I guess birds are used to all manner of things that would scare me off.
Delete