spinach in late May

The spinach, though it still has a few weeks to go, is a little disappointing.

4 weeks of rain!

It did nothing but rain in the month of May. But we went from having the heat on to having the AC on. Summer arrived in a flash and there was finally, some nice weather for memorial day weekend.
The warm temps have brought out all sorts of flowers, and the veggies are cranking along.
Signs of life from the potato patch.
More beans have emerged, but still a sad showing all around. I think I will plant some more seeds this weekend.
Brussels sprouts and broccoli have come up.
Finally some signs of life from the parsnips. Wee sprouts have emerged over the warm weekend.
we can probably start eating the spinach already. There's still not as much as I would like. I could get perhaps 4 servings of spinach from our still young 3 SF patch.
The strawberries are coming along nicely and the raspberries are starting to flower.

spring seeds started

After mixing in about 2 yards of compost, we finally get some spring seeds started.
Nantes carrots
Snap peas
Cilantro
Bibb Lettuce
Rainbow Chard
Spinach
went in the ground today. I've laid newspaper down on top of the seeds to keep the hungry birds at bay. I swear there was an entire flock of starlings sitting in the hedgerow waiting for me to finish planting so they could swoop in and eat them up.
I also separated and replanted strawberries, doubled the size of the raspberry bed and thinned out the existing canes to start the new area.

Growing spinach

At 6 weeks, the spinach is looking good. They are coming in pretty well and show good growth. There is some leaf damage from an insect, but otherwise, the plants look healthy.

Spring Vegetables

Despite the complete lack of blog posts, things are growing in the garden. I got the first group of seeds - carrots, spinach, black seed simpson lettuce and leeks - in the ground the first weekend in April. The first lot has been a disappointment with good growth out of the carrots and spinach, but the seeds have come up very sparsely, despite the chicken wire dome I built to protect the seeds from cats, birds and 2 year old D. The lettuce has been mostly eaten by the rabbits, and the leeks have been mostly trampled by D.
I followed up with a second sowing of spinach, carrots and lettuce 2 weeks later, around April 17th. A few carrots and spinach emerged. I haven't seen anything from the lettuce.
In mid-April I also planted cilanto, parsley and snap peas. A few dozen cilantro came up and no parsley. The snap peas, carefully protected from turkeys by a chicken wire dome, have come up robustly and are about 14" tall at 4 weeks. I also started red onions from starts. I'm determined to have all the makings of salsa in the garden this year.
On May 7th, I added greens beans and cucumbers (persian and pickling). The cucumbers are up in good numbers and the beans are just starting to poke through.
On May 15th, I transplanted tomatoes, 8 varieties (big boy, celebrity, golden girl, 2 sun golds, 2 plum and a purple krim). I also transplanted some very tiny basil that looks like it might not survive and peppers (4 japapeno, a cubanelle and 4 yellow bells). All from Russells. I also planted out my broccoli seedlings which are very spindley (no artificial light source) and small. After 2 nights in the garden, they are holding up pretty well. I dropped in some zucchini seeds along the outer, eastern bed that doesn't get as much sunlight. I resowed:

• lettuce - there are currently just 2 heads from the 50+ seeds I've planted
• spinach
• carrots
• leeks

And added some radishes, between the thinly growing cilantro and the red onions and some additional basil and parsley seeds. The parsley resowed naturally from last year, so I have a decent amount already growing, but it is already going to seed. I expect the rabbits will get the parsley seedlings as they start to emerge.

But, most significantly, my honey built me a rabbit fence to keep the critters out of the central garden. This will protect the most vulnerable and sought after plants - carrots, spinach and lettuce. I'm hopeful that the now-protect lettuce will actually make a go of it. Though, May is all about being hopeful about the garden.

Spring 2010

The flooding rains of the last few weeks have caused spring to erupt from the landscape. I guess it's March showers bring April flowers. Ahh, global warming.
It was warm enough a few weekends ago to start some spring seeds - carrots, bibb lettuce, spinach and leeks. These were all from last year's seeds, so I don't know how well they will do. I covered the planting with newspaper to keep the cats and birds out. Then it rained and rained. A few seedlings have emerged.
I also started broccoli seeds in paper pots inside. These have just popped out.
The strawberries and raspberries are coming in nicely.
Even some parsley managed to survive the winter. I wonder if that bodes well for the rosemary making it too!