Growing leeks from seed

These leeks were started indoors in early March. Here they are about 10 weeks old in the garden. Not as fat as chives yet. These may need to spend the winter in the garden before they're ready to eat.

See how the leeks are growing.

Growing Persian Cucumbers

The packet of Persian Baby Cucumber seeds from Renee's Garden contained 12 seeds. I started these inside in newspaper pots. 12 sprouted, and they all seem vigorous. Here they are planted out.

Cilantro at 4 weeks

Cilantro started from seed in the garden April 15th in Boston at 4 weeks old. It took a full two weeks before I saw any sign of life from the seeds.

Strawberries

The strawberries are coming along nicely. There are 5-8 berries on each plant and flowers still forming. Greg put up the bird nettings today.

Ants in the Mesclun

After finding the grubs all over the chard, I assumed I would find them on the big mustard greens that were already dwarfing the rest of the mesclun greens. Instead on the mustard greens, I found ants. The dirt around them was teeming with little brown ants. They were boring in and out of the root. Not sure if I can do anything about them. In any case, the nearby lettuces do not seem to be affected.

Grubs in the Chard

With things finally growing comes the horrible pests that strike them down. After noticing many of the young swiss chard had suddenly gone limp and keeled over, I dug one up and discovered several fat grubs on the roots.

Beneficial nematodes, neem oil, and milky spores can be used to combat grubs in the soil. I dug out tons of them and smashed them, but I'm afraid of the ones I didn't find...

Bibb lettuce at 5 weeks

Bibb lettuce started from seed in garden April 5th are still wee at 5 weeks.