Tuesday, October 19, 2010

April 5 2010


Mon 05 Apr 2010

Well... it's been a few weeks since I've written. I came down with that lingering head cold thing so many have around here; still getting over it. It's set me back a bit in the garden but not much as for the most part the weather has been good. Had most of a week of cold and rain but this past week has been heaven.

It's the warmest spring I've seen in years. I hear Easter was a record.  We've already had several cookouts on the grill and are eating dinner on the patio. Nothing like ending the day with a nice glass of wine and watching the sun set.

I confess I can't say the housework hasn't suffered

Things are moving along well. As you can see in the photo there are lots of things growing in the greenhouse bed now. With this warm spring I think most of it will be transplanted into the garden rather then harvested inside.... more room for the tomato experiment though.

For one thing the leeks are up and growing!  I planted King Richard seeds. So far the leek experiment is going well. The arugula hasn't done very well but it may be that the greenhouse got hot too fast so I'll try for a crop for fall rotation in the greenhouse. And so far only one fennel has sprouted but I've not given up yet.

Oddly enough I think it's already too warm outside for cool crops though I did start peas and kale and planted some lettuce and spinach around the peas.

I couldn't resist and bought a pot of basil plants. Can't live without it

I bought all the stuff I need for the screens for the greenhouse this weekend; hopefully that will be done by the end of the week. I should be ready by the time its right for planting tomatoes. The question is when to plant them: the greenhouse should bring the planting date up a week if not two so if I can find tomato plants I could get them into the greenhouse by the beginning of May if I am lucky.  I'll have to haunt the garden centers more then usual  I'll only buy organic plants so that limits where I can go too. Kind of regretting I didn't start my own this year but it will work out.

Years ago a friend gave me some heirloom italian garlic that had been grown for decades by her FiL. I grew it for years myself but then due to the  health issues the beds over grew. It turned out that her FiL had moved and no longer had it so we dug up the bed and she took some back (this is one of the things I love about gardening... all the plants we share and in this case share back).  Then I gave some to other gardening friends and put some aside to replant myself but then had a slump physically and when I got back they were all dead.  I decided that was just as well maybe; one less thing to deal with and I decided not to ask my friends for some back.

So over the weekend I was weeding and found a lone baby garlic bulb growing. I had to smile and moved it to a safe place to grow. Apparently I'm supposed to have garlic and so will use that little bulb to rebuild my garlic patch. Can't live without garlic either.

The other plant one can't live without, and interestingly enough also is Mediterranean is Rosemary. Up here it is a trial; even growing Arp the one that is supposed to be cold tolerant. For years I've kept bringing them into the house to grow over winter and failed. But I thought that the early winter I've been able to use it while it lived was enough. This year, knock on wood, I've managed to over winter it. A first for me. I've tried them in the greenhouse too but with no luck (though I will keep trying)

I've always been envious of the rosemary bushes I've seen down south and on my trip to England. I know the chances of me ever having one that big are pretty slim but I'm content to get one to love through the winter.

So the rest of this week will be spent building screen doors and planting more greens outside in the beds and clearing up the perennial beds and assessing the damage from winter and who needs to be replaced. It's the mild winters I loose the most from all the thawing and freezing rather then a good long freeze to put everyone to sleep.

Back to work.....

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