Friday, May 4, 2018

Garden update - getting started for the year

I gotta get better about documenting my garden. If I actually want to improve my gardening skills that is. Which I do. So here goes - feel free to skip this if you have zero interest.

May 1st - 77 degrees and incredibly sunny. I know this isn't going to last but it seems to have become the norm that we get two weeks of super hot (for us anyway) weather in May and then things settle back down to mild temperatures and light rains in June. I kinda like that the soil gets a warm jumpstart this way.

With the warm weather suddenly coming upon us (we had snow and freezing rain just a few days before this) I figured it was time to get my cold frame planted and some shelling peas in one of the main gardens.

The cold frame - I'd purchased garden soil and left the bag in the frame for about a week so it could start to warm up faster (glass top on the frame too). When I opened the bag to spread it out the soil was indeed warmish. I weeded the frame, spread the soil, and made some trenches for my seeds. Then I got clever (I hope); I lined the trench with potting soil and planted my seeds in that. We'll see if that helps them sprout. I planted cilantro, parsley, and kale. Why nothing else? Because that's all the seed I had; apparently the cruise really interfered with my planning process. Sure; that's what we'll blame it on.

The cherry grove garden (previously known as the chicken garden) - I hoed and weeded and cultivated a small section for the peas. Planted two types, an Alaska and an Early, and have high hopes that they'll do well. I love peas and pea shoots. I've got enough left in the seed packets to plant another crop later this summer.

I haven't touched the other garden areas but have plans for them. The kitchen garden will be herbs and lettuces as it's getting more shade and I don't think the tomatoes will do well there anymore. The hill garden (formerly the squash garden) will be exclusively cucumbers as I have big pickle plans this year. And we're putting in a new garden at the old camp site - creatively named the camp garden - where I'll put the tomatoes, cabbage, and maybe some bush beans. No plans for the main garden as it's still full of rocks and tractor tracks as Chris works on the greenhouse.

Orchard update - looks like the fruit trees survived the winter and I'm seeing leaf buds on the cherry and plum trees; the apple trees are still bare. Rabbits got to the bark on my peach tree so I'm not sure if that will survive. I'll pick up some guards for the base of all the trees to help prevent this in future. And we're working on a better fencing system for both trees and animals.

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