Finally signs of life... and spring

This past week the weather finally started getting a bit milder and without snow. It took almost 3 weeks but the seeds I planted outside are starting to pop up. First signs was the lettuce in the container. Then the peas and spinach. Now I see kale, beets and romaine. I'm not surprised that I don't see the carrots yet, they are always the slowest to show signs.

I'm almost ready to setup the automatic watering system again. The long range forecast appears to be mild enough that I won't have to worry about freezing water lines at night and I'm also getting tired of lugging water every evening to water the seedlings. As soon as I can tell where the sprouts are coming up for everything then I'll weave the water lines around the plants.

Also for weeks now I keep checking the asparagus with disappointment because there have been no signs of life. I was starting to worry that I'd lost the plants because everyone else I know has their asparagus coming up but finally last night I spotted the first spear. Yay!!! This is the year I finally get to cut some and I would've been severely disappointed if I lost them.

The never ending winter

Winter just won't quit. We get a few nicer days and then wham, snow and cold again. They're forecasting snow again for Tuesday next week. I'm hoping that's it. I'd really like to put away the winter coats.

As for the garden there's no sign of those seeds I planted. I sure how they still come up, arghhh! Darn weather. I keep checking my asparagus, and no signs either. Other people at work have told me their's has just popped up in the last week so I'm still hoping. This is the year I get to cut the asparagus for the first time and I'd be mighty disappointed if it didn't survive the winter.

My seed trays in the house are doing fairly well. They could really use some strong sunshine though, if it ever gets warm enough I'll put them outside during the day but for now they're still stuck in the window.

Tilling and cold season crops

Finally the snow is staying away (better be) and I was able to get out this weekend and till the garden. Yesterday I tilled all the beds except the herb bed and today I put the seeds in for the cold season crops.

In the carrot bed I planted:
- Burpeeana Early Pea (Burpee)
- Paris Island Romaine Lettuce (Lake Valley Seed) - last year's leftover seeds
- Little Finger Carrot (Lake Valley Seed) - last year's leftover seeds
- French Baby Carrot (Renee's Garden)
- Early Purple Vienna Kohlrabi (Lake Valley Seed) - last year's leftover seeds

In the pepper bed I planted:
- the rest of last years Frosty Peas (Earl May)
- Italian Heirloom Kale (Renee's Garden)
- Rainbow Swiss Chard (Renee's Garden)

And some random plantings:
- In the tomato bed I put some Olympia Hybrid Spinach (Lake Valley Seed) - last year's leftover seeds
- In a planter I put a red and green salad lettuce mix (Lake Valley Seed) - last year's leftover seeds
- In the broccoli bed I put Early Wonder Beets (Earl May) - last year's leftover seeds

It's supposed to rain the next few days and be milder so it should be perfect seed starting weather.

More seedlings....

Ran by the nursery after work and stocked up on the rest of the seeds I needed, plus some. I always go to the local nursery and get the best advice because they know me and my quirks (aka shortcomings).

Amongst the seeds already set I have also put in:
- Anaheim peppers
- Jalapeno
- Kohlrabi
- Leeks (lots and lots)
- More marigolds
- and decided to try Fennel

I also stocked up on the other seeds I needed:
- peas
- kale
- swiss chard
- blue lake pole beans
- and nasturtiums of course for pest control (along with the marigolds)

I will also buy some already started plants from the nursery a little later in the season because I've given up on trying broccoli and brussel sprouts from seed.

First batch of seed trays

We just got back from vacation so it's the earliest I can start the trays (and not far off from when I started them last year). Today I put on the first batch of seed trays and will put more on after I make a trip to the local nursery for the rest of the seeds I need.

For now I have:
- Banana Peppers
- Basil
- Cilantro
- Eggplant
- Parsley
- Summer Savory
- Marigold (although I ran out of seeds and need more)
- Catsup Roma tomatoes

And as usual I put in about twice as much seedlings as I'll need.

Yup, done it again...

This past year I was worse than usual and did not get around to blogging about my garden. My new spring resolution is to be better at keeping notes about the garden. For now though this is from memory....

Let's see... the potatoes did not make it. There was a crazy heat wave and termites got into my potato growing bags and ruined them all. I had waited until after vacation to harvest, in hindsight I should have dumped the bags before vacation because I saw rotten remnants of what might have been lovely potatoes that the termites ruined.

The zucchini went bonkers in the heat, as usual and lasted into August before the squash bugs ruined the plant. Normally I would've been sick of zucchini by that point anyway but I discovered zucchini fritters and couldn't get enough of them.

The eggplant produced nicely and I thoroughly enjoyed making eggplant hummus out of them.

The big surprise was the banana peppers. I got tonnes of them and decided to try making salsa with those instead of bell peppers.... WONDERFUL! I will be growing lots more again for making salsa.

The tomatoes didn't do so great. I am struggling with the seedlings in the seed starter. They get leggy and when they are planted outside don't produce a lot of fruit.

For the things that did typically well, the carrots, beets, leek, celery, cucumbers all grew like every other year.

I actually got a nice bowl worth of peas this year. Making progress. I used the legume inoculant and it really made a difference. I think if it hadn't been a crazy hot year I would've had lots of peas.

I tried the already started plants from the nursery for broccoli, brussel sprouts and kohlrabi and they all did well. The broccoli didn't put on too much because of the heat though. The brussel sprouts grew tall. Since I didn't know when to prune the leaves I started too early. This year I need to leave it alone till the fall I think.

The beans put on nicely after I finely got them to grow. Something kept eating the plants off so I over seeded and ended up getting enough to have lots to freeze.

In around all the tomatoes and peppers I planted spinach which worked out really well. I was able to harvest lots before the heat stopped them from growing.

I put a lot of basil plants in and harvested early to make pesto which worked out the best. With the heat they went bitter again and I couldn't use them later in the summer.

I also grew lettuce in a planter box and these grew really well until it got hot. I will definitely do this again too.

The nice surprise was the cajun peppers and jalapeño that I got starter plants for. These were yummy and I will start a bunch from seed this year. I also tried poblano but they didn't grow very well. They were all small and not big enough to stuff. Also, in the fall I pulled the entire plants out just before a heavy frost and hung them in the basement. Surprisingly enough they do ripen that way.

Now it's time to start planning this year's garden :D

June's been busy!

Somewhere along the way, June disappeared. 

So lets see. I had to reseed the green beans, something kept eating the plants to a nub. Now I have a wicked nice bushy plant but so far no green beans. I'm afraid the excessive heat we've had the last two weeks are not helping the plants flower. 

The broccoli was all harvested early. The heads were small since we had so much heat and the plants were done and tore out by mid June. 

I also over planted my spinach and was eating spinach salad every day in June. What's left now has all bolted and the seeds I planted have not grown. Not sure if it's the heat or what.

Everything is huge now, this was in the middle of June.

 

The 2nd weekend in June we went camping and came back to zucchini that needed to be harvested.

For the last week of June I was gone for work and came back to baseball bat zucchini. That's my size 9 shoe.

I've also been able to harvest enough basil to make 4 cups of basil pesto to put in the freezer. At the end of May I chopped the oregano way back and made 3 cups of oregano pesto for the freezer. Since then the oregano has gone wild again and needs to be whacked back again.

Tonight I harvested the first cucumber and I see that I should have enough pickling cucumbers by the weekend to make a small batch of pickles. I also picked the first 4 banana peppers as well. 

My potato plants started dying back two weeks ago. The plants were huge and wonderful but it seems to be like last year. The heat does them in. I've decided to just leave them be until there's nothing left of the plant but stalks. That seemed to work last year and we'll see what I get.