Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Get Planting!


Caught me!
Yes, it's true. Since my sale all I have been doing is laying on the couch, watching Oprah and eating bon-bons all day.
Oprah isn't on anymore? Oh.
Well, caught me again.



After a very busy "Tomato Days" weekend, which saw even more kind folks walk up my lane than years previous, I'm in the gardens.

I plant a bit, then someone stops in to buy some plants. So I take a little sales break, then back to the task at hand. (If you still need plants, I have them!)

My earlier plantings look good, but I have to water now after the promised rains have simply not come.
Tonight I hope.
The fabulous dwarf pea, Tom Thumb has blossoms and I am excited. But to tell you the truth, I am even a bit more excited about.....yes, blossoms on my Stupice tomatoes, that wonderful little Czech
treasure.

I put thirty plants in my small front hoophouse and they have leapt out of the ground. Tomatoes in mid-June will happen!  Eggplants, beans and peppers are performing similarly.

A small little patch of potatoes for personal use is up and growing rapidly. I save my big planting for later..usually the end of June so I miss the cycle of Colorado Potato beetles.

Spinach, beets, fava beans, onions, leeks, celery, kale, sorrel and lots of lovely lettuces have been in for weeks now.  We're eating salads now and there is also enough to sell.

Today was the day I planned on getting in my test garden for Rodale's Organic Gardening magazine.
I have about 58 varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers that I'm growing to assess. Well...eat and admire too!

Interesting to me so far has been the canna lilies I started from seed, Boxwood basil and the miniature geraniums. Some old friends were in the batch of seeds I received from them this year too; Bronze Arrowhead lettuce-(my favourite lettuce), Aunt Molly's ground cherries, Provider and Beurre de Rocquenfort beans and Black Zebra tomato. There are also broccoli varieties, cauliflower, kale, squash, cukes melons, carrots and a very interesting miniature sweet corn, which is purportedly good for containers.

I'm always game for it all. I mean how great is it in the middle of winter to get this big envelope from OG magazine with seeds. Free seeds, my friends. Lots of awesome free seeds for me to grow.
Tomorrow I'll finish it off, rain or shine.

Then it will be days of getting more lettuces in the garden, all the other kales, broccolis and cool weather stuff (ha!), then onto likely a good solid week of tomato planting.

Will I get them all in? I don't know.
Stay tuned!





No comments: