I started the following this past Sunday (3/14):
Tomato ‘Sweetie’ (cherry)
Tomato ‘Bellstar’ (paste)
Brocolli ‘Di Ciccio’
Brussel sprouts

And on Sunday, 3/7, I hauled a bunch of willow and aspen leaves from the front yard to the main garden bed. I moved the beds last year to downsize the garden, so the main bed is now in a grassy area. Rather than dig up the sod, I covered it with said leaves, and unloaded a bin of compost that sat all winter. Will be picking up some bagged top soil this weekend, so the layers have a few weeks to sit before planting.

happy peas

On the plus side, I used legume innoculant on my pea seeds this year, and holy cow! What a difference! The first batch has flowers and the second sowing (about 3 weeks later) is coming right along too. I also used it on my green bean seeds (1st time veggie for me) and they’re looking pretty happy, too.

happy beans

And although the deer ate my raspberries down to nubs over the winter, they look pretty fat and happy too. AND I discovered the first smiling red, almost-ripe strawberries this morning! When I told the boys, they were speechless with delight and anticipation. They’ve been out there poking around the bird netting this week, itching to get their hands on some berries.

sweeties

OK…I’m feeling a little less like a garden moron, and a little more like it might be worth it.

So I relocated the whole operation, and everything is cooking right along. I’ve left them all on the heat mat, except for the brocolli, which I moved to its own little tray. No sign of the artichoke yet, but I think I read that they are a bit slow.

Flush with my first-round success, I also started some leftover echinacea ‘white swan’ from last year, and some seeds saved from some store-bought grape tomatoes, just for kicks. Oh and some sweet basil from a random seed packet I got in some promo mailing last year. I feel like ‘what the heck? give it a shot’ but will secretly be sad if NOTHING comes up from these.

I have set aside my round 3 seeds–mostly melons–for starting in mid-April. I got a new watermelon and a cantelope from Irish Eyes this year, plus I have one of each from last year (Parks) and some Dixon melon seeds I saved a couple of years ago. Hopefully this year, I can protect them from the deer. I didn’t get a single melon last year.

• broccoli di ciccio (5)
  tomato roma VF (5)
  cherry tomato sweetie (5)
  paste tomato bellstar (5)
  basil minette (7)
  thyme mother of thyme (3)
  gourd birdhouse (5)

The herbs and the cherry tomato are seeds from last year, so I’m not really holding my breath for them. I was really disappointed in their performance last year, so thought I’d at least use up the remainder and see if I can get something out of them.

I got some heat mats this year, so I’m hoping that will make the difference in the germination and growth of these plants (esp. the herbs). I set it up at about 11:00 am today, and am a little nervous about it…I’ve checked it three times today, but it just feels warm, not hot.

I started these seeds in the same Jiffy strip pots I used last year, so I could re-use the greenhouse trays I bought them in last year. However, I realized today that one of the dome lids spent the winter in the yard under the trees, and I believe it went into the garbage a few weeks ago because I had forgotten what it was. Oops. I’ll have to stagger my seed starts I guess.

I am planning to start all the zuchini and squash directly in the garden this year. They got too big when started indoors last year, and Sandy Perrin’s book says that starting those early doesn’t wind up giving you much of a head start cuz they don’t like the transplanting. That probably explains why my summer squash didn’t do a damn thing after I got it in the ground last year. That and the late snow.

So. The season is off and running! When I packed up the garden last fall, I wondered how I was going to make it through the winter without yard work. The winter seems to have flown by though…too much other craziness to keep my mind occupied. Even waiting the month between when I got my seeds and when I could start them, didn’t seem to be too painful.

Other plans for this year: possibly a drip system on a timer. I hated fighting with the damn sprinkler last year, and if I going to plop down a chunk of change for a watering tool, I would prefer that it meant an end to dragging around hoses. It might also mean no more catfaced tomatoes.

I also intend to focus on harvesting and freezing veggies. I treated the garden more like a fresh produce section when I wanted something for dinner, and I want to treat it more like a means to an end…namely getting us homegrown veggies to last us through the winter. Plus it feels so good to pull pumpkin puree out of the freezer to make pumpkin bread from my own pumpkins.

I don’t know what that song is about, but I do know that I have been so excited and grateful to my little strawberry plants this year. What was I thinking with a 7×7 bed?? I certainly wasn’t thinking that my kids would get so excited about eating strawberries out of the garden. Or how sweet it would be when B suggests we make strawberry jam, everytime I bring in a handful of berries. Or that N would wander out there and hunker down to poke his little fingers in through the bird netting to try to pull berries out on his own. *sniff*

Anyway, I bought 2 varieties, ’Honeyloe’ a June-bearing, and ‘Fern’ an ever-bearing. After the impressive show of continuous berry production from ‘Fern’ I was ready to rip the Honeyloes out and let Fern’s daughter plants take over. But then I read today that June-bearing put all their fruit out at once, which is great for the aforementioned jam production. Hmmm…so now I guess I’ll need to extend the berry patch out for next year. I’m dreading sorting out the plants though. I didn’t do 2 things you’re ‘supposed’ to do with strawberries…I didn’t pinch back the first round of blooms. Just couldn’t do it. And I didn’t cut the runners. I kinda just forgot with that one, but also, just couldn’t bring myself to do it. So now I’m left with this tangled mess of runners and weeds all over the place, and I’m not really sure where to go from here. I may have to call in reinforcements and have my mom help me sort it out.

Scott says the garden is messy…and that’s when he’s being nice about it. OK, so I didn’t exactly stick to a plan, and I took on many more plants than I had planned for (had I actually stuck to the plan) so yeah…it got a little out of hand. On the plus side, the only bed that got really weedy is the raspberry patch, and it’s just ugly. Everything else is just plants gone horribly awry.

Note to self: Cage thy tomatoes WHEN YOU PLANT THEM!

This is actually 3 Striped Roma tomato plants I got from the Extension Office. So far, only 2 have ripened and both have been cracked. There are fruits all over these plants, but no red ones.

And the middle of the thicket has become the lair of 2 very large, very scary looking garden spiders. I should research them to make sure they’re not some horrible venomous variety, but I hate looking at spider pictures. Maybe I’ll get Scott to look them up. That’ll teach him.

Deer like sunflowers. Despite the fact that my neighbor told me “The deer came right up to our house and ate all our sunflowers last year”, for some reason I thought mine would be safe. I thought wrong.

They also like zuchini.

And baby watermelons (but only enough to take a big bite out of the the biggest one, then SPIT OUT THE SEEDS!!)

Deer netting works really well, but is a major pain in the ass to work with. Next year, I’ll have to figure out a way to stretch it tight. My 6-ft stakes aren’t staying upright…whether they’re getting blown by the wind, or leaned on by deer, I don’t know. but they look drunk.

Anyway, a couple of mornings ago I was puttering in this yard work Nirvana when I stopped to appreciate all the work we’ve put in. I’m especially proud of the sweeping retaining wall made entirely of reclaimed concrete. There were times when I thought I’d never get that thing done. But it’s done and gradually being filled in with plants and mulch (shredded tree parts from a local tree service company). There are times when I get discouraged by comparing reality to all the plans and visions in my head. But man…we have busted our butts this year. I think it looks great, but more than that, I am really proud that we’ve done all this stuff ourselves.

first tomato!

Originally uploaded by bluefish_media

So my garden is trucking along, and although it’s doing OK, it’s not quite what I expected. Some things, like the nasturtiums and my peas, have been kind of a disappointment. Other stuff, like the brocolli I got from the Extension Office and plopped in between corn rows, is super healthy. I’m going to have to move it I think, or I won’t have enough corn stalks to pollinate each other. Despite all the thinking and planning I did about the garden, it feels disorganized. I have a hard time conceptualizing space requirements, or even measurements. But the good news is that I get another shot next year, and even this fall. I’m going to start some more spinach and some peas to see if I can get a fall crop. I need to start harvesting chamomile and parsley, because they are doing so well. Sunflowers are coming up which I love, but echinacea has been a huge let-down. Live and learn I guess.

Said tomato plants and a few other things in my garden are not happy with the weather. My co-Master Gardener friend Kim reminded me that their darkening leaves are a sign of iron deficiency, caused by the cool [cold] soil temps. So now I have to find something to fertilize them with, assuming they made it through the night. I covered them last night, but was too depressed to make the slushy trek out the garden to check on them this morning.

One other thing I remembered this morning: I moved my ‘warm’ seedlings outside a couple of weeks ago, and sort of left them. They’re not really doing much of anything. I transplanted chamomile into the garden and echinacea into pots last week (back when it was still spring) and they’re looking better. I used Organic Choice garden soil, which has some compost I think. But my viola, thyme and basil aren’t happy because they’re still in sterile starting medium. Doh! If they’re still alive, I’ll trek out there tonight and transplant them as well. Hopefully that will perk them up. I was really excited about the basil ‘Minette’ seeds, and haven’t been impressed so far.