Getting The Garden In

   June already.  How did this happen?  There have been some sunny days this past week, but the weather remains mild rather than toasty warm.  I have managed to get much of the garden in, but it has been slow going this year.

   Broccoli, Snowball cauliflower, cabbage (Cour di Bue, Red Express, Early Golden Acre), White Scallop summer squash, lettuce, kale, a bit of basil and sage, and Swiss chard have been planted.  I finally got the peas (Green Arrow and Laxton's Progress) planted yesterday, but not trellised.  A row of Norland Red potatoes are in the East garden.  R planted the rest of the potatoes (Kennebec, Russet, Red Norland) at his father's farm.  Cosmos (Rubenza and Sensation Mix) were transplanted in small bunches in all three garden plots.

   Peppers (Anaheim and Tam jalapeno) were planted yesterday and today.  The tomatoes were planted over the last three days.  True to form, the first week of June is very windy, so while I have given away a number of tomato transplants, I am keeping a bunch until the second week of June in case any of those I planted in the garden snap in the wind.  The tally at this point is 42 tomatoes in town (the varieties are listed here), and 2 (Cole) at the farm.  About a third of them still have to be staked, but at least they are in the ground.

   After last summer's dreadful weather, I decided to start most of the squash this year on heat mats and under grow-lights.  I staggered starting the varieties from mid to late May.  The Galeux D'Eysines was transplanted outside yesterday.  The Lower Salmon River and North Georgia Candy Roaster are hardening off and will likely be planted at the farm.  Long Pie Pumpkin, Fordhook Zucchini, and Early Prolific Straightneck are on the heat mats and will be planted outside once they've germinated and the weather warms up more.

   I planted a few small sections of dry beans in raised beds (Ruckle, Agate Pinto, Beka Brown), though am concerned that they might rot if the soil continues to be cool.  I will hold off on planting string beans until the weather is warmer; I don't have enough to risk them rotting and having to replant them.

   I have become aware that an acquaintance, who has property, resources, and gardening knowledge of their own, quietly follows this blog to see what transplants they might be able to hit me up for in June and what produce in September.  I have always been happy to share what I have but admit to a growing resentment of this kind of manipulation and the expectation that I will simply dish out. There is always one of these sorts in the bunch, I guess.

   The trees in our yard and in several of our neighbours' yards are loaded with blossoms. The scent is heavenly!   It's sad to see the petals being blown off so soon by the breeze, but it looks like confetti in the air, which is pretty in it's own way.

Apple tree and crabbaple trees in bloom

Tomatoes in, as well as a pepper, beets, and lemon balm.

North garden - peas, garlic, tomatoes

East garden - tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, broccoli, cosmos

The view down the driveway

Puddles and Carrot-Planting

   The carrots and rutabaga are planted!  I realized on the 19^th that the month of May was getting away from me.  Between the pandemic lockdown and neither of us having worked/ had a consistent schedule for far too long, my sense of time has been quite scrambled.  I zipped outside that afternoon and sowed carrot seed (Jaune Obtus du Doubs, Atomic Red, Cosmic Purple, Scarlet Nantes, and Koral) in one of the raised beds.  Beside it, I planted some Laurentian rutabaga seeds.  They are among this summer’s growing experiments; I have never grown rutabaga before.

    

   The sky was dotted with a few white, puffy clouds and the sun was beaming down while I planted. Once I covered the carrots with burlap (it helps with germination), I came inside to check my email.  Within a half hour, the sky turned dark, thunder and lightning rumbled through, and it started to pour.  It rained for a while, cleared off, and then started again the following morning.  It has more or less been raining since.

   The grass squishes beneath our feet and the garden plots are so saturated, they have puddles in them.  By this point in May, we usually have potatoes planted, at least one garden plot weeded, the pea trellises up and the peas sown.  It has been too wet so far to get the tilling and weeding done on time. 

  In the “bathtub” and in some of the containers behind the house, I transplanted some of the Lacinato kale, Dazzling Blue kale, Five Colour Silverbeet Swiss Chard, Corcade lettuce, and Crisp Mint (a romaine type) lettuce that had been started in milk jug greenhouses.  They are loving the cool, wet weather.

   Most of the winter squash I started indoors on the 16^th under lights has germinated.  I’ll thin them out on the weekend and hope for hot, sunny days starting next week!

   Cole is the earliest variety of tomato I’m growing this year.  Two of the Cole transplants have already put out flowers. 

  

  The asparagus crowns we planted last Spring didn’t make it through the winter.  I suspect they would have preferred to have been planted in-ground instead of in a raised bed.  R bought more (green and purple varieties) and planted them this past week out of town on his father’s land.

Hardening Off the Transplants

    Two days ago, I began hardening off the transplants yesterday - mostly tomatoes and peppers.  It has been overcast, drizzling, and cool and more of the same is forecast for this week.  This weather reminds me of the entirety of last summer.  Nobody wants a repeat of that!

Lou came out briefly to inspect the transplants...

   Last summer, the only squash that flourished and produced anything was the one I started indoors: Lower Salmon River.  Squash typically don't like to be started indoors or to have their roots disturbed by transplanting, but doing it this way is the main insurance against sub-par growing weather, like we experienced last summer.

   I started Lower Salmon River, North Georgia Candy Roaster, and Galeux D'Eysines (all C. maxima varieties) indoors on heat mats and under grow lights this past weekend.  I'll pick one variety to grow here and will plant the other two out at R's family's farm.  Lower Salmon River was the practical choice to grow - it is one of the earliest winter squashes I have found and it stores very well.  North Georgia Candy Roaster is the easiest to process for cooking and is fun to watch grow.  My favourite, Galeux D'Eysines, is beautiful and delicious.  It is also the least practical of the three to grow, as it takes the longest to mature and is a bit of gamble in our growing zone.  If we have a warm, sunny September, it will work out!

Warm Soil, Happy Kitties

Progress of the Milk Jug Sprouts

Cosmos

Lilliput Zinnias

Parsley (Curly and Italian Flat-Leaf)

Snowball Cauliflower

Curly Kale and Brunswick Cabbage

Lemon Balm

Five Colour Silverbeet Swiss Chard

Golden Acre Cabbage

First Garlic and Who Took My Picture?

Ta-daaa!  The first two garlic sprouts of the year have finally appeared in the garlic patch. 

The cosmos have started to germinate in their juice-container greenhouses outside.

   With perennial crops in mind, I decided to start rhubarb from seed this year.  We'll plant some of the transplants out at R's family's farm later this month, rather than planting them here.  I didn't expect the germination rates to be this good.  If it's true that "one plant will satisfy the needs of one household", then I will have plenty of seedlings to share, from the looks of things!

   I spotted this meme online yesterday and just had to share.  This is my vibe as I putter around the yard in the mornings from April to October. Hee hee! 

Missing the Spruce

   
   I was kind of sad to see the two big old trees (spruce, I believe) taken down earlier this week. They loomed over the front corner of the house next door, and it looks like our neighbours finally decided to have them removed.  Branches were cut from the base and the back side of the larger one for about an hour before I started taking pictures. It originally appeared much denser and hung over our fence, providing a nice buffer between us and the street. 

   The ravens, who used them as a lookout and resting spot, will feel their absence.  I will too. They were spectacular in the winter when covered in hoarfrost. Our property feels strangely exposed now without them there.