The Vegetable Garden

The mad rush to get everything planted is over. Now I wait for the things that I planted to grow, and try to keep ahead of the things that I don't want to grow (weeds). It's a cruel irony of gardening that the things that grow best are the things I didn't plant. Oh, and the critters like to eat what I've planted, not the weeds. Sigh...

I pulled out the spinach, since it was beginning to bolt, and I planted a couple of leftover tomato seedlings in that space (left front). The rest of the tomatoes look pretty good so far. I have eight Romas, two Cherokee Purple, two Yellow Pear, two Early Girl, and two Sweet 100 (red grape). They're in the cages on the right side of the garden. I'm hoping we'll be able to can the Romas, either whole or made into homemade sauce. In the center back are eggplant and peppers (giant Marconis, and tiny yellow bell peppers). The pole beans and the bush beans are coming along--they're in the back left corner. Garden peas and sugar snaps are along the left side, with lettuce and cabbage in front of them. There are a few squares of scallions and carrots tucked in there, too. The cukes and zukes and cantaloupe (oh my!) are in another part of the yard.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.

And, boy, did it rain. About two inches in less than an hour. We had torrents running through the yard, and standing water everywhere. My peonies and delphiniums were knocked flat. And those seeds I planted last weekend? Unless they grew roots and dug in (most hadn't sprouted), they're at the bottom of the lake down the street by now. No more starting seeds outside.

Did I mention that we were trying to make strawberry jam when the storm hit? And that a storm-spooked dog found its way into our garage when my husband came home from the grocery store. Talk about a wild evening... But the jam gelled, and the dog's owner found us, so things turned out pretty well in the end.

Blackberry Winter

We've had a run of warm, summery weather for the last few weeks. Yesterday, however, was cool and rainy. It was quite chilly this morning, too. A long time ago, a botanist friend of mine told me that, when she was growing up, folks called this weather blackberry winter. She said that there's always a cold snap in the spring when the blackberries are blooming. Most years, that's what happens. Like today.

Happy Mothers Day!

I'm having trouble starting flowers from seed this year. Not much is germinating, and what does sprout seems to get eaten within days. The morning glories were full of little holes, like some bugs were chewing on them. The cantaloupe shoots just disappeared, like they were bitten off at ground level. So I'm trying again. I've planted morning glories and cantaloupe seeds in little peat pellets. I'll put them in the ground when they're big enough to defend themselves. I also replanted sunflower, wildflower, zinnia, and cosmos seeds. This time, I've covered the plot with pop-up screens to keep the birds (and maybe the chipmunks) away. We'll see how it works.

It's an absolutely perfect day. Sunny, breezy, warm. Wow. Irises, peonies, delphinium, coreopsis--it's all blooming. Usually I look around the garden and see what's wrong with it--I need to weed, I need to plant something in that spot, I need to move those plants that are crowding each other. In the beginning of May, however, it all just looks great. I can sit on the porch and feel pretty good about all the work we've been doing out there. All in all, a pretty good way to spend Mothers Day.