Did I Wish for Warm Weather?

This flowering cherry is the gift that keeps on giving..

What was I thinking? It went from about 15 degrees below normal to 15 degrees above normal for the past week. We hit 90 the other day! I've been covering the greenhouse with a tarp every afternoon to keep everything in there from frying. And watering twice a day to keep the soil cool for the peas and lettuce and carrots. Fortunately, temps will be back to normal tomorrow and we're supposed to get some rain, too. Not that we're really lacking for that, we're ahead so far for the year, but it'll be a nice change from the past few days.

The cool crops are doing quite well in spite of the heat, this pic shows about a third of my Mangetout Carouby row in the back of one of my 8x4 beds. If you're wondering why one of them is out of line, I have no idea. I'm quite sure I was sober when I planted them.

The plants in front of that are Chesnok Red hardneck garlic, and I've got Romano Bush beans going in front of those tomorrow morning. My French Climbing beans should be poking through in another day or so, and I hilled the potatoes up for the first time this morning.


Speaking of morning, this is what I see when I open the back door..



Why does Jack always look like he's judging me? It can be quite unnerving to turn around and see that glare of disapproval. Dude, I'm sorry I threw a shoe at you, K? The crowing was a little much that day, I wasn't myself.

Cross Your Fingers

I planted some of my tomatoes and peppers on Saturday, since the weather has warmed up so thoroughly. If we get a late frost I'll do what I did last year, cover the little seedlings with a layer of soil overnight. It worked like a charm last time, no damage at all to my toms after a 28 degree night in early May. I planted the little 30 inch wide 20 ft long strip on the side of the house with 10 tomatoes and 9 peppers staggered in between and in front of the toms. There'll be some bush beans staggered in between the peppers, I soaked some of my Romano Bush beans the other day and they're starting to sprout. No pics of the bed yet, since the seedlings are hard to see at this stage!

Tomatoes, left to right when facing the bed:
Opalka
Yellow Brandywine
Black from Tula
Wapsipinicon Peach
Copia
Black Cherry
Brandywine OTV
Cherokee Purple
Sungold

Opalka

Portugese Thyme in the early morning sun

The peppers I planted are Quadrato Rossi. I planted nine more QR peppers in one of my in-ground beds, and the Orange Bells are going into the bed at the end of the garden where the new trellis is. My French Climbing Beans have sprouted and they're getting planted at the foot of that new trellis today. The melons and winter squashes are also getting started while I'm out there. I'm growing Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck squash for the first time this year, as well as a variety called Galeux d'Elysines. I think the kids will get a big kick out of them.

Happy Gardening!

Happy Dance!

The first day of April...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I hate winter. I really do. If it snowed with any regularity here, that would be pretty. But no, all we get is cold, dreary, wet weather. So when the earth warms, the air is fresh and sweet, the birds are singing their hearts out, and "the flowers appear on the earth" I just about burst with joy.


Hubby put up the large trellis for me over the weekend, and I've got my French Climbing Beans soaking already. The Purple-Podded Pole is next, and I think I'll start some of my Romano Bush beans, too. The volunteer climbing beans in the garden are doing marvelously, so I'll take that as a green light to start the others!

The trellis is difficult to see in a picture, but it's two widths of 4 ft high 4x2 fencing giving me 8 feet vertically across that 20 foot width of fence. That's a lotta beans!

Three of my Calabrese broccoli overwintered, so I let one go to seed and the other two are ready to harvest..again! I'm so thrilled, since I didn't start any spring broccoli because of a lack of space.













The tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse are coming along gangbusters, and I got over a hundred Cosmic Purple Carrot seedlings planted yesterday. The Danvers carrots are next, and I'll pot up my Rosa Bianca eggplants and Napolitano basils later today. The baby boy is already yawning (yay!), so I'll go put him down for a nap and get started.