The Game is Afoot!

May 21, 2017
Beautiful weather today. Sun is out, nice breeze, temperature is perfect although I am getting a bit warm in muck boots and jeans. I love this time of year as all the perennials emerge and start to flower. Asparagus, rhubarb, chives, oregano and sage are all up and doing well. We've eaten a couple pounds of asparagus, several handfuls of chives and the others are ready to harvest whenever we need them. Parsley, sage and thyme are right behind. Haskap bushes and strawberries are all flowering and will be fruiting soon. Ornamental perennials on our property are all coming back. Between the peonies, wild iris, bearded iris, daylilies, as well as the forget-me-nots that readily self-seed, the yard should be filled with color in no time.

Unfortunately, the lawn is still very soggy in the lowest points which is where most the raised beds sit. I have to remedy that in the fall and put some type of water diversion in so we don't have this happen every year. There is generally 2-3 inches of standing water in April and May if it rains much.

First up today, now that cinder-block borders are completed with Quikcrete and flowers, was to clean the 4' x 20' cinder-block bed that the carrots are going in. It was quite a bit of work for a solid hour. I'm doing no-till as much as possible, so first tossed the soil with a broad fork. I dug up lot of perennial grasses and other nasty weeds, including a bit of horsetail on one end. Basically, I just stab the fork in a few inches and rotate it a half turn every square foot or so. It's quick work and loosens up all the roots of the weeds. Carefully removed those and shook out all the soil I could from the roots. Smoothed the bed and it's all ready for planting the carrots.

Bed before weeding and prep

Bed after weeding and prep

After a quick snack and some hydration, I was back at it, cleaning the Jerusalem artichoke bed, pulling out the dead roots from last year's plants and replanting any bulbs that came loose. I planted only 8 bulbs last year, and you can already see at least twice as many shoots as that coming up, so they are definitely spreading.

It seems I'm always trying to find the best way to sow carrots. The first year I grew them I just broadcast the seeds over the area liberally. This worked well, but used a LOT of seed and required a lot of work thinning them later on. Last year I used my seeding square, which advises sixteen carrots per square foot. This resulted in a small crop, and I had more success and higher yield planting with the previous method. So, this year I'm trying a third method. I'm making rows 3" apart and will thin the row as necessary. This will require a bit of work, but less thinning and I think it should be a happy medium between the two methods. Fingers crossed. I must say, using this latest method I used very little seed. The varieties I'm growing this year include Scarlet Nantes, Rainbow, Yellow, Lunar (white), Atomic Red and Purple Sun. I finished about 2/3 of the bed before supper was ready. Asparagus fresh from the garden, fiddleheads foraged locally and purchased downtown and new potatoes. After supper, I watered in everything I had planted and called it a night.



May 22, 2017
Late start today as it was a holiday and Erin had the day off, so we slept in an extra hour. I hit the garden as soon as I got up and finished planting all the carrot seeds I had left. I still came up short of filling the bed, so I'll grab some more tomorrow at Mr. Tomato.

Next up, cleaned and prepped another bed for beets. I chose three varieties of beet to grow this year. Early Wonder is a variety I'm growing mainly for their greens. Beet greens is another vegetable I grew up eating a lot of and is probably my second favorite after fiddleheads. We're also growing Chioggia, a delicious variety that is unique in that if you slice it, you'll find it has a bulls-eye pattern inside. Finally, Touchstone Gold, a golden yellow variety that I haven't grown before and am looking forward to trying.

After the beets were planted I watered both the carrot and beet seed beds well. My next task was to work on removing the horsetail from the shorter asparagus bed. It's everywhere in it and very time-consuming to take it out. I worked for about an hour and got about 1/7 of the patch done or so before my back was done. We noticed last night that it has moved to the lawn as well, which is alarming, but I can't obsess over that right now.



I had about an hour left before I had to get ready to leave for a previous engagement. I used the time to pot up Mom's petunias and some violas, and to water the seedlings on the deck.


May 23, 2017

A day of rest. I needed it. We did go to Mr. Tomato though to buy more carrots seeds, some shallot sets and more basil because we love basil and every time we see a new variety we don't have, we can't help ourselves.

May 24, 2017
Up and at it early today and feeling a bit refreshed. The deck is getting quite crowded with plants in various stages of hardening off. I probably won't get most of them in the ground for two weeks, but at least they'll be out here getting full sun, ready to go. The tomatoes and peppers will be the last two be hardened off, and I'll start doing that in a couple days. Sipped my coffee inside and trimmed the fennel that I foolishly started in March. Not sure why I had it written down to start then, but it definitely was too early. It was 2' high until I just cut it back and trimmed off all brown leaves. My hands smelled deliciously of licorice once I had trimmed them. I hope we get some bulbs this year as I've only tried using the leaf. Last year was the first year I grew it and although the plants got 6' high or more, there really wasn't much for a bulb on any of them.

Beautiful day outside, sunny and a nice, cool breeze. My favorite kind of day. Planted the last 9' sq. of carrots and started digging up the cinder block bed that used to house the mint. We rarely use mint and it's spread quite a bit so I'm digging it up and putting one small bit in a pot. I'll build a little 2' raised bed for it by itself, once I've finished putting in the rest of the garden.

Came in for a fast breakfast of watermelon and called a repairman to pick up the ride-on mower. He's coming tomorrow and when he told me that it filled me with joy. I was on such a high that I called the guy at the local organics place while I was at it (been waiting for a call back for a week). He called me back and told me I should have my load of compost before the weekend. I decided to forgo any more potting soil with the peat in it so as to not have more acidic beds. I'll buy coconut coir instead, which is much more sustainable anyways and I can just mix that with the compost and it should be a great medium. The weeds are just enjoying the peat way too much for my tastes.

On my way back out to clear out the mint, I decided to clean out the hanging pot that's on the deck. We picked out flowers for it the other night at Mr. Tomato, a pretty dark pink begonia, surrounded by three lobelia with tiny white flowers on longer vines.

The bed with all the mint was a nightmare, but I got the first half of it done pretty quickly, despite a chilly wind coming up, clouds rolling in and it starting to rain. Took a break at that point to run to the store for water, dog food and a Timmy. Had my coffee and a quick lunch and went back out to finish cleaning out that bed. Finished the second half in an hour and a half. It was a very tedious and time-consuming job as the roots of the mint had traveled throughout the entire bed, some even outside of the bed in the mulched path. Once it was done I raked the soil flat and smoothed with my hands to ready the planting surface. Saved one sprig of mint from the pile and potted it in a 5" pot. Should be plenty to get it started up again once I decide where I want it. I must say, this job was one of the better smelling ones I've done thus far this year.

Before

After

So, this is what was left when I was done. I saved one nice, healthy sprig of it and re-potted it in a 5" pot. Should be good there until I get a small bed built just for it or a large pot. I'm inclined to go with the latter, I think.








You can see all the mint roots I pulled out of the bed below.

I'm very pleased with the biodiversity in the garden this year, even early on. I came across a number of spiders, worms, beetles, centipedes, and even a few June bug larvae while digging just this one bed.

By the time I was finished it got even grayer and colder so I called it a day early. Hoping to get more planting done tomorrow!



May 25, 2017
Up early again, but off to a chiropractor appointment first off the bat. I've discovered over the last year that at my age (48) and height (6' 2"), that a good chiropractor is an invaluable resource in your health and wellness. A year later, she has me in much better shape and I'm quite sure have "grown" back to my original height now that I'm standing straighter. I do get sciatica, apparently from a tilted pelvis, so she puts that back in place monthly along with one rusty spot in my mid-back and I'm good to go. Just with this last week of work I can feel my back and shoulders getting so much stronger, so hoping that will help resolve my problems down the road.

Late start today as it was gray and freezing out. I stayed inside toasty warm and made some amazing refried beans and Pico de Gallo for burritos instead, going outside only for some green onions that overwintered. I did take advantage of the down time to make a few calls I had been putting off. First one to the lawnmower repairman to fix the ride-on before I have a hay field in the backyard. Explained the situation (blade bent, can't move mower out of shed) and Bill with City Mower Repair said they'd be down to pick it up. I also called the local organics place about my load of compost. He said I should have it by the weekend, but I'm guessing it will be some time next week.

Tulips are blooming and absolutely stunning!

By 2pm it was a little sunnier, though still very windy and chilly, so I set out to do some weeding. I cleaned out one bed and planted the kale. I didn't grow enough so will go to Mr. Tomato to see if they have a kind I'm not growing already. I'm planting Blue Scotch Curled, Lacinto and Scarlet kales this year. Hoping to grow a lot so I can dry and powder it along with other greens for my own homemade "greens powder" to throw in smoothies, soups, casseroles, sauces, or whatever for some added nutrition. Also hoping to eat a lot of baby kale in salads and to dehydrate a few loads of Cheesy Kale Chips for our snacking enjoyment. About halfway through planting the kale, the repair men showed up for the lawnmower. They couldn't get the blade loose so had to leave again to get a dolly to help them get it out of the shed. I finished planting the kale and prepped another bed for cauliflower before I got too cold and went inside for a break.




Mower guys came back and loaded up the lawnmower. HUGE load off my mind. Plus, I miss my ride-on. One of my all-time favorite summer activities is mowing the lawn. I know, it's insane, but I get to circle the yard like 50 times, viewing all the beauty we've created over the summer and years past as well and it just makes me blissfully happy.

I sat and pulled more horsetail out of the asparagus bed until Erin came home, then headed in again out of the cold.




May 26, 2017
This weather is for the birds. Actually, I'm quite sure they aren't overly thrilled with it either. Gray and freezing again today. Supposed to pour later so I'm taking the day off. Probably just as well, at the end of the evening last night I had terrible pain when walking. Took off my shoes/socks to reveal a huge, broken blister on the bottom of my left foot. It's very sore, hoping it will heal up quickly as I have way too much to do for that nonsense!

For today though, it's rest and coffee!





May 27, 2017
We got up a little later since it's Saturday and still raining. It was supposed to clear up in the early afternoon but didn't until suppertime. I finally went outside and finished planting the kale, then planted Bright Lights and Rhubarb swiss chard and some rutabagas.

Once that bed was complete, I started on the bed I had removed all the mint from. I planted a bunch of different varieties of radish, leaving room to start more in another 3 weeks so we'll have a staggered harvest. Varieties I'm growing this year include a couple of tried and true ones, French Breakfast and Cherry Belle, as well as new varieties of radish; Sparkler White Tip, Triton Purple Stem, Hailstone, Daikon, Watermelon. 7 varieties of radish. Will I sound even crazier if I tell you I don't even really like radish that much? I do enjoy the French Breakfast as they are a bit milder, and I've started to enjoy the Cherry Belles sliced thinly in salads, but they have quite a kick to them. I am looking forward to trying the rest. Perhaps I just haven't tried the perfect variety that will make me fall in love with radishes forever.







Before calling it a night, I took a walk around some of the beds to check on some things. The Kent strawberry patch is winding up for a record season I suspect. Flowers are out and there are huge clusters of very large flowers. They look quite vibrant and healthy. The Alpine strawberry and Pineberry patches look good as well. Really looking forward to sun-ripened strawberries again this year!

The perennial herbs are doing well. Parsley is coming back in both spots where I have it planted and the oregano is going like gangbusters.

As I passed the horseradish, on the way to check out the garlic progress, this beauty caught my eye. A horseradish flower. I've never seen one before. I looked it up and they look a bit like onion flowers when they bloom. Very exciting to see something new!

Garlic is looking fabulous after a rocky start with the huge temperature fluctuations we've had for the last two months. It's about a foot high at this point. There were two full beds planted and a few cloves in other spots. This bed survived our horrid up and down spring weather, but the second bed didn't fare as well with the cold, the plants in the middle of the bed died. So, we'll probably have to purchase seed again this year but as long as we have enough to eat, that's the main thing. Once you have garden-grown garlic you just can't go back.

This is last year's garlic harvest. Successful, but the bulbs were quite small, I suspect due to lack of water since we had a dry summer and I didn't provide much supplemental watering. A lot of people asked me what on earth we were going to do with all that garlic. I did sell a pound to friends, but we ate all the rest. We use probably 3-4 bulbs of garlic a week, minimum when we cook. Currently there are about 10 very small bulbs of garlic left. We will likely have to purchase from the grocery store for a month before this year's harvest, but we came close to having enough for the whole year! 

516 cloves in total

2016 garlic harvest