It hasn’t felt much like Spring yet, but slowly, but surely my Spring garden has been taking shape, the last remnants of the Winter garden, finally gone except the onions and strawberries, planted in November. The onions can be eaten now, but I like to let them mature then dry and store them for months. True to form, a few of the Red Creole onions have bolted. Although I hate to lose many to bolting, they are just as delicious as if they had gone full term, just smaller.
Lots of Onions
The peppers have a dedicated bed this year, and I have planted Pequillo, Padron, Chile Petin (that’s what the label said, I thought it was Pequin) Jalapeno, and Serranos. They are fine and happy, but aren’t doing much just yet. With all the cool weather we’ve had, I’m not surprised. Peppers like heat.
Pepper garden
Another bed is a mix with tomatillos, a tomato plant and a pepper plant. The tomatillos already looking like they will start setting their little paper lantern covered fruit, and there is a wee Padron pepper emerging from its flower.
Tomatillos and Tomatoes
The long bed is Tomatoes and peppers as well. One of the tomatoes, a Large Red Cherry, has tiny tomatoes on it already.
Tiny Cherry Tomatoes
As you can see, I’m having a weed problem between the relatively new beds. I’ve been pulling like crazy, and have used Natural Gardener’s new vinegar based remedy, but apparently it isn’t hot enough outside yet for that to help much. I’m wondering if another layer of decomposed granite might help.
My house has a built in planter on the side of the house, where Wandering Jew was once planted and despite my best efforts, has never been successfully eradicated. Then the new stone beds were put in, the guys cleaned out that planter, and a couple months ago, I planted potatoes. That bed doesn’t get full sun, so I wasn’t sure how they would do, but as of today, they are starting to flower, which means they are doing their thing. The Wandering Jew continues to come back.
Potatoes
The backyard beds are filling up as well. The long bed is mostly tomatoes, with a 4×4 section of strawberries planted in the winter. One tomato plant surprised me when I was covering for our last threatened freeze. I had no idea there was a tomato already on it. A Cherokee Purple, I believe. (where do the markers go???)
Strawberries and tomatoes
Surprise tomato!
The 8 foot bed also contains a 4×4 section of strawberries. The front 4 feet houses cucumber transplants, and I recently planted watermelon and cantaloupe seeds in it as well. The strawberries struggled this winter, although I had them heavily mulched and covered them when it got very cold. They have just started to flourish, which seems a bit late. I’ve harvested a few berries, the there are more on the way.
Strawberries!
The next project that needs my attention, is last year’s herb garden. Much of the herbs are still ok, having been covered in our few freezes, but some have gone to seed, some are reedy, and the soil is compacted. AND, there is a weird thorny vine that has come up in the middle of the whole bed that must be removed. I will save what I can, clean out this bed and amend the soil, then replant new herbs and the saved old ones.
Herb garden in need of work
Not really qualified as part of my garden, but equally exciting to me, are the fruit trees that line my driveway in pots. They are flowering like crazy and providing lots of needed food for the bees.
Flowering citrus
Some kind of critter always steals the few peaches my dwarf peach tree produces, and it looks like this year it might have more to choose from.
Little peaches
Now, if we could just get some of this rain the weather folks keep talking about, I’d really be a happy garden gal.
