Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

it is so nice to be able to get back outside
into the gardens.

An overzealous cold front delivered a day of rain and one chilly
night (46°) down here but, otherwise, temps have been normal.

today will be nice and then we are in for
some rainy weather and a retreat to cold too
for a few nights below freezing. the rain
is needed as i much prefer rain to using the
well water.

i hope this cold doesn't make it that far
south.


the ground has thawed out enough and is even
starting to be warm enough in spots to plant a
few of the early crops and to start cleaning up
and getting ready for the coming season.

the bees are out gathering nectar and pollen
from the crocuses. i'm always glad to see the
bees and amazed they get to work so early in
the season. the bunnies are doing a fair job
at eating some of the crocuses too. i have to
keep spreading the flowers around to make sure
there are plenty for everyone to enjoy. the
chipmunks will be along later in the season to
take their fill too.

Honeybees have discovered the second-year onions, to my chagrin,
but in no great number. I won't begin discouraging them unless they
find the brassica (many, but not all, are in full flower and/or setting
seeds) which, along with the onions, are pretty much all the solitary
bees and the wasps have available in the garden this time of year.
Mostly, though, I don't want to get up and out that early ;-)

i only get early gardening started when it
gets to be around tomato worm season. i'm
more of a night owl. getting up too early
is rarely easy. some times it is much easier
for me to just stay up all night.

are you letting those second year onions
make seeds for you to replant or just enjoying
the flowers?

i still have onions growing from seeds i
planted three years ago that are hiding under
some birdsfoot trefoil. i check them once in
a while to see if they are big enough to
harvest. last year there were a few onions
about 8cm across from that patch. considering
i completely ignore them the rest of the time
that is prime low impact gardening.


Bunnies,
squirrels and deer never are much of a problem in these parts. I
suspect the population people, cats and dogs might have a little to do
with that. Have no chipmunks and the armadilloes, which dig and
arbitrarily walk into stationary objects, cannot get into the raised
beds or containters.

you can tell how bad the winter is here by
looking at the cedar trees and bushes. in
one place the bush has been completely stripped
of bark about 50cm above the ground for another
40cm. the snow was piled deep enough they didn't
even get to the lower parts of the bush to munch
on. they also chomped the bark off much of the
remaining sumac that i've been trying to get rid
of. i can thank them for that, but it will be
back, it's a pretty stubborn plant to get rid of.
sends roots out quite a ways and will send up
shoots from those.

how is your garlic holding up? it looks
like what you sent to me survived the winter.


in the north central garden the ground was
dry enough to plant some rutabagas, onion seeds
and turnips, and while i was there i also put
some peas in a few spots. perhaps the peas will
be able to sprout before we get too cold weather
again. the forecast is looking ok for some nice
warm days here or there, but the night time temps
will be below freezing once in a while. we'll
see what happens...

Although, many of the cool-season veggies are still doing well, the
last of the fall tunips, well past their prime, came out of the garden a
few days ago and the English peas that I planted in November were
removed this morning in order to make way either for okra or peppers;
not sure which, yet. Have more peas coming on but can't say that I'm
particularly optimistic about their wellbeing: Frequently, by the end
of May, if the heat doesn't shut them down, some kind of mildew does.
Have been introduced to a OP garden pea purported to be more heat
tolerant and better suited to the South than others. My intent is to
test it next season.

please remember to write up how they do as if
they can survive even a bit longer in your heat
down there they might do well through our whole
summer.


Cowpeas, green beans, okra and eggplant are all up
and seem to be doing well despite the chilly weather of a few days ago.
Removed collards from two containers and transplanted a "voluteer"
tomato into one of them from a spot that was too close to the composting
area. May be the only tomato I'll fool with this spring; dunno, yet.
Depends on how space works out, I guess. "Discovered" an abandoned
bathtub which I shall move into the garden this weekend and prepare to
receive its blessings. Maybe tomatoes will go into it.

have you ever tried rutabaga aka swedes?


songbird