Springing up

Lots has been going on, and I've neglected to write. Let's see:

1. I got the topsoil in the planter that is going to be an herb garden and also in the new 4x8 raised bed in the back. Next step: plants for both. It'll be strawberries in the back, but I'm still open to suggestions in the front. I know I want Rosemary, and space for annual herbs (parsley and dill are both popular here). I'm going to plant mint in a separate pot I'll keep next to the planter. As for others, I'm not sure. We'll see what other interest plants I can find in the farmers' market.

2. Planted tomatoes. I waited this year until late March, figuring that was pretty late to start them. Little did I know...they've been big enough to plant for a couple of weeks already! I started peppers, too. The older seeds took longer to germinate, and didn't do so as evenly, but they did start. Looks like three varieties of mildly hot peppers this year. Also cucumbers, which are growing, and squash. But only one of the 9 squash seeds I planted has germinated so far. Did I mention that the squash is Israeli?

3. There are a few little Kholrabi plants and Kale plants. Very bad germination. I know that's partially because I planted them too early, but still...I always have this problem. One piece of good news is that nothing has eaten the plants yet. Last year the d-n rabbits had already done in my Kale.

4. The onions are all up I realize that I could have planted more (that is, I had room for more). As it is, I should have 40-50 of them this summer, which is twice what I've had before.

This weekend: buying plants and starting to harden off the tomatoes.

Onions and kale and stuff

I may have jumped the gun this year by putting in the onions early in March. But hey, Whites had the sets, so I figured it must be OK. Not much action until now, when I see a few plants starting to poke up, so maybe there's not much point in putting them in early.

About a week later---maybe second week in March---I put in a couple of short rows of Kale and Kholrabi. Same thing as with the onions---no action until today, when I saw a few seedlings coming up in one of the rows. Again, maybe too early?

Back to the Garden

It's that time of year. Well, actually I already did some planning and ordered seeds. But the real work began this weekend:

1. I put in about 50 onion sets. Is is a little early? White's was carrying them on Friday and I figured it must be time.

2. I cleared the large branch that fell from the maple on one of those windy days in January.

3. I finally put in the rabbit fence on the last part of the south wall that didn't have it. Rabbits seem to have been getting in that way, so I am hopeful. But they do seem to be resourceful.

Peas!

I picked a bowl of peas last night. Small, but still, enough to make me feel like I succeeded with them.

And some garlic is starting to come up. It's a relief since, once again, it looked like something had been digging up the bulbs. But obviously nothing bothered them.

Peas and no Kale

Peas! Despite the recent heat, I discovered pea pods. There will be some ready to pick in a few days. The only problem is that there probably won't be enough for a meal at any one time. Next year I guess I'll have to plant more (and also support them better---plastic posts just don't do the job).

The kale, however, are still being eaten. Presumably by rabbits, or by whatever seems to be making holes. I fill them in, but can't quite figure out where they are coming in from. Unless they got under the dug-in hardware cloth. Grr...

Still producing and raspberries, too

Well, it has gotten cooler, but the tomato production was slowing even before it cooled off. And it's still in the 80s during the day, anyway. But something is eating the tomatoes once they get reasonably ripe (not rabbits, as the high ones are being eaten as well). I'm now picking them as soon as they show a little bit of red, and that seems to provide enough that we still get them for the garden, plus we had extras with the CSA.

We are also still getting a few small bell peppers, and a fair number of hot peppers. Whatever is eating the tomatoes is eating the hot peppers as well, by the way.

Also signs of rabbits or something digging into the garden. They've eaten the tiny kale and kholrabi plants that I planted a month ago and had started to (slowly) grow. I've put in more, and hope that the rabbits (or whatever) either get blocked out or slow down as it gets cooler.

One good thing--the raspberries have hit another peak production. Looks like enough for raspberries very morning with my cereal, with any luck until we get frost. Mmm...

Animal Update---now they are attacking the fertilizer

So I went out last night to check on the garden. There is a small plastic cabinet on the deck that I use to keep tools, seeds, and bags of fertilizer and soil amendments in. The door was open, which is not unusual---I don't always close it completely. But the weird part was that some animal had gotten into the cabinet and dragged out a bag of fertilizer. Tore it open, too, and spilled most of the contents onto the deck.

What could possibly attract an animal to fertilizer (organic, yet)? And why don't I get a shotgun?