Garlic!

Yes, it was time. And this, at least, is something the birds couldn't get.

That's 35 heads of garlic.

 And these were uniformly large. I've never had such a good crop.

Birds and raspberries

I haven't been getting many raspberries for a few days, and I began to think I was facing the birds once again. But today was much better, so I don't think the birds are taking that many. The blackberries seem to be well protected by the netting. And I put netting over some of the grapes (I have about 4 small bunches this year, not bad since I just planted the vince last year).

Three kohlrabies went for a salad for the work potluck. Others will be ready soon. As will some kale. I am now trying to figure out if I should harvest garlic today or wait until I come back from a short trip.

Kholrabis and kale

The kholrabis in training are getting to the point where I might harvest a few. Looks like more than enough this year! And the kale is starting to pick up as well. More consolation for the lost blueberries (and apparently dying asparagus, although new asparagus shoots are coming up from some of the plants. Maybe a few will survive?)

I have some nice lettuce, but no reason to pick it since we are getting so much from the CSA. I thought that with only a half share we would want some of our own. Guess not.

Blueberries for the birds

Because they aren't for us. We got a cup and a half, and some of them were still early. And then, as usual, the bird(s) found how to get in under the netting. No more blueberries. Consolation: raspberry season has started. The birds take a few of these, as well. But I don't mind because they leave plenty. See---I can share. How about the birds?

And also on the berry front, there are a significant number of blackberries (well, enough for a cup or two) that have started ripening. I covered them with netting, and that seems to be working so far.

Little figs

Only the second year, but it looks like I have a few little figs! Raspberries are starting up now, too. Blueberries are ripening as well, and I've protected some--but not all, yet--from the birds. Although I haven't had good luck with the netting.

A mystery: why didn't many of the lettuce seeds germinate, and why is the lettuce growing so slowly. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful, but very small heads so far.

And what's up with the asparagus? They sprouted, finally, from the roots I planted. But now some of the plants seem to be dying. They've had plenty of water, since we had lots of rain.

The spring in a few posts

Last year I finally planted strawberries after many suggestions from the non-weeders. This year, sure enought---lots of strawberrries. I think we would have had more, but I didn't put clean straw on in the spring (at least I'm guessing that's why so many rotted). Despite the losses, we had two cups of strawberries very day for a week and are still getting about one cut every other day. And that's only after one year!

Of course, I had to put netting over the raised bed. That was after the first 6-8 berries that ripened were hit by birds (I know because I saw them.) Fortunately, this is much easier than for blueberries.

Strawberries! Notice the netting.

I had tried seeing if my (incompletely grown) kale and kholrabi would overwinter. However, all of the plants bolted once the weather got nicer. So that experiment didn't work too well.

This year: I put in a 3'x3' raised bed for asparagus. Followed the directions---and, for the longest time, nothing. However, I just today saw the ninth and final plant starting to grow, so it looks like we will have asparagus in the future. Although we may have to wait another year or two.

A New Season (But Blogged Late)

Actually, I began gardening back in January when I tried planting some onion seeds. And I resolved to post to the blog...and didn't.

The onion seeds did not work nearly was well as I hoped. I got plants in only about 1/3 of the pots, and since I put several seeds in each pot, the germination rate was a lot lower than that. I'll have to reconsider this for next year.

The result: I have about 20 onions from seed and the rest---30-40---from sets, like I've done before.

On the other hand, the garlic looks great. I've planted both garlic and onions much closer than before, and this seem to be just fine (we'll see come June and July, of course).

And the kholrabi and kale I left to overwinter? They bolted before producing anything worthwhile. That's another failed experiment.

On the positive side, I put in three currant bushes and they seem to have been established. And the fig and grape survived the winter, too.

I think those are going to be bunches of grapes!