wait for it....

Wait for it...

wait for it....

wait for it....

BAM!

So far so good in the realm of flowers! I have never seen this many rose buds on the bush, I had completely forgotten about the white irises, and had the peony not bloomed this year it probably would have ended up in the compost bin! It's amazing what a little early season feeding will do for plants!

Evil green sausages

Okay, okay, so this round of evil green sausages are more the size of pen cap, but they are every bit as evil! This year the cabbage worms have found the cabbage plants. Now don't ask me how these buggers managed to figure out and make their way from a minimum of 4 houses away (I know at least 4 houses away because not only do I know my neighbors, but from the roof I can see into everybody's back yards, and I haven't seen anything but tomatoes, peppers and herbs), but some how they knew, and they came. So much to my dismay, when I went out to work in the garden one fine morning, I first got to spend 15 minutes picking soft green caterpillars off of the cabbage plants before they gnawed off the entire plant. I thought I got them all, but it seems I will have to get outside super early one of these morning and do another round of drowning (I picked them off the plants and threw them into a cup of water so I didn't have to worry about them coming back to the little plants).
With every new crop comes a new challenge to understand and conquer.

New pad

So I helped some friends move into their new digs a few weeks ago. GREAT PLACE! It's on the third floor, they have their own elevator, and no direct next door neighbors. It's a quiet neighborhood, awesome 360 views of the city and the park. Fully furnishd and the decor is great, very nature inspired. And let me tell you, their rent is incredible. All they have to do is keep an eye on my tomatoes and peppers for me....

They are living in the pots on the roof if you didn't figure that out ; )

First taste of spring

I know spring has officially been with us for about a month, and despite the tulips that bloomed in my garden, I can now officially say spring for me has begun. I had my first homegrown salad of the season tonight. Granted most people wouldn't call 10 baby lettuce leaves a salad, but to me it is the symbol of all the tasty things that are to come.
In addition to picking those 10 little succulent leaves, I harvested mint, oregano and parsley. The mint I plan on turning into a julep or mojito in very few minutes. The oregano I plan to dry for a friend who can't keep anything more than plastic plants green, and the parsley I unfortunately donated to the compost pile. It's not that I have anything against parsley, it's just that I seldom have use for more than a handful, and when one cuts an entire plant back by half, it is well more than a handful! I didn't just harvest these plants for the tasty tidbits, I cut them back so that as they grow, they continue to branch out, thereby creating bushy plants rather than tall spindly things, they are sturdier that way. The mums from last summer got the same treatment. I believe I read somewhere that before the 4th of July, mums should have been cut back 3 times to produce the fullest plants possible. I will try this theory and let you all know how it turns out.
In addition to pruning and weeding, I also redistributed the baby spinach and cabbage that are holding down the fort in the main beds until the summer crops go in. The spinach plants have 4 or 5 leaves each and the cabbage are close behind. From the number of plants that have made it to this stage, I guess I had better start figuring out good ways to preserve cabbage!
Some of the summer plants that I started in my greenhouse and window sills aren't doing quite as hot as the plants in the ground. I am not sure what I am doing wrong, perhaps I am transplanting too early or water too much/ too little, but my baby tomatoes are kind of sad looking. Here's hoping enough survive that I can share them, and if not, that Amy has enough extras that a few can move to my garden! The peppers on the other hand are having a field day! And with 4 kinds here's hoping that everybody likes peppers! The flowers are kind of chugging along, I can plant a second round directly in the ground to fill in any holes.
Off to admire the apple blossoms....

April in my garden

Greetings,
This spring I was out earlier then past years and I planted cabbage; early jersey, bok choi, kale, radishes; French breakfast, and snow peas. The cliff flanking my yard is very beautiful its a wash of pastel flowers that I know nothing about. If you can't eat it, I don't plant it. The landlord put in perennials a while back so these are all his fault.

the first round in the ground

The rain has finally given way to warm days and nights. Apparently we have been privy to living through the wettest March in history 3.5" in 2 days alone. Several times we had a cold snap that caused temperatures to dip down to 29 degrees and I had to find newspaper and row covers to protect the baby lettuce and chard from potential frost. It seems to have worked, the baby plants that didn't get eaten by birds or drowned, look quite healthy ; ) and now that drier days are here, the plants are flourishing.

Lettuce, chard, spinach, peas and cabbage are all great first crops of spring. These plants enjoy cool weather and sun that doesn't beat straight down for hours on end each day. They are also great for people like me who want to cram every bit of productivity into their space. Since all of those crops mature quickly and don't mind cool weather they can be using the space before flowers and veggies can go in, and I will harvest them and thin them as I begin to put the warm weather loving plants in and keep them in around the new baby plants to keep the beds from seeming empty until the plants fill out. Near the end of the season when the warm weather plants are starting to die off, I can plant seeds between the warm weather plants and the process work in reverse.
Besides the obvious benefit of being edible (and quite tasty at that!) I believe greens were created for people like me who can't wait to get out and play in dirt as soon as it doesn't have frost in it. It is also a very simple crop to grow. Lettuce and chard were the first things my mom gave me to grow from seeds. You may not get a great crop from poor soil, but so long as you don't drown them or drought them, you will get an edible result. Over the past 5 years or so, my spring crops have become more and more productive. Last year I think we had salad at least 3 nights a week for dinner without me having to buy lettuce from the middle of April until June! Since one of my beds only gets partial sun, I continued to get a lighter harvest of lettuce and chard through the rest of the summer, and if I had thrown some more seeds in and concocted a row cover/ cold frame, we probably would have been eating it until December like my parents were.

It gave me great pleasure when two of the new gardeners who joined Amy and I for our armchair gardening this year asked me about planting lettuce. I had given Risa some seeds when we had garden night, and when I set my seedlings out, I sent her an email with detailed instructions on how to get her own started. She doesn't have a set up to start them inside which gave me maybe a 2 week head start but otherwise doesn't do much. Maybe when I get sophisticated and get hoops to make mini greenhouses I can get a jump start right in the beds rather than having to transplant the fragile little seedlings.... anyway.... The same day I sent that message out, Lis sent me a message, asking how hard it was to grow lettuce. I copied and pasted my instructions and told her to go to the garden center and pick out a pack or two of seeds that looked tasty. What a great and rewarding way to start gardening!

Spring.

Today is the first full day of spring! and boy did I take advantage of it. Despite the late season cold that has gotten a grip on me (or maybe because of it) I decided I needed to spend an entire day in the sunshine. I am happy to report that I did just that, and have the dirt under my nails to prove it!
I didn't get a lot done, but somehow one never feels they accomplished everything they wanted to. What I did get done though is:
I cleaned out my compost bin. What a fun job that is! Especially since mine is in a slightly awkward spot at the back of the alley, with the woodpile in front of it. (for those of you new to my ramblings, despite the small size of our yard, we manage to cram a lot in, and do a lot of things that most people would never consider in a backyard that is 15' X 25'! stay tuned for updates on everything I manage to pack in!) Down on my hands and knees with a garden trowel in hand, I scooped out a large pile of gardener's black gold. Mine may not be as pretty as the professional grade, but it sure looks better than the dirt that populates my garden beds! I couldn't believe the amount that I pulled out, the worms and bacteria sure have been working hard over the winter!
After I got the bins of freshly collected compost out of the way, I built a shelf for the alley. We have two nice big windows in our kitchen, they look at a boring picket fence and our neighbors' windows and stuccoed wall, all of 6' away. I am determined to change that. I have purchased several types of seeds that work in shady locations and am sure I will end up with a spare begonia or two after the library plant sale. Hopefully between the bins on a shelf that puts flowers at window sill height, hanging baskets, short plants, tall plants, and everything in between, someone glancing from my window would never guess that it is an alley. And if I can also get some cut flowers to bring inside the house, all the better!
The next task to accomplish was finding homes for all of the lettuce and swiss chard seedlings. I started them several weeks back, and now that they have true leaves and have hung out in the open window sills for a few days to acclimate themselves to the great out doors, they were ready for permanent homes. I filled several window boxes with soil, compost, vermiculite, coir (think peat moss but made from coconut husks) and fertilizer; these are now lined up along the ledge that the wooden fence sits on. 6" x 10' of found space! The spot gets a moderate amount of sunshine, so hopefully it will be enough for good growth without letting the lettuce scorch in the hot sun. The plants that did not fit in those 4 bins are in my back flower bed. I left space behind them to plant some sugar peas, no sense in wasting that perfectly good vertical fence space! With a little twine it becomes an ideal trellis. For half of the lettuce and half of the chard I tried something new. After preparing the soil with a few scoops of compost and fertilizer, I rolled out some paper mulch. It kind of looks like glorified craft paper, only darker in color. The picture on the tube show plants that are twice as large with it than with out, we'll have to wait and see.
I also did a lot of figuring and straightening. I emptied some pots that were getting too beat up and broken, uncovered the last of the pots that I had covered to protect from winter ice, I said hello to the rosebush and the butterfly bush, and sorted out what needs to be planted and fed next.
Over all a very productive day. The sunshine even helped make me feel better despite my cold. Of course now my body aches from scraping compost out of the bin and working with a shovel all day, but that just means that summer is on its way. = )