March17: soaked peas on wet paper towels in plastic boxes overnight:
March 18: Put up 7 teepees of 3 willow sticks, each around a tomato cage.
Planted about 20 peas around each.
First two teepees (closest to barn): Burpee 2012 Organic Sugar Pod Peads (snow pea variety)
Middle three teepees: Burpee 2011 Sugar Snap Peas (these are the fat ones)
Last two teepees (closest to highway): Burpee 2011 Snowbird Peas (snow pea variety)
March 21: Dug and raked new strawberry bed, and added a little manure.
Weeded half of garlic patch.
March 22: Saw first peas poking up through soil (80 degree temps all week)
One asparagus stalk over 1 foot tall, several others 6 “
Covered strawberry bed with landscape fabric (2 wide outside strips of 4’ fabric, and 18 “ down the middle of black plastic for a path. Held in place with tent stakes. Cut 3-4” crosses to make square holes for planting.
Planted 10 strawberry plants from Pat Earnest, supposedly ever-bearing, in northeast quadrant.
Plant 10 strawberry plants from asparagus patch, June bearing, in southeast quadrant.
Planted 20 strawberry plants from old strawberry bed, June bearing, in two west quadrants.
Added a little miracle grow potting soil to each and 1-2 cups water.
Then it rained! Hard for perhaps 10 minutes.
Still need to add woodchips and get fabric tucked down around edges.
Chives over a foot tall. Salad burnet great. Sorrel coming fast. Some lovage. Some lavender. Lots of lemon thyme. Some common thyme. TONS of lemon balm everywhere. Beautiful tarragon.
Also Kale volunteered in pathway and behind manure pile….and some may be broccoli raab.
Garlic about 6”, but very dry looking. 5 Blueberries look good. And 4 raspberries.
Fri and Sat, march 23-24: Washed flats, watered with boiling water,
Planted seeds in 9 flats:
2 flats of lavender
2 flats of marigolds
2 flats of impatiens
1 flat of tomatoes
Plus broccoli (4), peppers(10), lots of basil, oregano, rosemary, cukes, watermelon(2), cantalope(2), celery(3)l calendula, peppermint, chocolate mint(2), fennel, snapdragons, peanuts, onions, green and rainbow chard, grapes from JonBoy.
((numbers mean how many of the little 2" x 5" rectangular packs were planted
((numbers mean how many of the little 2" x 5" rectangular packs were planted
Put trays in plastic bins, Covered trays with bin lids and plastic.
Sat, March 24: Picked asparagus, sorrel, broccoli raab florets and leaves (which I had been thinking was kale), chives, and fiddleheads from front yard….great supper!
Sunday, March 25: Finished weeding garlic and tarragon and the rest of the bed next to the garlic, to get ready for onion sets next week. Also weeded several pathways and herb bed of dandelions, as they are already flowering! Then tried to weed some grass out of asparagus bed---amazingly tough stuff—ended up uprooting a huge woody asparagus root…what a tough plant that is. Not sure what to do about weeds in asparagus patch..maybe just pull easy ones, break off tough ones, and let the asparagus and weeds fight it out. Better than hurting any more asparagus…but what to do in future???
Mon, March 26 (cold and windy): Observed: Landscape fabric blown off half of strawberry bed!
Tues, March 27: planted lettuce, spinach, and mesclun in rows on each side of pea trellis.
Put landscape fabric back in place in strawberry bed, and added 20-25 buckets of woodchips to entire strawberry bed—still that only covers it 1-3 inches. Needs more!
Watered everything. Only lost one strawberry plant (replaced it) but several others look weak and dry. Most look great!
Read tonight, to use vinegar to kill grass around garden..Interesting idea!
Checked seed flats---nothing yet! Might need to add more water.
March 28: Weeded half of asparagus bed, mostly by cutting or breaking off dandelions, bindweed, and grass…could only pull up little plants….I don’t like weeding this way, seems futile, but after uprooting an asparagus root yesterday, I think it’s the best I can do. Also picked asparagus..yummy for supper sautéed with onions and garlic. And picked sorrel and some broccoli raab florets for a salad on Friday. First seeds (marigolds) sprouted in the flats I planted 3/24.
March 30: Tomato seeds sprouted, and some others…watered all, and moved into LC!L—with all sprouted ones in lighted windows.
March 31: Weeded the rest of the asparagus bed…what a job! Also weeded and removed black plastic and landscape fabric under that from areas around asparagus bed. That black plastic has been down for 4-5 years and still has live roots under it(weak and pale, but living)—grass and the evil bindweed.. Then cut some asparagus to cook. Also tried running push mower around edges of garden to cut down weeds but they were too tough….hopefully Jim will have someone weedwhack them tomorrow.
Finally caught up here on new blog...Now hope to keep a current account through the year of what goes on in and around the farm garden.
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