May 8: Rhubarb for SAGE luncheon

I cut about half the  rhubarb this afternoon, washed it and cut it into about 1 inch pieces, laid it out on trays in the freezer for a couple of hours, and then put it into baggies, back in the freezer.  The good news:  I found a couple quarts of strawberries frozen since last June................strawberry rhubarb dessert looking good for the SAGE luncheon on May24!

May 6: Garlic, Onions, and Potatoes

The garlic, planted last October,  is looking great!

The onions Bill Hopkins planted are looking great after just 2 weeks!    Although one shouldn't compare this to the garlic photo...they are vastly different scales.  The garlic is about a foot tall.  The onions, 2-3 inches.

The potato crop is coming very slowly.   The best growth is on the west end where we planted the pieces of potatos with eyes, left from last year's crop.  The other 3/4 of the potato bed has just a few little sprouts so fr, from the "hockey puck" type things sent by Burgess.   Might need to replant some potatoes!

May 3: Strawberries flowering!

The strawberries are flowering....berries can't be too far beyond, although I doubt they will ripen by the SAGE luncheon on May 24.  But we should have a bumper crop in June.

The peas are beginning to "grab" the fabric netting we put up for them...we're looking forward to edible pods in June!  And the lettuce we will be eating soon.  Have already been nibbling!

The herb garden's perennials are very "happy!"  Tarragon in the foreground with  rhubarb on the right. In the middle circle are sorrel on the front right, with the tall lovage on the back right,  licorice mint in the front of the circle, and chives on the left of the circle.   Oregano far left.  Rosemary fr right.  Lavender and thyme in the back center hidden by the chives.  Annual herbs to be added when the weather warms in a week.

April 27: transplanted seedlings

Bill and Amy and I transplanted over 200 tomatoes and about 60 basil plants into the 4" pots that Patty gave us.   We're hoping the extra space and nourishment from the mixture of manure, compost, and peat that we used will make them grow strong and healthy and impressive-looking by the time folks pick up their tomato and basil orders in two weeks. The greenhouse is really crowded now!

April 25: wow! The garden looks great!

Apple trees starting to blossom!

Garlic looks great.  To the right of the garlic is the onion bed which Bill planted last week.  And he and Scott woodchipped all the pathways!   All while I lounged on the beach in Florida!
First potatoes are up!
Peas and lettuce and spinach looking good!
Asparagus up (but bed is very weedy, again!)
Strawberries flowering, can't wait to taste those berries!
This morning Bill and I dug rocks from a flower bed at my house, and he added them to the herb circle.  The herb garden looks really great.  Yesterday, i planted lavender, oregano, rosemary, and sage.

The 12 beds (3 1/2 ' wide)  all have really well defined 2' wide woodchip rows between them now, and the big paths down the middle and onthe edges are refilled with woodchips. Gives the whole garden a really well cared for look, thanks to Bill and Scott.
Even the new maple is looking good, giving it's first bit of shade!

April 14: more infrastructure work

We cut a path between bed 1 and the mint bed so that the mint wouldn't invade the veggies.  It made the mint bed a little smaller, but that's still a lot of mint! 

Radishes doing well in the cold frame  Also some red beets, brocoli, and cabbage.
Made a new trellis for growing pea pods!  The peas and lettuce got a great start in march but haven't grown much in April because of the cold.  Planted potatoes in March too and they haven't even sprouted yet!

April 13: infrastructure

So sad that we lost the wonderful shady ash tree by the garden.  Last fall Dave and Chris planted a new red maple...someday we'll have shade again.   The garden is finally starting to warm up again...
Bill straightened all the RR ties and then drilled holes in them and we pounded in metal rods to keep ties from rolling into path again.