May 20: Planting day!

May 20:  planted squash seeds  in bed 1. 

First 3 hills of cucumber seeds in bed 3.  

Tomato plants that we raised in the greenhouse in beds 5 and 6 plus peppers, eggplants, basil, and parsley we raised in the greenhouse.  

Added a few more potato sprouts to bed 7 where there were blank spots.  

Planted first row of green beans and yellow beans in bed 9. 

Also transplanted basil and parsley and pineapple sage into the herb bed. Still looking for stevia and lemon verbena.   And the lovage needs to be cut down!   

May 15 and 19: Killdeer Eggs!

When you first look at this photo, you might not see the eggs.  But if you look at the next photo and then back at the first one, I think you'll see that there is a nest (actually just a scooped out shallow depression) in the woodchips with 3 speckled eggs.  They belong to mom and dad killdeer, who fly about noisily when you get within 30 feet or so of their nest.

When you get really close, they lay on the ground ten or twenty feet from their nest and  act injured....the old "broken wing, look at me trick," to distract you from the nest, as int he photo below.  I think if they'd just be quiet to begin with their nest would stay more hidden since it's so well camouflaged.

The first photos were taken on Sunday.  When I came back to look on Thursday, there were 4 eggs and the parents seemed even more protective--noisier, more "broken wings."

I just read that incubation is 24-26 days after the last egg is laid.   So that means June 9 at the earliest.  the chicks leave the next soon after hatching to begin feeding on their own.  I was glad to read that, because I was wondering how chicks in such an open nest could possibly survive.  

May 11: Tomato and Basil Sale

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!