Ooh, it has been a while, hasn't it? I have been gardening, but the weather has been cool, so there wasn't much growth to report. The last week was sunny, and everything seemed to jump-start, so here is the status thus far....
First, for those of you reading my ranch blog, you can see that I have been through a series of animal veterinary crises; subsequently, all the money that I have been saving toward my new big garden area has gone into Girl the Donkey's hoof and Riley the Dog's rattlesnake bite treatment. Sigh. Maybe next year. I am thinking about starting with chain link sections, rather than putting in a permanent fence, so I can do a test-run without investing a lot of money into it. If it doesn't work out, I can always use chain link elsewhere on the property.
The smaller garden is going gangbusters, however, now that the grey pine is cut down and the garden is getting full sun! I also spent some time last weekend putting in a drip-line, so I don't have to go out there and move an overhead sprinkler around constantly. The drip-line and a mechanical timer have lessened my work load considerably!!
I have decided that I started my indoor seeds too early. Even though the same plants were available as plants from the nursery, seedlings and plants alike just sat there and did nothing for months, while the weather stayed cool. So I really didn't get any advantage from starting the plants as early as I did. I ALWAYS start them too soon, because I am so anxious for the gardening season to begin! :)
Here is the current line-up:
I *think* this is horseradish. Long story, but I planted one a long, long time ago, in a pot, and this is what keeps coming up every year. I transplanted this from one of the roots, just to keep it going. :)
Cantaloupe. One of those plants that just sat there for about a month, it is FINALLY starting to show signs of life!
Bell pepper plant.
Onion chives.
Hollyhock. This is a volunteer from last year's plants, so it will be fun to see what kind of flowers it produces.
The ubiquitous zucchini plant. No garden is whole without one. :)
Lemon cucumber. Another one of those plants that has been just sitting there.
Red chili pepper plant.
Flat-leaf parsley. Happily, this little guy is going crazy. :)
Garlic and scallions
Last year's rhubarb. The ground squirrels love this thing, for some reason, and last year, they ate ALL the leaves off of it. It somehow survives, and I am hoping to be able to harvest some stalks this year.
Rutger's tomato plant.
Cherokee Purple tomato plant. It isn't doing as well as the other plant, and I even had to take a dead branch off of it, but it looks like it is bouncing back.
The russet potatoes I planted are just starting to sprout! :)
The asparagus plants are doing very well. I am giving this this year to really get rooted in well, and next year, I intend to have fresh asparagus on the table!
Just outside the garden, I have my grapevines trellised and on a drip, and they are doing well. Now if I can just beat the birds and squirrels to the grapes!
On the deck, the flat-leaf parsley I planted from seed is just now starting to show signs of life.
The blackberries on the deck are doing well. Hopefully, by June or July, I'll have enough to snack on. :)
The blood orange seeds I planted are all doing well. I just finished laying new irrigation lines on the slope between me and my idiot neighbor, so I will be planting these out in fall.
And my little discount roses from K-Mart made it!!! I have all three planted in a long planter, and they are green and happy and growing new leaves.
And now for something completely different (for all you Monty Python fans out there). This little tomato plant is growing at the corner of my compost bin. Considering that I had about five varieties planted last year, it could be just about anything. I am letting it grow, just to see what I get. :)
Hard to see it in this picture, but his is third generation dill growing up by the fish pond. I planted some "butterfly and beneficial insect" forage mix a few years back and one of the plants was dill. It keeps reseeding.
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| Water lilies (?) in full bloom in pond |
