Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Garden Planting Waylaid on Account of Mud

We had many hours of steady rain yesterday which was good for the seeds already planted in the garden, the new strawberry plants, the raspberries and blueberries.  (I think the lawn may have grown 6" also.)

I thought perhaps today would be dry enough that I could get back out into the garden by this afternoon, but 'twas not to be.  A gray, damp day made that impossible.  Tomorrow?  Hope so.

This past Friday, Saturday and Sunday much was accomplished outside which was a good thing.

All the strawberry plants are in the ground . . . including the ones we ended up giving our good neighbor because they didn't fit in the space allotted for them at our place.  Funny, everything looked so good when I plotted it out on the graph paper.  (I have that problem a lot it seems.)

Got notification today that our asparagus roots were shipped so I'm assuming we'll be putting those in later this week.

Sunday night before the rains started, I harvested the first of our rhubarb.  As Papa Pea and I are still trying to stay away from sweets (sob), I cut it up and made it into two pie fillings which I stashed in the freezer.  Way down in the freezer.  With lots of other stuff on top of them.  Hard to get at, ya know.

The blueberry bushes are looking good after I went a little crazy (I feared) pruning them a few weeks ago.  There were a few weeds starting to take hold in the patch and now with the rain I see they've called in all their relatives to come join them.  I need to get them under control pronto.

Our three haskap (honey berry) bushes that we planted three years ago this spring finally have decided to put forth blossoms this year.  Glory be, we may actually get to taste a haskap berry.

I really don't have a lot planted in the garden yet.  It's not that I haven't been putting in the hours out there.  It just all takes so darn long, don't cha know.  Got the shell peas in along with the snap peas.  Two-thirds of the onions are planted and Brussels sprout transplants are in the ground.  Have a bed of Swiss chard (we do love that stuff) and a bed of salad fixings including spinach, kale and radishes.

Last year I planted two 4 x 8' beds of garlic and it was way too much.  So last fall I filled just one bed with garlic, half hardneck and half softneck.  Gave the whole bed a deep, deep covering of straw for the winter and uncovered it earlier this spring.  I've had 100% germination on the hardneck variety but only 13-14 sprouts are up on the softneck side.  What the heck happened there?  I'm stumped.

There's a forty percent chance of rain for us tomorrow, but I sure am hoping the other sixty percent (chance of no rain) will enable me to get out and get some more planting done.  Maybe we can even work a bit on the lawn that is so high even our granddog, Tucker the corgi, is hesitant to venture out into it.

15 comments:

Sue said...

Oh, I sure hope you LIKE the honeyberry.....that's a long wait to try it.
We've had three days of rain as well. I'm in no hurry to plant though , as it looks like this coming weekend will probably frost here.
I got an email this morning that my 14 new blueberry bushes are on their way---yep--I think it's gardening time!
Enjoy the week.

Mama Pea said...

Sue - The honey berries are supposed to be much like blueberries, but a much larger berry and they ripen earlier in the season . . . supposedly in June . . . which will probably mean July/August here!

Frost coming on your weekend? Yikes, enough of the cold weather already!

Where did you get your new blueberry bushes? Our neighbors just got some from Indiana Berry & Plant Co. and they were awesome! That's the outfit where we've always gotten our strawberry plants.

DFW said...

Mama Pea, It sounds like you have been very busy. Can't wait to hear how the haskap berry tastes. I have never hear of them before. My cats always dig up my garlic. I have tried putting netting over it but they just seem intent on getting to it.

Sandy Livesay said...

Mama Pea,

All those strawberries in the ground now, they'll love the rain you've been getting. Asparagus!!! Love me some asparagus, I have some of that stuff growing this year like crazy. This is the year we can truly harvest the asparagus. It's been setting for 2 years now.

Soft neck garlic need more heat? Give them another month or two??

Sue said...

I've always gotten mine from Nourse Farms. They are incredibly large and healthy when they arrive. I get my strawberries and raspberries there as well. I've only had a problem once and they replaced them PRONTO--no questions asked. EXCELLENT customer service and incredible plants. Rare to find nowadays.
I'm coming up for a sample of those Honeyberries when they ripen. I've got to try some!!! I've never seen them anywhere around here for sale, or heard of anyone growing them.

Mama Pea said...

Ha! I ordered my asparagus roots from Nourse Farms after having it recommended by someone. And you are so right, they are wonderful when it comes to customer service. I botched something on my order back in March, communicated with them a couple of weeks back when I realized what I had done and they said "no problem, we'll take care of that!" They even gave me a $$ refund since what I had meant to order was cheaper than what I originally paid for. Now with your assurance that their products are A-1, I'm happier than ever I found out about them.

Keep your fingers crossed we actually have some honey berries to sample this year!

Mama Pea said...

DFW - That's crazy that your cats go after your garlic. They must have heard how good it is for staying healthy! (That or they have a fear of vampires!)

Mama Pea said...

Sandy - That's the hard part of planting asparagus. You have to wait a couple of years to get much from it! But then it's supposed to be good for like 30 years, so I guess it's well worth it!

The dozen or so cloves of the softneck garlic that did germinate are about 9" tall so I really don't think any more is going to show. Hubby wanted me to plant more cloves in the bare spots right now just to see if they will amount to anything come this fall.

Mark said...

Sounds like your homestead and ours are like two peas in a pod! Putting in the time and making progress, but it just takes time. It does sound like you're getting some good stuff in though. Makes me hungry just hear your list of crops going in. (Wonder what De has in the kitchen for a snack....)

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mama Pea said...

Mark - When I came in from the garden late yesterday, my husband remarked that I really got a lot done out there. Why is it then that when I stand and look at the garden, I can't really see any progress?! Must be something to do with all those little seeds I spent time hiding under dirt. But, we mustl pursue! (And exercise much patience waiting for all the lovely fresh food to make it to our tables.) :o]

Susan said...

It's so hard not to just run out there and plant everything all at once. Our weather has been so screwy this year (well, every year) and I am hoping and crossing everything that the frost danger is finally passed. I have not gotten my onions in, the latest ever. They are on my list for this weekend. P.S. Would you be so kind as to send down some of your rain? Pretty please??

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

That rain will surely help things along! Curious, when you made your raised beds, did you lay anything in the bottom of them? (landscape fabric, newspaper...?) Do you have problems with weeds / grass coming up in them? -Jenn

Mama Pea said...

Jenn - No, we didn't put anything in the bottom of our raised beds when we first constructed them almost 20 years ago now. I've pretty much got the weeds under control because whenever one pops up, I dig it out with the roots. Because our pathways between the beds are grass (something we'd really like to change!), I do have trouble with our dreaded quack grass (from the pathways) sneaking up under the frames and popping up within the beds. If we got rid of the grass pathways that situation would be solved.

Mama Pea said...

Susan - Getting more rain today . . . sigh. I'll see what I can do about sending it eastward.

This has been one of our coldest springs in a coon's age. Frost forecast for tomorrow night. (Guess I won't give up my flannel jammies yet. Nor the cold frames over cukes and peppers and tomatoes and zucchini in the garden!)