Thursday, May 24, 2018

Gettin' The Garden In

It's not all done yet, but I'm gaining on it.  Makes me feel much better to go from "I'll never get it done!" to "I'm gaining on it."

I took some random pictures late yesterday thinking I'd get a post up last night, but it didn't happen.  Now it's 3 p.m. the next day and I'm in for a short break before going back out to get a little more done.


I'm trying a new trellising method for the snap peas this year.  In the past, they've grown so tall that they over-shoot the top of their trellis and end up flopping over making it very hard to find and pick the pods.  Don't know if you can see it clearly in the above picture, but Papa Pea helped me bend a 16' cattle panel over the eight foot length of one of our raised beds.  I planted a four foot row alongside each trellis end and am hoping the pea plants will climb up and over the hoop.  Stay tuned to see if this is a hit . . . or a miss.


Yesterday I set out a long row of cosmos plants I started inside.  This is along one end of the field garden and, with luck, they should put on quite a show of colorful blossoms.  Our weather is still a bit cool for them so I put a not-so-classy distilled water jug "cloche" over each one until our weather warms up a bit more. 


Lo and behold, two days ago I discovered some blossoms on my strawberry plants.  This means we should have ripe berries about two weeks early this year.  And this despite our unusually cooler weather.  Go figure!

If you look closely, you will see a chicken in each of the above two pictures.  She's a renegade hen that has been managing to sneak out of the poultry pasture with regularity lately.  One day Papa Pea finally saw her squeeze through a fence post and gate.  He promptly remedied that situation, and she didn't get out for a few days.  Yesterday, there she was, scratching away in the strawberries where she shouldn't be.  Now the search is on once again to find out how she's getting out.


One variety of my garlic (Siberian) is doing well.  The other (Blanak) is not.  Very poor germination on it.  I think I'm going to write to the company I got it from because when it arrive it looked a smidge bit "shriveled" and not in the best of shape.  Dang.


The broccoli I started inside and then set out isn't looking as robust as I'd like.  Still hoping it will shape up.  It was in a cold frame until today.  Now it's out in the elements and on its own.


The cauliflower also had its cold frame taken away today.  It looks better than the broccoli.


The chives are growing like weeds and even have some blossom buds on them.  I've been trying to cut and process for the freezer a good sized cutting of them each night at the kitchen table while watching episodes of "The Golden Girls" I recorded from the Hallmark Channel.  (Yes, my life is exciting, isn't it?)


Here's a shot looking down a row of blueberry bushes with the haskap bushes in front.  I finished weeding the area today and have all but four of the blueberry bushes pruned.

When we first put in the haskaps three years ago, we read they would bear mature fruit before the blueberries.  But they've ripened the same time as our blueberries . . . at least up until now.  


Perhaps the haskap bushes just had to reach a certain age because this year they are currently LOADED with blossoms and the blueberry bushes barely have buds forming.  Looks to be a bumper crop of the haskaps this year.  Good thing we've discovered they make great alcoholic beverages, huh?  Hey, maybe this year the fruit will start tasting sweet right off the bushes.  (Nah, no chance.)

We're still in a drought period.  Have had only 1/2" of rain since our last snowfall.  I'm having to water almost daily.  Today the forecast was for a 70% chance of rain mid-afternoon, but although it's been gray all day, no moisture has materialized.  We're keeping our fingers crossed for a good soaking . . . soon.  If you're in an area that has any extra rain, please send it our way!

6 comments:

Michelle said...

No, we're COMPETING for your rain here, where it's been an extraordinarily dry spring!

wisps of words said...

Per usual, I'm exhausted, reading your blog!!!!!!!! Gracious!!! But you do a lot, a lot, a lot, everyday. You must be able to eat everything you want, with all the labor you do, daily!!

Re: your comment about my not saving my photos... I replied to your comment, on my blog, as I never do. Thought it might generate some comments... what others do, about their photos. :-)

Anyway, I will copy it here... below...
............................

MAMA PEA: Nope I don't keep photos. Rarely I keep some special ones, but on a private blog.

Why keep photos...?

If you blogged them, they are in one's blog.

If you didn't blog them, you probably didn't think they were too great. So, why keep them?

:-)

Mama Pea said...

Michelle - Wow, that's extremely unusual for you, isn't it? Still, I'm thankful you've had some gorgeous blooms to share with the rest of us. :o)

wisps of words - Yes, I saw your comment on your blog, but haven't had a chance to reply over there . . . so will do so here.

Yes, my photos are in my blog posts but if I'm looking for a specific one, it's hard to remember when and where I blogged about it. Now I can look up (for instance) Apple Blossoms or California Visitors as a title in my picture folder and find the photo I want almost instantly. Make any sense? I don't keep photos that fall into the not-too-great category, but do full well realize I should go through my picture files and delete many of them that I now think are no longer worth keeping. Isn't it interesting to hear how differently we all do things? I sure think so!

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

I hope your pea trellis works out! That will look very nice! I have blossoms on my strawberry plants as well. I am always envious of your blueberry bushes. I have never had any luck with them. -Jenn

Mama Pea said...

Jenn - We had a bumper blueberry crop last year. So much so that I still have a couple of gallons of them in the freezer. Hoping to ask daughter if she might be able to find the time this summer to make some wine with them! I'm surprised you can't grow them as your climate should be about the same as ours. We did have to amend the soil so it was acidic enough to make the bushes happy. Did you try that?

Rain said...

I love your cloches Mama Pea! :) That's my style of gardening, use what you have :) I hope your pea trellis works out, it looks like a great idea.

Your strawberry plants look so healthy. I just transplanted mine this morning into large pots and I'd say 5 of the 12 roots I ordered look healthy with green leaves already. The other 7 look dead as doornails, but I won't give up.

The garlic looks great! Mine is looking the same and Alex and I are SO tempted to pluck it up and eat the ramps lol...but we want to see it through to see how big the bulbs get! I think with my potatoes, onions and garlic, I'll be asking you for storage hints in the fall, at least I hope so! :) Sorry about the Blanak garlic...I'd write to the company too.

The broccoli and cauliflower look in good shape! More crops for our future home. :) Okay...what am I doing WRONG with my chives??? I plant them from seed in April in the window garden (with that same "magic" seedling soil mix that makes everything else thrive)...and I'm LUCKY to get one itsy bitsy chive growing. I wonder if they just don't really like containers? Or maybe it's the seeds themselves. I ended up going to the local nursery and buying some small chive plants because we eat so many of them, I want a good supply. I laughed so hard at your Golden Girls reference, that was one of my favourite shows!!! :)

I can only hope your haskap berries are sweet as sugar for you this year, but yes, booze them up if needed :)

You have such a lovely garden Mama Pea, no wonder you felt so overwhelmed, just waiting for spring to arrive. I'm envious and you are definitely an inspiration to me!

We have rain in the forecast for the weekend, and I'm going to be catching up on my cooking, baking and cleaning. Rain does NOT vacuum on sunny days lol... ;)

PS: I have permanent dirt stains on my finger tips and I LOVE IT. :)