...Finally, we have reached the next stage in the progress of our garden; the majority of plants have been seeded or planted and here we sit in anticipation. During these past two weeks we have put in long hours on those days without some form of precipitation. This year the weather certainly has provided us with many obstacles. The winter was mild and lulled me into thinking spring would be early. And maybe we were a little to keen...Anyways, a summary:
Our sucesses:
* the peas, the Carlins, Darlaine's, Paladio, and Al's are beautiful (esp. the Carlins)* the potatoes have strong growth and blossoms. The pinkish/purple blooms of the All Red, the blueish/purple of the Russian Blue, and the white of the Yukon Gold are beautiful too
* the raspberries bushes, esp. in the original bed, are lush and full of berries and the plants in the new bed are not far behind* the transplanted rhubarb obviously liked being divided last fall because it has produced much new growth and its strawberry plant companions have already provided us with delicious plump berries.
* both the juicing carrots, Royal Chantenay (in a raised bed), and the eating carrots, Purple Haze and Atomic Red (in the large planters out front) have strong, uniform green growth.
* all the grains, Purple Barley, Kamut, Red Fife Wheat, Anne Millet and Amaranth sprouted quickly and have been progressing nicely* the 10 Andy's Broad Beans plants are about 4 feet tall now. The white with deep purple blossom on these are absolutely beautiful...they remind me of sweet peas...and the bees love them too
* the collards have been slow but they are coming along nicely now
* the garlic in general has been amazing this year (last year was a bust, as they say). From what we can see above the ground, the Fish Lake #3, Leningrad, and Susan Delafield are outperforming all the other varieties. The scapes have formed on some varieties (we enjoyed them in my curried fake chicken dish last night)* the asparagus plants currently stand 4-5 feet tall. We found the number of plants has increased this year...yahoo! Next year we finally will be able to eat our asparagus!!
* initially, the cardoons grew slowly when first planted outside but now seem strong and healthy
* all varieties of tomatoes are thriving as well * the salad burnet and angelica have settled in well and appear to be growing
* the onions, esp. the white, appear to be growing nicely
our obstacles:
* the first sowing of edamame beans did not germinate. We believe the soil was too cold and wet (we were suckered in by a couple of warm days in early May). Yesterday Barry sowed more edamame beans...we are not ready to give up on them yet.
* we initially had little luck with squashes, cucumbers, and pumpkins...again, these have been reseeded recently and success is now looming. We have 1 delicata, some cucumbers, and 2 Big Max (pumpkin). Yesterday we purchased a Sunny Delight (pattypan) and Sweet Dumpling from Springtime Nursery. The folks at Springtime convinced us to try the Sweet Dumpling, saying it was even better than the Delicata. (Did I previously mention that I was gifted a $25 certificate for Springtime Nursery at the April Garden Club meeting? Yesterday I used that gift certificate to purchase 2 pairs of some awesome gardening gloves called Miracle Workers by Watson Gloves. They are amazing...they stretch around my deformed fingers, with a snug but not confining fit and I can still do fine, detailed work in them and the Nursery staff members raved about how long they have been using theirs.)
* the trailing rosemary and the pineapple sage survived the winter only to succumb to some unknown problem. Lucky for me I had already taken some cuttings from the rosemary and a couple have survived. I will be on the hunt for another pineapple sage...I like it better than the regular sage. * the ashwagandha plants I had nurtured inside, perished during an unexpected rainy, cold period when I first planted them out. I will seed more of these directly outside today.
* this year the majority of the bean varieties were planted directly into the ground (not a raised bed). Some creature, be it beetle or slug or snail, has been enjoying the young beans. We surrounded the beans with crushed egg shells to discourage the slug/snail and placed toilet rolls around some to discourage whatever else may be eating them. The Nez Perce must have been delicious--they are all gone. The other varieties, some more than others, are struggling on.
Yesterday we decided to walk 'the boys' along the Beach Trail, a trail Barry recently had read about in the Powell River Peak. We were surprised and delighted. This trail is well-used by the people of Powell River. We encountered joggers, casual walkers, and dogs and their walkers. We will frequent this trail often but will need to remember to take water along for 'the boys.'
rockers for old rockers
a very pleasant place to wait
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