Spring Break

Last week was spring break. I'd looked forward to that for weeks, anticipating spending a great deal of time every day in the garden. We've had enough warm weather for a while that things were really growing. The reality? It rained every day until Friday. I was stuck in the house -- okay, so I love to read and had a lot of book time, which I enjoyed too. But by the weekend, the weeds were way ahead of me. I've pulled up four big garbage bags full of weeds, and am nowhere near done.

I did put out some of the hardier flowers already; snapdragons can handle cool weather, and of course the pansies are still going that I put out last fall. I planted a few perennials that had been hardening off for a while, and a couple of bushes to fill in some gaps where things didn't make it through last summer. I bought a few more annuals, but am either leaving them in their original pots or have put them in containers that can be moved into cover for a little longer. It's still a bit too early to put the more tender little guys out yet.

Trying Something New!

Last weekend a friend and I went to Dutch's Greenhouse to get a little fix of spring. We enjoyed wandering through looking at all the tiny seedlings, and just soaking in the incredible aroma of fresh growing things.

While there, I noticed some little plants getting a start, but not in the usual potting soil. I checked it closer, and it seemed to be brown styrofoam.

First Planting of the Year

We’ve had a lot of warm weather recently, which is encouraging the trees and bushes to start budding out. I hate to see that, as it’s far too early, and inevitably we’ll be having cold weather yet. Sunday I planted one of my raised veggie beds with peas and a row of lettuce. It’s early, yes, but I do this about every year, and I have never yet lost these early crops. They’re pretty hardy plants, plus if a really nasty cold spell comes in, I cover the bed. Since my raised beds are edged with concrete blocks, I fit low hoops of flexible PVC pipes over the bed, then cover it with a sheet of heavy clear plastic held down with bricks around the edges.

This coming weekend I plan to plant another bed with sugar snap peas, lettuce and a few radishes. I don’t care for radishes myself, but my neighbor does, and my bunnies sure do like the leaves.

Ongoing Winter Garden Work

Over the winter, I look forward to any moderately pleasant day on the weekend, so that I can get out and get a bit more done in the garden. I spent so much time in the fall scraping and painting on the garage that a lot of tasks to prepare the garden for the winter didn't get done. I still need to cut back the asparagus plants, and trim and clean out the iris bed.

I've begun getting out the things to start seeds indoors. Some things should be started 10 weeks before last frost date, which is mid-April here. I like to get plants started far enough ahead to put them out as soon as weather permits. Growing season is all too short!

Rainy Evening

We got some rain at last, this evening. It came dramatically, though, as it sometimes does in Kansas. I drove home from work through a heavy downpour, with a bit of hail. When it started pounding on the windshield of my car, I did wonder how big they'd have to be, and how hard they'd have to hit, to break the glass. Then the tornado sirens went off.

But at least we did get over an inch of rain. It came so quickly it probably didn't soak in as well as a nice slow shower, but I'm still grateful for the moisture. This should help the garden keep going.

Compost

I'm just back in from adding my rabbit's daily contributions to the compost bin for today. Earlier this summer I replaced my disintegrating compost bin made from wooden pallets with a new closed plastic one. This is in addition to the rotating composter. The rotating bin produces compost much faster than a static bin, but you can't keep adding new material throughout the process. So I put the new stuff daily into the static bin, and then as each batch in the rotating composter is finished and removed, I move a new batch from the static bin into the rotating one.

August Heat

We finally got a little rain; in fact, twice in the last two weeks. It's been such a relief. I've had to water every day, and even then some of the things I planted this spring don't look like they'll make it. The two hydrangeas are completely withered, and look quite dead. I don't know whether to hope they'll come back out of it or not. I'd like to think they went into an early dormancy, but that may be hopelessly optimistic.

On the other hand, the veggie garden is still going along fairly well. It hasn't been my best year for tomatoes, since the raised bed they were rotated to this year is the one nearest the neighbors' trees, and is the shadiest of the six beds. But the peppers and cantaloupe are doing great, and the cucumbers were as well. Now the cukes are struggling a bit with fungus. I've sprayed them and hope they'll keep going. I sure love the fresh veggies!

Update: Two days after posting this, one of the dead-looking hydrangeas has put out a few new leaves at its base. What a relief! I'll keep hoping for some of the other plants.