Harbingers, two

     More pictures of spring in the back yard.

Purple crocus, my back yard, 3-18-11

 

 

 

 

 

 

White and yellow crocus, my back yard, 3-18-11

Wood hyacinth, my back yard, 3-18-11

 

Miniature daffodils, my back yard, 3-18-11

Daffodils, still to bloom at the house, 3-18-11

Neat onions

Onion transplants 3-17-11

     Last year was a good onion year for me, having loads of white and yellow onions to keep.  The ones that were small, that is more trouble to cut, went back in the garden in the fall.  They are about to be picked as needed as scallions.  But some of the other onions in the park were beautiful monsters.  They had been started as transplanted onion slips by some of the pros at the park.  A couple of days ago, I was lucky in that Jeff had ordered more than he could handle, so he gave me two bunches!  Both long keeping onions, Red Zepellin and yellow Copra.  Both bunches contained around 75 slips.  I believe Jeff said that the onions were from Dixondale Farms in Texas, and when ordered in large quantities, the bunches were $2.50 apiece.  The two varieties are long day onions, a proper choice for Delaware.
     The only problem now is that I have already bought some white and red sets for this year.  They will be my experiment to see if they do OK in the more shaded home garden.  I also have purchased French shallots already.  They will have to go in over at the park.  They were delicious sauteed.
      Below is a shot of the slips newly planted in their bed.  The Red Zepellin near the top, and the Copra at the bottom.  In the middle, are some garlic and Beedy's Kale, both of which wintered over without protection.  I planted the onions on about four inch centers.  Yep, too close.  What's a guy to do when there is so much to plant and so little space?  Yep, the pros will still have bigger onions than yours truly.  Maybe that embarrassment will be my cure to over crowding.  Don't count on it.

Onion transplants 3-17-11

Harbingers

Crocus and snowdrops, 3-12-11

Wood Hyacinths emerging, 3-12-11

Hellebores, battered but not beaten   3-12-11

Ah Spring
Oh how we wait
But at last some signs
That our spirits will now lift
Refreshed, renewed
Glad you're here
Ah Spring

Is it Time?

     Is it time?  I have nursed the veggies along in the cold frames for a long time now.  Some time I have to get brave, and let them have some real time in the world.  Many of the plants are tight up against the glass just bursting to get out.  But it is tough to let the kids go off on their own.  But then the forecast for the next few days is pretty good.  So....

3-11-11 Here we go!!

Salad veggies 3-11-11

     There.  I did it.  The unveiling.  More boring pictures to follow, but they are for my record keeping.  This blog has become my lifeline to remembering what is happening in my garden.  Hopefully to have records to make continual improvements.

Bellevue 3-11-11

     Left to right: Rouge d'Hivre lettuce, almost the color of the ground.  Seems quite hardy as its name implies, and certainly merits future plantings.  Territorial Seed's Tenderheart Chinese Cabbage, delicious mild small heads, have to order more seed of this one.  Though there is a seed stalk forming, yes, I will try to save seed. The round reddish heads next are radicchio from a mesclun mix planted in this bed last August.  Prime deer bait.  Maybe I better put a glass panel back over this part.  Next is oak leaf lettuce, from the batch that spent time in the plastic container on the porch.  Then Beedy's kale from Fedco.  Finally, a Cos lettuce given to me from a fellow gardener as she yanked things out last November.

Bellevue 3-11-11

 

 

 

 

  Continuing across, Tenderleaf Hardy Greens from Fedco, certainly worth repeating.  Between the two larger rows was Ching Chang, a failure.  In the middle is Senposai, also from Fedco.  It grew very well at my home garden, and is probably a good shade candidate.  The three rows of Mizuna Mustard in this frame were pretty much a bust.  Unexplainable, as it did well elsewhere.  And finally tatsoi, a beautiful and tasty addition to any salad.

Bellevue Box 3-11-11

      This box is one of my original cold frames.  The three board height allows for plants to grow a little taller without hitting the glass.  A very good thing.  Most of the plants in this frame are volunteers, including a lot of carrots and celery.  I am particularly interested to see how those two progress during the summer.

Bellevue 3-11-11

     Well that was just the top row, but I am running out of gas, and if you have made it this far, you are probably bored.  Maybe I will come back to the second bed later.

Alien invaders!   3-11-11

      As if the deer are not enough, this flock of geese has discovered the gourmet gardens at the park.  This morning they seemed to be very happy trashing a neighbors garden of his green cover crop.  I hope I won't be able to tell you which salad greens they most prefer.  Maybe the glass should go back on?  The trials and tribulations of a gardener.

Water, Water, Everywhere

    Water, Water, Everywhere.  A couple of inches on Sunday, and probably a couple more yesterday.  It is a dangerous and slippery walk to the middle of the park gardens to find my plot.

Water to the right of me

Water to the left of me

Even water above me

     But stuck in the middle I'm fine.  Two years worth of wood chip additions to the paths and loads and loads of leaves to the garden beds have greatly improved the soil.  It was nothing but yucky clay two years ago.  You can see sloppy mud all around, but the soil in my organic garden is walkable and workable.  If only the temperature and skies would improve to make it enjoyable to be outside.

Bellevue 3-11-11

Survivors

3-9-11 Spinach

     Today is cold and gray, but spring is soon around the corner.  Though a cold winter, there were survivors that braved the elements, even without protection.  A walk around the park this morning revealed many such hardy veggies, well at least a few.  Spinach that has over wintered gets a very fast start in the spring.  But then it needs to as it also bolts quickly.

3-9-11 Turnips and spinach

3-9-11 Brussel sprouts

     These brussel sprouts look ready for picking.  I don't know how the stink bugs missed out on this treat last year.  My one surviving sprout plant looks pitiful, but I am waiting to see if it will put out new edible growth.

3-9-11 

Collard greens seem to be one of the more cold hardy plants.  They look a little ratty now, but will put out some edible new growth in just a short while.  I feel most people are far too impatient in ripping out survivors when they will still produce some very early greens.

3-9-11 Arugula

3-9-11 Arugula

     Ah, arugula.  Gift of the gods.  Discovered by me only two years ago.  Where had you been all of my life?  Why wait this long to appear on the scene?  But now a new gift, as arugula can obviously survive without winter cover.  And apparently the deer avoid it.  Now to remember to seed a couple of beds of it in the fall.  Even a minimal tunnel should result in loads of arugula next winter.  But first I will enjoy my spring crop.

3-9-11 Turnips

    As far as I could see, the turnips looked edible.  Would have thought they would have frozen over the winter.  In any event, they should put up nice succulent tops as they resume spring growth.  What do you bet that they get pulled and discarded  as mere refuse.                                                          

3-9-11 Kale

            
 





     Kale is another one of the hardy cole crops.  Is that a surprise with names like Siberian Kale and Red Russsian Kale?  In a week or so, this row will be putting out lots of new succulent early greens.

3-9-11 Onions, my garden

                                


     And back to my garden is this bed of onions that have over wintered nicely.  These were onions that did not attain good size last year, so rather that toss them, back in the garden they went in the fall.  They are just about ready to start harvesting as scallions.  Yes, maybe a day or two.              

3-9-11 Cabbage

  




     And lastly, cabbage survived the winter in some gardens.  A couple of these heads look edible.  If you cut the head off right at the base, four or five smaller cabbage should sprout right up.  The root structure is already in place to support new growth.
     Now if only all of these survivors were crammed into my own garden.  Such would be a fast start to eating green veggies without the wait of a month or two.
      Garden hardy,  George

Still Going

     My wife and I just got back on Sunday morning from a week's vacation to Panama.  Day temperatures around 90, some quite unusual rain for the dry season, and beautiful beach walks.  What a change to come home to a dreary two inches of rain on Sunday.  But home looked good, as I had missed my new veg starts and gardening activities.

Porch 3-8-11

     Many thanks to my next door neighbor, Darla Smith, who watered all of my little charges while I was gone.  Nary a single loss!  They look as though I could have stayed another week without dire results.

Porch 3-8-11

      The flat above has Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce on the left, with Red Sails Lettuce next.  Then Mizuna Mustard and Arugula on the right.  The Red Sails and Arugula are from my own seed gathered last year, quite exciting for me.  These seedlings were started on 1/30 or 1/31, and are nearly ready to go into some cold frame in the ground.

Bellevue Community Gardens 3-8-11

 

     The gardens out at Bellevue are still pretty desolate.  And muddy.  Really muddy.  But the cold frames protected my stuff over the winter, even yielding the second salad of the season on Sunday, 3/6.

My Cold Frames 3-8-11

 

Flats in Cold Frame 3-8-11

     I took some flats from the porch over to the park to put them in a cold frame.  They will get much more sun over at the park.

Park Cold Frame 3-8-11

     The onions in this frame should be Egyptian Walking Onions.  They were lucky to be in this spot when I put the frame over them.  They are much more lush and enticing than onions that had to fight for their lives in the open garden.  The onion like plant in the lower left corner appears to be one of two Leek plants that have volunteered from last year.  And I never have grown Leeks at this garden!  Should I eat these, or let them go to seed for next year?  I think I will eat them, as there are new Leek seedlings started on the porch.

Artichokes or cardoon?

     These two plants are either Artichokes or Cardoon that have overwintered on the porch.  They will probably go outside in another month.  I have seedlings of both started.  That will make the ID easy as the season progresses.
     It was fun to be away, but it is fun to be home.  And there is really, really a lot to do!   George