gardening journal

I'm gardening a fair amount these days, and Spring is just bursting forth in my neck of the woods. This late Winter I learned a pretty fair amount about starting in flats. Last year's success rate was abysmal, and this year things are shaping up to be... different. Better... but not amazing. Either way, I'm learning.

Here's some progress on gardening so far:

a) Last year's garlic seems to be flourishing. Needed some nitrogen (no surprise here), but so far so good. Planted some early Spring as well and you can just see how over-wintering gives them such a head start, but we will see if bulb size differs at harvest.

b) Kind of went crazy with the onions. Last year I had one 4' X 8' and we used them up in roughly two months. This year, I think we have more than 4x that. I had so many left over bulbs that I just threw them in with my cole crops here and there... and with a few muscari, too. Anyway, we have red, yellow, and white onions all over.

c) Kale seems to be doing better than last year. So far no pests, but they are just waking up, so I have an organic pesticide handy. I bought my Kale from Lowes instead of starting from seed.

d) Broccoli, cauliflower, collards from seed are doing OK. Broccoli from Lowes doing well, but showed signs of root distress from being in starters too long. Almost all have new blue-green leaves producing from the center, so it seems to be bouncing back.

e) Peppers... oh boy. We have 30+ varieties and 3 different flats we have started them in. First flat was horrible, second was better, and third is sprouting now and looking way better due to even moisture and loamy soil (previous soil was unevenly moistened and had too much clay-like consistency).

f) I have some cute little herbs (chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, chives) and such I started mostly for landscaping (and of course drying) and the soil was awful. I transplanted them when they stopped showing progress and, although they were a little young for that, most of them seem to be taking to the new soil very well. I had a bunch of tomatoes in there, too, and am keeping them in these little pots until after the last frost.

g) My fruit trees.... oh boy. Every time I think of them I get a knot in my stomach. So much depends on how much knowledge I absorb and how well I train/treat them these next three years. I feel like I've already done some wrong things, but I've also done some right things by sheer and happy accident (woo!). I pruned in late Autumn/early Winter. I was unsure of which tree to train which way, so I kept to basic rules of pruning. I sprayed what they call an organic dormant oil spray, which prevents a number of potential problems. I now need to stake some trunks and train some branches and they grow. I am fairly certain of which tree to train what way now and this Autumn/Winter I will prune as such. I am keeping a photo and documentation record of every tree as well. Here's hoping for great produce in three years...

h) My landscaping is coming along and we've had several bursts of inspiration. I'm embracing lots and lots of sedum and moss. Our goal is to have almost our entire lawn seeded with ground cover crops, but everything in it's time. I am fairly certain I am planting clover in the orchard hoping to encourage bee pollination, but I need to research more.

When all is said and done, I feel very blessed to be able to get out and do this gardening. Beautifying our home is something Fred and I enjoy doing together, and we have the same vision (most of the time) so it's very harmonious. I love our life and I'm so grateful for what we have.