potato tomato, tomato potato

I've been trying to keep records of my gardening this year through pictures, texts, sketches, notes, and videos so that at the end of this year we can evaluate what works and what does not work for us. Last year I had great success with my potatoes with very little work put into it. This year we at least doubled the amount and have tilled new ground for this. I am also trenching deeper than last year and mulching with ground leaves instead of shredded branches.

On the right is my baby spinach, which I harvested a lot of recently. I also think 'baby spinach' is a misnomer if ever I've heard one. They're massive, rich green leaves, and they taste oh-so-fresh!

I started my ground cover crops so far for: alyssum, one type of sedum, hens & chicks, and irish moss. So far the alyssum is coming up the fastest, and the moss is close behind. We have the tilled soil covered in leaves to keep any weeds from sprouting and choke out any little sprouts until these crops are ready for transplanting.

My kale seems stunted. Not sure why...
I noticed there were some pests in the broccoli so I sprayed my organic 3-in-1, which took care of them almost immediately.

We just finished planting our corn yesterday (May 5). We actually tilled and amended it this year, so it should actually produce well. Although last year, we got a lot of ears for what little work we put into it.

Pictured right, I ask with much trepidation: is this fire blight? What else can it be, though? And so I must begin to remove what I can, and come winter scrape off any infected areas I know of. This may be very, very bad for my orchard. I know of at least 3 trees with signs of fire blight. And I also know that it is not easy to rid them of it.

So that's my bad news... really bad news.

On the bright side, my chamomile is doing excellently. Comparing chamomile to lemon balm is like comparing night and day. Chamomile needs no extra care. Lemon balm will wilt away if I forget about it for a day. Transplanting is an abysmal success rate for lemon balm, while chamomile will spring right back within hours of transplanting, ready to stretch its roots into its new-found home. Lemon balm looks at me as if I'm strangling it and lets its outer leaves turn darkly brown and frown at me disapprovingly. I will not be doing lemon balm in starters anymore. Direct sow, all the way! Unless of course that turns out worse... :/

I also was unimpressed with my tomato seeds germination rate. It was in the 60-70% success rate range, and that is very low from my vast two years of experience.

Above pictured is one of my dahlias. They are doing very well right now in containers, but they're quickly getting too large for them. I just have to decide on a good location for them. I am not great with visualizing landscaping.

Lowes had a bunch of flowers on clearance, so I went ahead and landscaped a little bit around my arbor. I can't quite bring myself to go full-force with any landscaping yet, as all my seeds are not planted yet, but I am approaching it little-by-little. I went ahead and slightly beautified my arbor area. It was pretty unsightly, so this just cheers it up a big. It's mostly temporary since I want vines at my of these posts' bases, but I still have yet to stain the arbor so this is as good as I can do for now.

And here we have my snap peas, doing so well I could kiss them! Still no flowers, but I'm hoping for them any day. There's nothing quite like fresh snap peas.

I have also recently planted my beans (two of three kinds) and more tomatoes. I am transplanting almost every day. I will be focusing on herbs this week, and my niece Katrina will be coming to help me garden/finish painting my fence. I love having helpers, and she makes me laugh so much!
 May the weather be ever in your favor, fellow gardeners.