First a couple of shots of the garden from the hillside above. The surrounding landscape is subtly more green than a month ago. We've had a steady supply of rain for the past month and more and the native vegetation has responded with lots of new growth. The garden is loving the rain too and I've not had to run the drip system for a few months.
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| Beds No. 1 and No. 4 |
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| Beds No. 2 and No. 3 |
Bed No. 1
The first overwintered sweet pea is blooming and I'm happy to say that it is fragrant. I removed the fabric that was protecting the plants from the birds and so far the birds have been leaving it alone. I suppose the native landscape is finally providing them with adequate greenery to consume.
The new Orion fennel seedlings are filling in nicely. The Rishad cress that I used as a quick filler is slow to grow in some spots and more lush in others.
A month ago the Filderkraut cabbage was an itsy bitsy baby protected by a cloche. The most lush Rishad cress is sharing half the cage with the cabbage. I harvested the cress not long after I took the photo.
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| Filderkraut Cabbage |
Yellow Heart Winter Choy is a new addition to the garden since the last tour. It's only been in the garden for less than 2 weeks in this photo.
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| Yellow Heart Winter Choy |
The daikon radishes were on the verge of bolting so I pulled them all and replaced them with seedlings of Baby Leaf Tuscan kale that I had started in a 50 cell seedling tray. There's only 24 plants there, the other half of the tray was sown with Special Baby Leaf Chard which is a slower grower than the kale and was not large enough to go into the garden. I managed to time this transition well. I knew a few weeks ago that the radishes were close to the point where all the remaining plants needed to be harvested so I started the kale and chard to plant in their place and just when the kale was large enough to transplant I noticed the radishes were just starting to bolt.
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| Baby Leaf Tuscan Kale |
The fall sown Short Stuff carrots are getting to be large enough to start harvesting. I hope they don't respond to the longer and warmer days by bolting too soon.
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| Short Stuff Carrots |
I had my doubts about this one lone Pixie Cabbage that made it into the garden. A month ago it was looking runty but I think it's going to be ok.
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| Pixie Cabbage |
A month ago the Little Jade napa cabbages were already trying to bust out of their protective sleeves and now they are already showing signs of starting to form heads. I am always amazed by how quickly these grow. It's time to start planning what I'll grow in their place.
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| Little Jade Napa Cabbage |
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| Little Jade Napa Cabbage |
The I'itoi onions have filled in a bit more and the blossoms are on the verge of opening.
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| I'itoi Onions |
Beets are growing.
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| Badger Flame and Red Baron Beets |
Speedy arugula is bolting before I ever got to harvest any. There's seedlings in back that are slowing disappearing.
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| Speedy Arugula |
The Yellow Potato Onions have had a bit of a growth spurt.
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| Yellow Potato Onions |
There's not been a lot of change in the saffron, perhaps it going into decline. I hope it hasn't been too wet, these should go dormant in the summer and then bloom in the fall.
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| Saffron |
The end is nigh for the Brussels sprouts and kalettes. You can see some big fat Brussels sprouts on the plant to the left, I've harvested those since this photo shoot.
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| Brussels Sprouts and Kalettes |
The third variety of kalettes has finally produced some sprouts large enough to harvest. I better hurry up because I think they may be on the verge of bolting, they are growing so quickly all of a sudden.
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| Snowdrop Kalettes |
The parsnips are putting out new top growth also. I hope this doesn't mean that they are on the verge of bolting.
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| Gladiator Parsnips |
There's only one celeriac left in the garden.
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| Prinz Celeriac |
This is a new planting of Queen of Crunch and Three Heart Butterhead lettuces.
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| Queen of Crunch and Three Heart Butterhead Lettuce |
This planting of Red Butter Romaine lettuce hasn't grown a lot in the past month. I thought that the three small green lettuces in the back were Red Iceberg but it turns out I got my labels mixed up and they are Three Heart Butterhead.
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| Red Butter Romaine and Three Heart Butterhead |
Baby Shanghai pac choi are still in infancy.
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| Baby Shanghai Pac Choy |
I grew Syrian Medieval chard near this spot last year and let it go to seed. The rodents got most of the seeds but one survived to volunteer this winter. It started to bolt so I harvested it after this photo shoot.
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| Volunteer Syrian Medieval Chard and Improved Helenor Rutabaga |
This bunch of Orion fennel looks like it needs fertilizer. It's yellowing and growing very slowly. I suspect that some tree roots may be invading this end of the bed.
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| Orion Fennel |
Calendula likes to volunteer around the garden and this volunteer seems to be particularly happy.
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| Volunteer Calendula |
The chard never did grow well here, it may also be competing with tree roots for nutrients. The tree roots always win.
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| Italian Silver Rib and Peppermint Stick Chard |
The celery is still looking great and giving me plenty of stalks on a cut-and-come-again basis.
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| Pink Plume Celery |
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| Pink Plume Celery |
The Tronchuda Beira seedlings got to be too large for their cloches. I'm not sure if my timing on these is good. Will they just bolt as the days get warmer and longer or will they stay leafy? More importantly, how hungry are the rodents...
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| Tronchuda Beira Cabbage |
Bed No. 3
I sowed Kodiak mustard in 1/3 of the bed as a cover crop. This is where I plan to grow a much smaller than usual selection of peppers, probably all sweet. I don't have to commit until next week which is when it's time to sow the seeds. Off to the left you can see the big fluffy tuft of foliage which is the 2 year old Orion fennel plant. About 1/3 of the bed is basically empty, just a few volunteer things and weeds. I intend to sow flowers there but haven't gotten around to it yet.
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| Bed No. 3 |
I'm still harvesting bulbs from that 2 year old fennel plant. Check back this coming Monday for the latest harvest.
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| Orion Fennel |
I made room in the patch of Golden Corn Salad for three cardoon seedlings. The corn salad is starting to bolt and if it doesn't overwhelm the young cardoon plants I'll allow it to set seeds so that I can renew my seed stock.
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| Golden Corn Salad and Cardoons |
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| Argente de Geneve Inerme Cardoon |
The bachelor's buttons (cornflower) are starting to bloom.
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| Artichoke and Bachelor's Buttons |
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| Blue Boy Bachelor's Button |
The artichoke keeps filling out and it is attracting ants and aphids again. I'm not sure how long I'll have the patience for that.
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| Artichoke |
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| Bed No. 4 |
A few of the favas are just barely starting to bloom.
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| Extra Precoce A Grano Violetto and Aquadulce Favas |
The snow peas sat and sat and barely grew through the cold and wet weather, and then all of a sudden they started to grow and are starting to bloom. I harvested one round of pea shoots and I guess now I'll just let them bloom and produce pea pods.
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| Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow Peas |
I sowed more Kodiak mustard last month in a spot where I want to grow bush beans this spring. I should be able to sow some seeds in paper pots in the next week or so.
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| Kodiak Mustard |
And I've sown a small section of the bed with Lauren's Grape poppies. Still tiny tiny tiny.
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| Lauren's Grape Poppies |
That's the latest going on in my garden. Thanks for stopping by.
I think that is a proper use of a blog. It helps others as well. It is also much easier to use a blog than to make a photo diary in a word processor. So, I say, go for it!
ReplyDeleteNot having to water or irrigate is one of the greatest blessings of the rain this year.
Ah, you have fragrant sweet peas, calendulas and bachelor buttons, I love them all, graceful, old fashioned flowers.
My parsnip top looks like that, too, only it's in a bowl on the kitchen work table.
Big aphid attack here as well, periwinkle, stock, roses; goes with the territory. You have cool and moist weather and you have aphids. Better than drought, though; I'll put up with the aphids.
It's always interesting to me to see your garden tours. And I do see a lot of 'pretty things', since I sure see the beauty (and promise) in young and growing plants! Interesting to see you I'itoi onions blooming. Mine never get that far, and seem to do dormant first. Your big Short Stuff carrots inspired me to try them this spring. Since I've grown nada carrots for a couple of years, we will see how that turns out!
ReplyDeleteI’ve missed sprouts this year, ours were pathetically small. Our parsnips were growing so we have dug them up. You have so much growing.
ReplyDelete