Summer Solstice 2013

It seems like just yesterday we were scrambling to cover everything against a late spring frost and here is it is the day after the summer solstice already. Time is definitely flying.

We've been able to stay in fresh lettuce and mixed greens for over a month now and we are getting really spoiled having our own salad mix every night especially after a long winter of the bagged stuff from CA. It has taken a lot of work keeping seed packs sprouted for succession planting. Things are getting a bit tricky now though with the summer heat. Things like the spinach and chard are beginning to bolt and set seed. We'll do the best we can to cope most likely going the micromix route until fall. Attention will now go more toward the squashes, melons, and getting a row of carrots in for the fall and early winter.

The black raspberries are just beginning to come in and today was the first initial pick. I also said good bye to the strawberries until next spring doing the very last pick of the stragglers. This was the first year that we've had about a week overlap of both berries. Definitely a hoot having a bowel of both for desert tonight.

The new tomato and pepper bed is going well. Everything was caged up last weekend and the varmint fence was taken down. Tomorrow the chard is coming out of the main garden to make room for a carrot row and the cucumber fence is going up. This year I am going to try the Johnny's pruning regime to see if I can keep the jungle under control and hopefully limit the blight that always seems to hit later in the season.

I spend most of my time concentrating on edible landscapes but the one bed that has the bird bath is mostly Echinacea and ornamental grass. The echinacea is just about ready to bloom.

Oh Shit!!!!

One of the joys of growing your own is being able to harvest at the peak of perfection and not be concerned with all of the designer chemicals that may come along for the ride. But you also have to be willing to drop what you are doing to harvest and eat, freeze, can, dry, etc. when the opportunity presents itself.

Yesterday was the first full plot pick of the strawberries. It looks like the partial bed restoration last summer was well worth the effort. Yields and size this spring are incredible; getting just under a half bushel. Looks like a long evening/night of freezing.

Oh Yeah!!!

June berries are here so let the gorging and freezing begin !

Spring Update

It is almost June by the calendar but looking at the thermometer the last few mornings its more like October. Needless to say its been one of the best seasons for spring time greens. The strawberries are just starting to come in, the raspberries and peas are blooming, the batch of mead is bubbling in the basement, and  the new tomato and pepper bed is complete. What's not to like?

I planted the melons, zucchani and yellow squash today and with warmer weather predicted for later in the week it can only get better.

SPRING FROST WATCH; May 14

Got to love this global warming (or is it climate change?). In any event the last frost date for western Maryland (90% confidence interval) is usually around April 3 but to be fair it can go out as far as the first week in May. Tonight we have a major frost warning and it is May 13th!! Luckily I didn't get around to setting out the majority of my tomatoes and peppers this past weekend so they will be safe and I can cover the three early tomatoes as I've been doing for over a month now anyway. My real worry are the strawberries (already setting fruit) and the raspberries (just now starting to bloom). I suspect the strawberries will do fine since they can take light frost, the ground is warm, and most of the open blooms are below the leaf canopy. The raspberry blossoms are an unknown since this will be year three for the bed and they haven't had to go through this before. The canes are way up in the air and will get the blunt of the cold air. It should be interesting.........

Edible Landscapes

Things have been a bit slow this spring due to the intermittent cold snaps. I did manage to get the early brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, kale, mixed Asian greens) under an Agrobon-15 tunnel. This was not so much for frost protection (brassicas can take lite frost) but to help stem the springtime flea beetle. AG-15 is designed primarily for insect exclusion with over 90% light transmission. Once seedlings mature, flee beetles becomes less of a problem and Bt sprays can be used to control cabbage worms.I also think the partial strawberry bed restoration will be beneficial. They are growing out nicely and I saw my first bloom today. Can't wait for that first berry!

The raspberry patch is beginning to come alive and I was able to edge and mulch this past weekend. The black canes are a bit slower to bud out than the reds. I was almost ready to cut out all of the old canes but they seem to be slowly putting out buds so I will wait another week or two before cleaning out the dead wood from last season. There was a definite decrease in black canes this season for unknown reasons.

Has Spring Actually Sprung?

With rain forecast for tomorrow I thought it best to take advantage of the spring weather today and get some mushroom soil worked into the main plot. It could have used an application  last last year but time did not allow. Shrum soil is such a wonderful additive especially for heavy clay soils. I try to add it every other year if time allows. An added benefit this year is that our local garden center has put their shrum soil under cover. So it was perfect; damp but not too wet, just right for working up with the tiller. The main plot got 1.5 yards.

I also finished up the new tomato/pepper bed. This is outside the protection of the rabbit fence but since varmints don't usually go for tomatoes and peppers and since they take up so much garden space for the entire season, I am hoping that giving them their own bed will free up more space in the main plot for other things. It took a lot of tilling effort to get this accomplished since this section of yard had never been worked up before. About half a yard of shrum soil finally got it into shape to the point where I could drop the tiller depth down as far as it would go.

The strawberry bed got uncovered too. This will be the first season after the partial renovation last summer. We will have to wait and see if the effort yields a better berry.