June 21, the first day of summer

A few things going on in the garden but much is the same, loads of salad and I hope that will continue. Most of the radishes that I planted did not do well, I will add manure to that bed for fall and see if beans will grow there. I moved the radishes to a pot where I can watch them to see what grows better. I still have collards growing although I removed the red kale after it flowered. The finches love the flower buds and were fun to watch.
I have only one pea planting that did well, mostly something is eating them to the ground. I don't see signs of slugs so perhaps it is cut worms..ick!
Basil is tiny and with the heat today I hope it will grow a bit. I can see the Romano beans growing daily and it makes me understand the Jack in the Bean Stalk story:-).
All the herbs are doing well and growing and getting some fullness to their presence in this second year.
For something new I set out some brussel sprouts and they seem to be doing well.
The most fun thing is a new visitor; a rufous hummingbird loves the water from the garden hose and will bathe and play for quite sometime, I get tired of holding the hose before he gets tired of the water....very sweet.

Memorial day update

Given the continuing cold weather I am surprised that there is anything in the garden but there are some successes and some failures.
Failures; carrot seed hasn't sprouted, onions are not really growing, peas for the most part are still being eaten by something and not growing. Arugula is half sprouted, the half that is sheltered by another plant is about 1/4 inch tall the rest are pinpoints, interesting. Chives are very thin and not as prolific as normal.
Successes: lettuce is doing well and delicious, romain is sprouting from last weeks planting. We've had a number of salads already. Kale and Collards are the winners and have provided, pasta, quiche, enchiladas and just plain. They are yummy. Leeks are slowly being ready and that is great since 30 leeks at the same time is more than I can handle. And Potatoes are growing well and look like they are happy.
All the herbs are doing well. Today is weeding and a bit of clean up. Looking at the basil seed and willing it to sprout!

The warm weather has really made the lettuce grow, just really the last few days. Bunching onions, mache, buttercrisp and I forgot the other lettuce mixed with a tiny bit of mesclun will make the first spring salad of 2011. This week I did get tomatoes in the ground and some Romain lettuce seed planted. 2 sweet banana peppers that are 12" starts are also in the ground. Seems warm enough. Now waiting to see if carrots will sprout, a few tiny spots today.
Much more going on now that the nights are at least in the high 40's and sometimes 50.
Will see if any fruit is showing up, although I don't expect to really have any....

Finally a dinner from the garden

I was just about to loose hope that anything would grow this year. But with just a few days of sunshine the many of the little plants did put on some growth. A bit of weeding and tomorrow a bit of feeding.

A warm spring day...finally

It was great today, sunny and 60 degrees. This bit of sun and warmth really made nearly everything grow. You could see the difference from leaving in the morning and coming home this evening.
I have some plants bolting which I don't quite understand, collards all but one bolting, maybe too much sun after such cold makes the plant think it is fall or else the collards I have a winter plants. One plant is terrifc the rest are gone and will shortly become compost.
The list of what grew today or sprouted:
potatoes are about 3" tall, lettuce now about 1", peas are still slow but even they grew a bit today. Garlic and onions grew a few inches, and so did the radishes. Slow going for the broccoli and I am thinking of covering them to see if that will help.
My arrugula and cilantro have yet to sprout. However chives are growing and they were delicious on new potatoes(market bought), giving me hope for a meal from the garden this year.
Forgot to mention that I planted some russet potatoes April 30th.

A little sunshine goes a long way

After such a beautiful Saturday the little seedlings made a big leap in growth, the radishes are 1/2" tall and most sprouted, so some thinning to be done there, I don't thin to the spacing recommended since I have only a little space. Maybe it means smaller veggies but that is fine with me, plus as I pull up some others have more room to grow.
I think the nights are warm enough for Arugula to be planted again since the first planting must have froze after those 30 degree nights. I will check the black radishes to see if they are spring or summer radishes and plant just a few if it is time. Slowly the brown is being replaced by green, everything is late this year for sure
My peas are 3 inches tall and the birds have not started to eat the leaves, funny to watch and the peas seem to be fine with this little nibbling.
Still eating Kale and some spinach from fall plantings but my garlic is at the end, with only 1/2 a bulb left. I won't have any to pull up for months now, but I can use the tops for some dishes. It will be interesting to see what store bought garlic is like after all this time.

Fruit Trees

Apple, Barlett Pear and Italian plum, all planted last fall and flowering this year.