Another delayed entry....  i started this 2 weeks ago.




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Last week, i finally got the rows dug (5/27), the plastic laid out and over 50 new bricks to hold it down.  Then planted the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.  The day before,  i got the potatoes planted in the back row. I also installed a 15' soaker hose under the strawberry bed.  Last Sunday i direct sowed the carrots, parsnip, beets, turnip and daikon radish in just before 3 whole days of steady soaking rain.

I don't remember what day (maybe 3 days prior), but i did start seeds of melons, squash, cukes, sunflowers,  kale, chard and broccoli.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ______________________________________                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                So,  to continue...

I finally got those cukes, melons and squash planted Saturday 6/13.  Well,  except for the two winter squash types- butternut and Red Kuri squash. Those are going in the row next to the potatoes,  but i didn't have time for it.  I just finished a 6 days stretch of work and have my first day off today and it is raining.

I've gotten things in pretty late but at the same time,  we have had such cool weather it wouldn't have done much good to get things in much earlier.  It only just started to get warm enough for melons.  Of course,  while planting the cukes and melons i realised that i had never started seeds for summer squash and zucchini.  The zucchini i wasn't really suprised by because i remember noticing that i thought i had ordered a packet of seeds for a type called Greyzini but actually hadn't. It looks like it never made it on my online order form somehow.... though a type of tomato i don't remember being particularly interested in was there.  I think i simply got interrupted somewhere during order selection and placement and mixed it up.  

Anyhow,  i started "49'r" yellow summer squash seeds yesterday.  It shouldn't be too late for a prolific and heat loving plant that gets buggy and overgrown before August.

I'm not seeing good results from my direct-seeded plots. I did Red Cored Chantenay and Cosmic Purple carrots, Hollow Crown Parsnip, Cylindra, Boltardy and Golden beets, Hinona Kabu and Shogoin Japanese turnips, the Minowase Daikon radish are the only ones doing well.
I don't think i'll bother trying to grow root vegetables again without making seed sheets (tape) out of them first. I think the 3 days of rain just washed them away or floated them into crevices. What does come come up is in clusters and is a waste from thinning and poor use of space.  Seed sheets at least hold the seeds down and they germinate in a predictable grid pattern which is easier to weed and thin properly.  Is pretty much a whole row of wasted seeds now. I'd try transplanting but i have seen it not work very well for others.

I'm trying melon again.  (Trying Minnesota Midget for the second year, last year they got eaten by a woodchuck shortly after planting).  A sweet melon called Sakatas. It has smallish fruit that can almost be eaten rind and all,  Tom Watson watermelon also.  I think i tried this my first year in the big garden- the year the birdhouse gourd tried to take over my hemisphere.  Tom Watson and all the other melons did not work out at all. I reconsidered watermelon one more time because of the success with black plastic and my sweet pepper yields.  Ogen melon is the next completely new try this year.  The description was so enticing i had to try it.   I have the seedlings pretty close together.  The seedlings may need warmer germinating temps because these smaller melons did not germinate well and look kinda pathetic.  Planting them close hopefully will let the remaining plants utilize space if half of them quit.

The seeds for the Mexican Sour Gherkin didn't come up well either.  I planted 6 cells with 2 seeds each and i think only 3 cells came up with only 4 total seeds germinating.   I may start some more of those seeds,  i really want to get plenty of these. One of my favorite summer beverages the last 2 years has been sliced cucumber and  sliced lemon steeped in water with some crushed mint.  It is incredibly refreshing.  These are described as tasting like a fava-beany cucumber with a lemon-lime hint.  (o-O)    They may make a nice drink when steeped in water.  They tell you to pick them when they are grape sized but they didn't say how prolific the plants are.  Even if they don't make a good fruit/veggie tea,  i still want to try them.

Uggh,  just remembered i forgot to start mint seeds.  lol


The cucumbers i planted are the pickling and slicing type.

For slicing i have Summer Dance and Diva. I planted more picklers since i prefer the flavor and actually don't mind the texture of the seeds and pulp at all.   Those are Boston Pickling, General Lee, and National Pickling.

I'm trying Black Futsu and Red Kuri winter squashes this year. The Red Kuri remind me of one of the first large winter squashes i ever grew called Red Eye.  Red Eye has been discontinued from my usual seed place for quite some time and no seeds remain. Not sure if they are related in any breeding aspect but if they have a similar flavor i want to have that again.   The black Futsu is supposed to have a rich flavor,  nutty like hazelnuts and has remarkable storage qualities.   I have no idea if these plants will take over my garden (i barely have the space for 3 "compact" butternut squash vines)but i'm giving them what extra space i can spare.  The Futsu is supposed to be very prolific and the Kuri on the prolific side but not as explosive sounding as Futsu.

I'm trying edamame soybeans again too. I had tried a type called Beer Friend a few years ago,  but i got the seeds late in the season and planted them the following year. None came up. These  are called Butterbeans and sprouted pretty quickly.  I will probably forget to sow a few every couple of weeks so we don't end up with one bunch and then that's it.


I finally managed to get ahold of some Schizandra plants, aka 5 flavor berry.  I tried growing them from seed a couple years ago and got nothing and then Oikos Treecrops didn't have any left and none available this spring,  but the blog i follow about Sea Buckthorn-- their company does sell schizaqndra pl;ants for a reasonable price,  so i got 3.  I think they came in on May 23 or so.  One looked great, one was so-so and i don't have much hope for the third one but i'll give it some time before i ask for a do-over or something.

This is the good one:

The one on the left is the ok one (there's a tiny green bud just above the farther rim of the pot) and the one on the right, i don't think is alive at all:

i also got these hazelnuts from Burpee this year,  they came along with the 5 Darrow blackberry plants i ordered.

They are Jefferson and Theta. ...and.... my 6-year-old for scale.  They were planted almost immediately May 21, 2014.

These are the Darrow blackberries:

Lots of potential plums on Stanley this year.  I'm using Surround for spray this year with a few other things.  Application scheduling is always a challenge due to weather, time and proper applicator availability. I might go into that more later.

Stanley still has galls despite my attempt to remove them as instructed,  they are extraordinarily numerous this year and i'm rather irked by that.  After pruning 4 feet off the top of it this spring and its still about 12-14 feet tall,  i'm doubting that i got a dwarf plant and really suspecting that i paid for a dwarf and got a slightly cheaper semi-dwarf.  I really need to find out what to do about the galls.  All Starks advised me was to remove them and disinfect between cuts,  which i did only to be rewarded with a bumper crop of fresh ones.

The blueberry plants are finally starting to pick up size.  This one has had the greatest increase.

Here's the bigger Carmine Jewel cherry tree with unripe cherries.  Hopefully some will ripen fully and we can have our first taste.

Yes!  I can finally see the beginning of sea buckthorn berries:

I got some Moonflower seeds for my oldest daughter to plant in her designated pot.  We planted these about a month ago now.  They came up then it got cold and they haven't moved much since.

There's 4 O'clocks in there too.

The garden this morning

And the seedlings waiting to be planted or given away

And a small project i'm working on.  Labeling all my perennial plants with some more permanent markers than my feeble memory. :0)  There's some botanical name info,  the date i got them and the suppliers' name.

Seeds arriving

There.

My last and second seed order came in this morning. So i have my Provider green beans,  their radish mix, Pruden's Purple tomato, Early Butternut winter squash, Ailsa Craig onion and Nutri Bud broccoli.  The only problem is that two of what i wanted were unavailable-  the Golden Zebra summer squash and the Southport Red Globe onion.  They had to be substituted with 49er F1 summer squash and Red Burgundy  onion.

I'm not sure how well this substitution  is going to work since Southport is a long-day Northern onion and according to what i can find about Red Burgundy is that it is a short-day onion which is better for Southern areas.  I still have some  Southport  seed from last year so i guess i'll have both to compare.

Golden Zebra sounded so good. Described as having a more appetizing flavor than regular summer squash, i was looking forward to it.   But i looked up 49er F1 and it sounds good too, so i think i'll be fine.

So, i'm feeling pretty good about not having gone hog wild with seeds this year (compared to other years) and i have been studying seed saving- finding out what plants i can save seeds from year after year without degrading them with a small gene pool.  I don't have even a half an acre- so some things won't work.  But i'll be good for tomatoes and maybe even the provider beans.  But i get to do more reading throughout the next few months before i need to know for sure.

Still snow on the ground out there and i expect it to be there for some time.  I did take a few pictures of how the garden is melting off.  The way its going makes a strong argument for my slightly raised bed system.  The tops of most of the beds are appearing much more quickly while the walking rows are still full of snow.  Since i am switching the direction of my rows this year i won't be able to take a lot of advantage of the beds  as they sit, but some patches of warm soil will be tilled in with the colder stuff and it just might get things a slight bit warmer faster than if all the surface was at the same level.

I found a lone parsnip waking up before most everything else.  I may save and replant this one to try and get some seed from it.

The Brussels sprouts look like they still might be alive in there.

I got the table upright and on the driveway/patio. Hubby won't like it but i'm going to start seeds on it in a later-than-it-should-be wintersowing session.  I saved a lot of milk jugs for this.  Later when things sprout, they will go in the mini greenhouse.


Rose Orach seedlings.  I mistakenly thought they were the Midnight Red Amaranth, but a check of the lable corrected me.

Just reminding myself...

I need to prioritize the Parsnip planting today.  I feel like i am so far behind. Probably because half the other blogs i read are by people who live at least one zone south of me and that puts me about a week to 10 days behind them per zone. But i can keep myself in check to some extent by reading the Johnny's Seeds blog. They are in my zone so i can pretty much follow their lead.
They had Globe Artichokes survive the winter under their row covers this year.  I think that is awesome. They are taking root divisions and planting them out right about now.  My Imperial Star Artichoke (same as theirs) seedlings withstood the hard frost of the other day and that softened the blow of losing all else. Artichokes are up at the top of my list for favorite veggies, like in the top 5...and i'm a vegeholic. But its hard to grow them up here and the grocery stores want a lot for them.... other than pickled or canned, there isn't much else to get. Pickled and canned are fine, but fresh is a goal i'd like to achieve.

The Jerusalem Artichokes are looking good. Getting taller, it looks like all 4 varieties are making a good showing. I can't wait to try the different ones side-by-side and see what characteristics they have.

Found this Video on YouTube.  I hope it links.  I need a hoe like this cause i think it will save me a lot of trouble if i can imitate this method.




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Circa 1:38 pm

I got the parsnips planted. So that is one thing accomplished today. I also put up the last 2 hoops that i still had. I need to get the rest of them this weekend and install them so i can get the broccoli and suchlike out there.

My used books are on their way,  their estimated delivery dates are both June 3...

I am reading "Root Cellaring" now, so far it is interesting.

Things to do...

So, today i need to take a close look at what got frosted the other night and assess what might pull through and eliminate what most certainly won't.  Then i need to restart seeds of what i still have left.

Where i was trying to use up some very old seed (8+ years), i might not have enough left.... once i figure out what i do have, i will have to re-plot my planting plan.  I may end up with some empty spaces...

I also have to get the parsnips planted, before i do that i need to get the spade fork in there and try and loosen the soil deeper than where it was tilled. It just needs a few more inches.

I ran out of hoop pipes, i should have plenty for sockets, but i need 14 more of the 1/2".

Good thing is that it is all reusable next year.

I need hubby to help me spread the Remay over the hoops, hopefully this weekend so i can get the broccoli, pak choi, onion and other hardy stuff set in and get my radishes protected before they sprout and attract bugs.

I also need to tag my tulips, daffs and other perennials so when my mom helps me dig out the flower beds this fall i will have some idea of what is what so it can be put together again nicely.  I'm giving her all my Iris.  They are just too big for my front gardens. Their fans are too large and they are too tall and the slugs love them because they are in shade for a good part of the morning.  There are three colors going on, but the colors are scattered. 
When we bought the house, my first project was to pull everything out of these gardens and get rid of all the weeds. I put back all the good stuff and planted a few of my own things.  But the iris colors are all random in there.  But i think my mom would like to have them all grouped by color, so i will try to tag those as well.
I have not gotten to the decorative plant tag project yet. For that i will actually have to get my husband to watch the little one for a whole day and do my daily chores for me. 

I also need to separate out some of the seed flats. I keep calling them 6packs but they are actually 9 cells. But anyway, i have some things in the flats that either didn't come up or have not come up or were frost bitten. I need to cut out the cell packs that have plants in them and put them all in new flats so i am not wasting space.  Also i can replant in the empty ones.

I have way more things to do than i have time to do it in, but isn't that the way of things :0)