We had more snow last night. More snow is expected tonight and tomorrow. My poor children are complaining of living in Narnia and hoping for Aslan’s return. My garden is barely hanging on. I couldn’t bring myself to post last week because there just didn’t seem to be anything, well at least anything positive, going on out side. Instead of gardening, we have spent our time outside repairing wind damage to our fences. I am trying not to think about how much we were harvesting last year at this time and just be thankful that my plants are still alive!
My strawberries are not at all upset with the weather:I have a 4’ x 6’ raised bed filled with strawberry plants each one covered with flowers. In a months time I am going to be very busy making strawberry jam!
My gooseberries are also doing well:Last year we did not get any gooseberries because the rabbits ate all of the leaves and flowers. The bushes bounced back and developed thorns. My raspberries were saved from the rabbits by developing thorns as well. I have become a huge fan of thorns!
My blueberries are developing very slowly: I think we will be harvesting blueberries several months later than the rest of the country.
My romaine lettuces almost died off, but are fighting their way back. My red lettuces have continued to grow, although quite slowly. The green lettuce plant in the center is a volunteer. I think it is a butter lettuce plant. I planted some seeds late last summer, but an early snow storm prevented them from developing until now. I wonder what other surprises I will discover.
The spinach is finally taking off:I have been able to pinch enough leaves off the spinach, lettuces, and chard to make a salad and have used some on tacos. My potatoes are not liking the cold and I am not sure how many more frosts they can take before they give up trying. All of my herbs are doing well except for the basil. I still have the peppers, tomatoes, squash, and watermelon plants in my greenhouse. I have been opening the door in the hopes that the bees will find their way in to pollinate the flowers. It must be working because this week I made a discovery on one of my cherry tomato plants:
I was hoping to plant the tomatoes in my raised garden bed this weekend. That is not going to happen, but maybe, just maybe next weekend spring will arrive…
To view other vegetable gardens, visit $5 Dinners.
4 comments:
Alea! Your garden looks like it's holding such promise. You'll be safe from frost in a week or two and then your plants are going to go wild. I'm looking into gooseberries myself. They were banned here in maine for a few decades (must have been a bug thing) but now they're allowing them again. I found an elderly woman ind Camden who has grown them secretively in a high fenced in garden all the while. :) Very determine gardener. I may just have to interview her and do a post about her amazing garden. What variety of blueberries did you plant?
Wow... snow again! Amazing! It is 91 degrees here.I'm afraid our spring is over and summer is barging in! I'm glad you plants are hanging in there. Our tomatoes are about a foot tall, but it will be late June or early July before we'll have any fruit to pick. But, boy are we looking forward o BLTS!
I planted Duke Blueberries. the only reason I chose them is because they were what the local nurseries sold and were supposed to be able to handle full sun. They are not quite as fond as our high desert sun as I hoped, so I am going to be working on creating a little shade for them this summer, so I don't fry the little berries befre I have a chance to pick them.
Hi Alea, I certainly hope the snow has gone by now :)
Here in Vancouver we're starting to smell the summer air though it has been raining all weeks.
Nevertheless, My wife and I can't wait to get outside and start planning for our backyard retrieve.
Jay Chua
Publisher, PorchSwingSets.com
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