How is your garden growing? This week, Judith takes us on a tour of her early spring garden, giving us an overview of how her own garden is progressing.
Greetings fellow gardeners,
I have been wishing and hoping for rain; it is much too dry. We seem to get little spits of it here and there, but we could use a steady rain for a day or two. With most of my veggies in pots I make sure that I water every day and watch for signs of stress. In addition, there have been warnings of some cooler nights ahead, so my peppers are still inside.
Doing a tour through my garden I find that the weeds are doing very well. I have creeping bellflower cozying up to the tomatoes and the specter of goutweed lurking in every corner. We are never without something to do.
This week I am completing my potato plantings. I have a few heritage potatoes to go in as well as some Yukon Gold seed potatoes. The trench I am digging parallels the fence near my chicken compound and should produce a good number of plants. I am also planting a few seed potatoes in pots. If you are planting in a pot, be sure there is three inches of soil on the bottom, place the seed potato on the soil and cover it. Remember to cover your potatoes in pots or in the ground as soon as you see the leaves breaking through. Keep covering until you have a sizable mound of at least a foot. The potatoes will be growing off the submerged stems.
The beans are thriving in their plastic cloches with not a single chipmunk nibble to be seen. As the beans grow up, they will search out the fencing and use that as support. If I find them flopping about too much, I can tie them onto the fence. Remember do not use twist ties to tie up your vegetables as they will cut through the stems. One of the best ties to use is cut-up old nylons or socks. Nice and soft and an extra interesting texture.
Beans are growing
My partial shade planter is starting to grow. It is not too late for you to plant a few seeds in partial shade as well. I put a cage in the center and then planted peas; they will climb up the cage. Red Malabar spinach is also planted around the cage, as it also likes to climb. It is a heritage spinach, but it is becoming more readily available. Lettuce seeds are scattered about the surface as they do well in partial shade. All around the edge of the planter I put in radish seeds, and they are up and flourishing. Radishes are a great little vegetable; they come in fabulous varieties and are so easy to grow from seed. At the edge of the planter I have placed a bee-waterer: a small plastic dish filled with stones, then filled with water. The bees and other insects can drink without being in danger of drowning.
Partial shade planter
As usual, watch the weather. If it is super hot be sure your plants have enough water and if the temperature goes down be sure your seedlings are safe. Also, try to do most of your planting when it is cloudy, water regularly, pick the spent blooms off your flowers and embrace the spring. Enjoy your week.
Judith. (Email: sghorticultural@gmail.com)
Veggie Bites are available at https://gardeningcalendar.ca/articles/veggie-bites/
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