On the left we have two spindly zucchini plants and then a pot of evening primrose that Jim got me because I wanted flowers, dammit. I need to deadhead them in this picture. (And...I still do). In the right tray up top are two very healthy looking cucumber plants, and two yellow squash below those. The loan pot of dirty has four spinach seeds with only one tiny plant having germinated and made it through the soil. It hasn't really done much of anything else, so I am thinking those spinach seeds are a bust.
I just checked on the lettuce seeds I sowed during one of the thaws, and there are tiny little sprouts coming up. I assume they are lettuce plants and not weeds, since they're in a row. They're all very close together too, which means either I will need to weed them, or I will just let them fight out, and see who survives. Kind of like Lettuce Highlander.
This past weekend the weather finally broke, and we think for good. It's still very windy. On Saturday I asked Janet to go with me to Dills Greenhouse and look for plants. She said yes, and it ended up being somewhat cold and rainy, of course. Still we muddled through and came home with vegetables! I got broccoli, brussel sprouts, lettuce, and spinach small plants, and then also some onion starts and a potato start. Janet insists I did the potatoes wrong last year, and give that we only got about six of them, she's probably right. She has vowed to help me this year. I also got a small bag of birdseed, then Janet bought me coffee and a doughnut at Tim Horton's on the way home.
Sunday afternoon was planting time. It felt SO GOOD to get my hands in the dirt, and, predictably, I made a huge mess of myself. I have probably mentioned before I cook and garden the same way: I get stuff everywhere. At the end of it though, this is what I got.
(I tried to do a side by side thing with the pictures but it wouldn't let me....)
So, above, we have brussel sprouts and broccoli. I think the broccoli is on the left. But I am not sure. I assume it will become fairly obvious. Below is spinach (across the top there) and lettuce (along the bottom).
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It was at this point that I learned two things. The first I learned through various people. While all of the things I planted are indeed "cold weather crops," they are not necessarily frost resistent, and I would still have to watch when we get the inevitable frost. Apparently they are happy in cold weather but still not resistant unless they are in seed form. Oh well. They don't look that big in the pictures, however, they were way too big to be hanging out inside in their seed pots until May 15.
Fortunately Jim was going to be home which mean Jim was going to shopping with Janet at some point. I asked him to grab me some cheap fitted sheets, queen or king size. (They would have been going to Odd Lots or the Dollar Store.) Janet said that wasn't necessary; she had some old sheets I could use. She insisted on washing them first. We explained they are just going to be going outside in the garden, but when I got home the next day, there they were. Washed. She's adorable.
The other thing I learned was that I had completely misread how many beds I have. I have one more deepish bed, and still need to plant the things in the pots, the onions and potatoes I had just bought, and then the ubiquitous tomatoes and peppers. I do have three more pallets, but they're only about three inches deep, if that (and one has my Lettuce Death Match contestants in it). Although I was able to raise two tomato plants in pallets last year, so maybe they can go there. Or maybe Jim will build me another bed.
I did this morning thing of a solution for the onions. My companion planting chart says they will do well with any of the plants I have in there now, so I think I will place them in between the rows. Maybe I'll grab some more, as twelve onions will NOT last this family long.
All we are waiting for now is May. My friend Teresa and I are going to exchange some plants/seeds soon and then everything can go about the business of growing. Tomorrow is supposed to be very nice so after work I think I will do some major raking of the kindling the neighbors trees have dropped into the yard.
