Garden Update

To me, it feels like the garden is getting off to a very slow start this year. This year, Matt is working in the garden too (thankfully) and coordinating our schedules means that the peas didn't get into the ground as early as I would like. Still, here is what is going on.

Potatoes. We bought a four variety package from Territorial and split half with Aunt Pat. Steve Soloman in Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades explains it is important for the potatoes to be "well-chitted" which means having those shoots growing out of them. To do this, you lay them out on newspaper and wait for sprouts to appear. But how to tell which of the four variety of potatoes was which? I felt pretty smart for thinking of marking a letter on each potato with a Sharpie to indicate the variety.

Our newly expanded garden ready for planting. At this point the cover crops of crimson clover have all been turned over to rot. And let me tell you, this is an easier job in March than in May.

Sentinel enjoyed hiding in this stand of clover, so I left it. That tiny thing to the right is our new Hungarian Cherry Tree, bought from One Green World. I hope it will be a focal point in the yard, after it gets some height to it.

One of the columnar apples has shot up. I can barely reach the top of it with my hand streched overhead. No apples this year, though. I think it frosted at just the wrong moment.

The other one is shorter, and equally barren.

We've covered our raised beds with black plastic in hopes of super heating the soil so we can grow Cantaloupes and Honeydew melons.

Everything looks a bit barren to me right now. I'm looking forward to seeing green.

We have our pea poles up in Leo's yard, and beds ready for Winter Squash, Potatoes, Pole beans and, of course, the asparagus. Which we can't eat this year, but next year we will enjoy.