Final Plantings... Maybe

There are days when it seems like it is full summer already, and then we are humbled by a frost warning. We had such a warning last Thursday, and I scrambled to cover things. Row covers, wool blankets, sheets, towels, tarp, rain poncho...everything was recruited. In the end, I don't think we got the frost, but I was ready, just in case.

The scramble was a direct result of stuff sprouting! Stuff that I had planted a mere five days earlier was already up: corn, beans and squash, cucumbers and pumpkins! It is hard to believe, but I think it was contributable to the summer-like weather.

Yesterday I came to the conclusion that it was time to get the final things planted. I grabbed the eggplants and peppers I'd started from seed and found places to tuck them into the garden. The eggplants are like radishes in my garden: sacrificial plants that are supposed to draw the undesired insects away from desired crops. Eggplants are supposedly good for attracting the Colorado potato beetles. My 'taters were covered with 'em last summer, so I thought I'd give it a try. Not that ten lowly eggplants will make much of a dent in the potato bug population, but it should make for an interesting experiment.

The lettuce and one or two spinach plants are almost ready for "baby greens" picking. This is very exciting. Most of the spinach I planted, however, didn't grow. Hm. I may have to replant, but later in the summer when I can count on it for a fall crop. And one of my tomato plants already has flowers! I suspect it is one of the Glaciers - a variety known for producing early (a real asset for us mountain-dwellers).

One of the beds of onions and leeks that I had started from seed this winter seems to be a complete failure. No great loss, though - four beds of onions and leeks is a bit much. Still, it would be nice for once to successfully grow them from seed. Maybe next year. In the meantime, I decided to not let the space go to waste (if such a thing is possible) and filled it with all the remaining seeds I had for beneficial insect plants (coriander, cumin, parsley, savory, buckwheat, red clover, fennel, dill, feverfew, chamomile, et al). We'll see what comes up.