Too Busy to Photograph!

Hard to believe, when it seems my camera has been surgically attached sometimes, but these last few days I've just been too busy in the garden to take photos!

The peas are finally trellised - ten rows. I ran out of twin about half way through and the whole project had to be put on hold until I got more.

And now the greens are planted. Truthfully, these really could've gone in weeks ago, but that whole snow/frost thing keeps me conservative when it comes to planting. The packages may say the plants are cold tolerent, but what if that's only in Florida, where cold is 70 degrees?

The spuds are in, too. Only a little over two beds this year - no where near as many as last year. This is probably just as well...just in case I get a job offer and have to move!

The beds are slowly filling back up with weeds, though. The paths in between the beds are overgrown with dandelions. Where did they all come from! some are trying to reach knee-height, but so far have been unsuccessful. I mowed some of them down yesterday, but the rest remain, thumbing their proverbial noses at me.

Meanwhile, the drip irrigation system is on the fritz. I bought new batteries for the timer, but after working for about two minutes, it went on the blink. I finally took the whole thing apart and found the inside full of corrosion! One bit even fell off - its wires completely corroded through. I've called Dripworks (twice) to ask them if the thing was under any kind of warrenty (I've only had it two years, and didn't use it hardly at all last year), but so far they have not had the courtesy to call back. Beware the power of the internet, Dripworks - an unsatisfied customer can wreak havoc on your reputation!

So, in the meantime, I've got the hose hooked up and every evening am out there watering.

HHH weather is here (Hazy, Hot, Humid). The exhaust fan is on at night. The dog and I lie there unable to sleep in the heat trapped in the house. And it's only May.

The Growing Season is Starting Up

It's very exciting around the garden these days, for Things are happening.

Just as the apples and crabapples were budding, we were hit with another snow storm (well, sort of a storm - mostly just cold weather and snow in the air, although we netted about 0.1" of snow on the ground). Just about every growing thing now has blackened leaves. But, nature perseveres, and now the trees are blooming.

Here is as bough from my white-flowered crabapple. Last year was the first time it had blossoms - about a half dozen. This year it is loaded.

The other crabapples are full of buds, too. The wildlife crab was hit hard, so it is not the solid plume of flowers it was last year. In fact, the Royalty crab isn't either. It was loaded with buds, but now they don't seem to be opening, or at least not with any sort of vigor.

The regular apples, however, are doing well. Here are the flowers on the Haralson:

The Jonagold is also loaded, and this year, for the first time, I have a few flowers (very few) on the Milden. The Milden isn't looking too well, though. The middle trunks are defunct. I cut off one earlier this spring - it was well and goodly dead. The other is nearly dead - no leaves, no flowers. The Northern Spy is a late bloomer, in many ways. It's leaves are only just starting to emerge, and I think it will have a few flowers, but they will be later in the season.

I also noticed this year I have a wild apple that has volunteered in my yard! It's about as bit as some of the whips I planted last year, but IT is loaded with blossoms. The wild varieties are so much hardier and grow up so much more quickly than their domesticated cousins.
Meanwhile, this last Sunday was a PERFECT day. It was in the low-70s, with a cloudless blue sky and a nice breeze. I spent part of the morning chasing red admirals around the yard trying to get their photos. There were many of them, all feasting on the dandelion buffet that is my lawn, but none would sit still long enough to shoot! I finally tracked this one down in the veg garden.

And then I spent the rest of the day re-digging the remaining veg beds. The weeds had taken over the final six beds and they were a chore to clean out. It was like starting from scratch and digging up the lawn! By Monday afternoon all six were finished and are now almost ready for planting.

I am still going to hold off another week or so before I really get stuff planted - more cold weather is possible. Still, I may get the spuds in this week.

Meanwhile, the garlic is doing great:

I took the row covers off the peas yesterday and they are looking great, too! Put in the poles and posts that will hold their trellises (when I get around to making them).

Wish I could be as optimistic about the onions. They are just not looking too great. Gave them a good drink yesterday, but only time will tell if they survive and produce.

I'm "on vacation" again this week, so I hope to get a fair bit of stuff done in the garden, in between going on flower hikes with my pal Jackie. I've got a couple days off next week, too, during which I really hope to get stuff into the garden.

Guilty

Okay - guilty as charged. I planted my peas about a month earlier than usual, and here's what happened:

My apologies to everyone.

And Now a Splash of Color

Things are really starting to pop around the yard and in the gardens. For those of you who live further south, this will be a flashback to maybe a month ago. But things progress a bit more slowly up here in the mountians, yet even for us, things are blooming early this year.

Buds on the white (snowball?) crabapple. Last year was the first time it had blossoms - about a half dozen. More are on the way for this year. I can't wait!

Little pink primroses are just starting to bloom.

My favorites, though, are the yellow primroses.


How sweet they are!

The grape hyacinths have been in bloom for upwards of a couple weeks now and are beginning to show their age.

The PJM rhododendrons are coming along nicely, too. Most of the open flowers are squashed against the side of the house, but soon the ones facing the yard will open, too.

And then there are the tulips. These lovely pointy-petalled specimens have really opened up in just the last couple of days.

It’s Pea-Plantin’ Time in the Mountains

…or not. It seems awfully early to me, with a week still left to the month, but “they” say you can/should plant your peas “as soon as the ground is workable.” This year that would’ve been almost in March! Why, I don’t usually get the garden going until mid-May at earliest, and more often than not not until after Memorial Day. But, this year it has been warm early, and with employment up in the air (had a job interview this week in Maryland, but there are 29 other candidates for that job), I figure it’s best to plant, just in case. I’m kinda hoping that by planting the garden the Fates will think they’ve worked against me by giving me a job and making me move. We’ll see.

So, tonight when I got home from work, the air was mild, the sun was shining – perfect planting weather, thought I. The black flies are not biting yet, although once the sun was well and goodly set, the mosquitoes came out and did their best to drive me back inside. I wasn’t having any part of it, though – I stayed out planting until I couldn’t see the seeds anymore. Got eight double-rows planted – eight varieties. I know you are dying to know what kinds, so here’s the list and some descriptions.

Golden Sweet – edible pods – “Originally collected at a market in India. Tall 6’ plants, beautiful two-toned purple flowers and bright lemon-yellow pods. Best eaten small, excellent for stir-fry. The only yellow-colored edible podded pea in Seed Saver’s Exchange’s collection of over 1,000 varieties.” Sounds intriguing, eh? I have seeds from SSE and from Baker Creek for this variety – we’ll see if they do equally well.

Schweizer Riesen (Swiss Giant) Snow Peas - a rare pea that I got from Turtle Tree Biodynamic Seeds. The catalogue describes it as “an old Swiss heirloom. Tall, vigorous plants with attractive purple-flower[s] bear large, tender, tasty snow peas. People sometimes mistake the showy flowers for sweet peas.”

Mayfair – a shell pea I got two or three years ago and haven’t had since due to seed crop failures. I was glad to get it again this year – it’s a very good sweet pea. Unfortunately, the description for these was on the back of the order form, which was mailed, so I can’t tell you what the catalogue said about them! They produce late in the season - a good choice to extend your pea-growing pleasure.

Green Arrow – another standard in my garden. It’s also the pea with a large following among commercial growers. Still, it is yummy.

Blue Podded Shelling Peas – I grew these for the first time last year. They are so beautiful, from their lovely blue flowers to their stunning purple (not blue) pods. Even the peas inside the pods are purple, but when cooked, they do turn green, just like purple beans do. Let’s see, the package (from SSE) says “AKA Blauwschokkers. Soup peas have been enjoyed as a winter staple in Europe for centuries. Spectacular plants are beautiful enough to grow as an ornamental. Productive Dutch strain.” Oops – I see it also says to soak the peas overnight before planting. Well, too late now! Last year I treated all my peas to innoculant mixed with water, and they did just fine with only a few minutes in the liquid. Maybe we’ll get rain the next couple days (the forecast calls for rain all week, actually) and that will do instead. I guess we’ll see!

British Wonder – I planted these for the first time last year. I remember being impressed with them, but I can’t remember why. Hm. The SSE packaging says “Introduced in England by Taber and Cullen in 1890. Sent to the USDA for trial in1903 and introduced by W. Atlee Burpee in 1904. Excellent yields of sweet green peas.”

Laxton’s Progress #9 – an interesting name, don’t you think? I think that’s why I purchased them originally, but they have since become another pea staple for me. This is possibly because they bear fruit so early, and the pods are large and plump. Good peas.

Lincoln – these were the last ones I planted tonight. Another heirloom from Baker Creek. In their catalogue they describe Lincoln’s as follows: “An old-time pea introduced in 1908. High-yielding and tasty, this pea does better than many in warmer weather.” The vines are described as compact and a good choice for small gardens. We shall see.

That leaves Little Marvel and Cascadia still to plant. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. Then there are the onions, which arrived this week…

It is now tomorrow - the morning was so nice that I couldn't resist finishing the last bed of peas, so Little Marvel and Cascadia went into the ground today. Then I sorted out the driplines - all pulled up from last fall in order to facilitate weeding and the addition of soil ammendments. Lines were relaid in the pea beds, and row covers were placed over the whole lot.

The row covers aren't so much for frost protection as they are for crow protection. After losing all my bean seeds one year to a mysterious cause, I'm not taking any chances any more. Until seedlings are up and able to hold their own, they get some extra protection. Kind of makes the garden look like a bunch of shroud-covered graves, though, doesn't it?

Working the Beds

Boy, did we luck out. Last week found us wallowing in warm weather - in the 80s! This is unheard of up here in early April. But it sure felt nice, and the plants and insects were making the most of it. The weather gurus were claiming it would all come to an end by Sunday, but instead Sunday was glorious - in the 60s, with a slight breeze. Ahhhh.

So, of course, I HAD to do some prep work in the veg garden. This time I took out my new tool, the Cobra Head Hoe.

I know it doesn't look like much, but this is my new favorite tool! That flattened head is very sharp and it scoops right through the soil, loosening up the roots of all those weeds that have made it through the winter. Normally, I attack this project with a shovel, digging up huge chunks of soil, then sitting down and ripping the chunks apart and shaking the soil off the weed roots. Not this time. I just scooped and pulled - out the weeds came!

Four beds were done in record time!

I should've done more, but the bees were calling and I simply had to to photograph them as they swirled around the willow shrub.

Farewell, Black Oxford

After much agonizing and research, I've finally come to the conclusion that the Black Oxford apple tree has fire blight. I've suspected it from the first year I had it, but I couldn't get any "experts" to come out and confirm it.


So, last night, after work, I did the kind thing and cut it down.



How sad the small pile it made...


...fitting into a grocery bag with room to spare.


I've stuck the bag in the garage with the thought that once the wood dries I can burn it in the woodstove.

Next I'll have to do something with the stump, because it will probably continue to sprout. I can either dig it out (ugh), or paint it with RoundUp, like I did the honeysuckles two years ago. Decisions, decisions.