protection

The temperature swings again- yesterday was warmer (I moved a patch of turtlehead and trimmed the euonymus) and today it's droping with thunderstorms, possibly tornadoes rolling through and then several nights of temps near freezing. I moved the few deck pots into the greenhouse again, and brought the seedlings back inside to the window space. Made the little cage easier to use- cut the clips off the bottom edge (that held it to the tray base before), took off the ties holding corners together down one side, so I can swing the whole side open. Shelves of cardboard.

The rest of the seedling trays, I put them on the long bench and laid two smaller benches on their sides around them.

Then covered with wire shelving piece. Very effective at keeping the cats off, and easy to reach the trays by just lifting off the shelving.

Though I don't like it because from the room side, I can't sit and admire the small things growing. So still trying to come up with better solution.

Leaf beet chard looks best of them all (quite a few of the tokyo bekana and tomatoes are kinda floppy).

sorrel leaves

One of the first things we've eaten from my garden this year: sorrel. Side to a pork roast (rubbed with honey and thyme). I like the combination of savoury/sweet and sharpness- almost sour- from the leaf. I also like to eat fresh sorrel with meatloaf.

snowfall

Yesterday it was 80°. Today it is snowing.

I moved my three pots of herbs on the deck into the greenhouse (which is still holding at 38°) and brought all the seedling trays inside. Some of them- the tatsoi and tokyo bekana- could probably be fine out there, but I prefer not to take chances. Not now, when I'm still getting back into managing the plants and taking care of all the tasks.

I put the seedling trays into shallow boxes and affixed wire mesh over, to keep my cats from messing with it. The wire is in narrow strips that used to cover my planter boxes on the deck railings (which I removed last year, they were cracking and sun faded and split apart) but it seems to be enough- kitties have stood up to sniff at it but not tried to jump on top or stick their paws in.

A few in the wire cage are under the bench too.

They are all safe from the cold and getting enough light (to survive), and in a few days I can move them back out again.

sticks and seeds

Italian heirloom tomatoes sprouted, and a few of the garlic chives- and now there's seedlings in every single tray I sowed. Not all varieties grew, but something of each. My expectations were too low, this year! Outside I planted carrots, turnips and sugar snap peas today. I trimmed the viburnum and that gave me a lot of sticks with little twigs going every which way for pea supports.

Put a makeshift shield of wire shelving and old fencing mesh over the carrot bed, and scattered hot pepper flakes and coffee grounds on the other two, to deter the squirrel from digging. (That's turnips sown in bed 10 left corner background of the photo).

Squirrels have obviously been all over burying stash in the mulch. I found a lot of empty and half-rotted peanut shells, some halved walnuts, a few acorns, and one sprouted almond!

That's a first.

new project

My dill has come up! 

And I have been painting bricks (cinder blocks) to replace old rotted edges on beds 7 and 8. I thought I was all set with five or six days of dry weather to work in, plenty of time to take it at a casual pace and have the hours of drying time between layers needed.

Then the forecast changed and now it's going to rain on wed so I have to haul all the bricks inside and move them back out on friday when it dries up again, bah.

It was hot today- 85 degrees. I've been taking the seedlings out of the greenhouse each day now to sit on the table in the sun- but I had to move them into shade this afternoon.

leggy

Seedlings have sprouted in most of my trays now. Lettuces came up yesterday, and tomatoes today. There's blank spots, but at least something for each. The tokyo bekana is awfully leggy- not enough light- I put them all out on the deck this morning (tomatoes got sunlight their first day!) and will either sprinkle more soil around the stems in the tray, or just plant them deeper when potting up.

Bah, the camera didn't quite focus on them.

early plants

I haven't done my usual walk all around the property to see what's growing, but here's a few pictures from the last couple days minor work outside. In the garden, one plant I moved to shade spot on the inner ends of beds 3 and 4 the year before, survived: a catmint.

I made no extra effort to protect plants from the severe cold we had this winter, so pleased and surprirsed to find that both lemon balm

and sorrel survived (though tarragon, winter savory and bunching onions did not. And sage is gone. Remains to be seen if my sculpit will regrow).

My lavender looks okay, if reduced. Both rosemary plants are browned and bronzed in the upper foliage

but some green remains on the lower parts of the plants, so I hope with a trim they'll be okay.

Similar with my potted thyme, which I really thought would die in the greenhouse this winter! (camera refused to focus on the green leaf)

Chives

and parsley are also still alive.

Also my happy thing- a new tree! Pictured from my bedroom window.

In the fall, I planted a young redbud out front (don't remember if I posted about it here). I've long wanted a redbud out front. I don't know how old this one was when I bought it from the local nursery, but it's about the same size as the one I've had for years on the sideyard, and a better shape. I am hoping it blooms this year. I put it where a tree died not long after I moved into this house, and the stump was left there (on purpose) for years- I think more than five years- with those yellow-flowering sedums planted around/over it. 

When I put this tree in, that stump had rotted out enough that I literally just pulled hunks out of the ground. Very little effort. It was super easy to spade up the soft humus and soil- easiest hole for a tree planting I've ever done. And I hope the rotted wood will feed this young tree well.