rocks and plants

More weeding, cleaning up the edge where fence line will go. Happily discovered that most of the nepitella I planted along the outside edge of bed 4, are still alive! The tiny leaves look velvety.

For years (it feels like) there's been a heap of broken rock on my garden bench- waiting for me to dig them in as a mowing strip around some garden beds. I don't know now, why that was taking me so long. I took a few hours to just sit down and shove them all into the ground, and then tossed the smallest broken bits as a mulch layer. Here on the short side of bed 1 against the house- cleared all the mock strawberry and purple dead nettle- dug in the larger stones to fit patchwork alongside each other.

And here at the end of the path between beds 2 and 3- where it's always muddy and soggy. Very makeshift but already I am pleased to not get my feet wet in that spot, and have a solid place to step right out from under the deck. As more broken rock becomes available (from my rock-collecting spouse) I will extend it.

Few days later I did my usual annual chore of lifting out some edging bricks to re-straighten a row. The left side of this path has been wonky for a long time. Of course it's still not perfect, but much better and I'm not embarrassed to look at it anymore.

Rainy today. I dug up and moved to the front mailbox spot, two borage that were growing in bed 1 (where I want to plant asparagus!) Really they are a bit large for transplanting at this point- with the taproot this is tricky- but I did my best and there are other seedlings coming up in this spot now so if they don't make it, no great loss.

edible

I used to eat the purple dead nettle from the backyard- but now don't make the only recipe I liked it in anymore, so pull most of it. However I took a blurry photo (the little white flower sits high on the stalk above rosette) to identify this plant which is all over the place in spring. When the flower heads turn into dry seedpods, they catapult the seeds everywhere at the slightest touch. 

I found out it's called hairy bittercress and it's edible! 

So I tried it. After plucking off only the cleanest, nicest leaves (no bug holes, mud or slug slime for me, thanks) gave them a good rinse.

I tried some fresh on leftover chicken and rice, some tossed into scrambled eggs and a bit more added to a soup, on different days. The name is a misnomer- you don't even notice the hairs (minuscule) and the taste isn't bitter- it just has a slight kick. Not as tangy as sorrel, and not quite so pepper bite as arugula. I liked it best with the chicken or eggs, not so much in the soup, though I haven't tried doing purée yet.

Oh, and my cat sampled some too:

plans

So we got a salvaged gate.

And have been pricing materials and drawing up an actual plan (because the HOA requires it) to put in a simple wire fence and keep the rabbits out of my garden. It might deter the squirrels and deer too but I'm not quite counting on that.

potting up

the tomatoes. Can't believe they've grown so much in less than a week! There were so many, looking so healthy I only sacrificed a few to the compost (see bottom right corner).  This is the tray that got mixed, but I figured out how to tell the young plants apart. The 'sweetie 100' cherry tomatoes have smooth-edged emerging leaves (at the proximal end of the stem), whereas on the black cherry tomatoes it's already toothy.

I potted up a bunch of extras to either sell or take to the plant swap:

And kept the eight largest/ nicest looking for myself- you can't see them well though because already under the screen box and I didn't feel like taking them out again (it's kinda wedged snug)

Current plant protection measures- for recovery time from transplant shock and cold nights only- after this they will be spending more time outside. I have plants under the short white benches on top of the long bench, shielded by the wire shelf piece, and on top of the benches more plants covered by the mesh boxes I made. And more still, on the floor under the old animal cage. 

Whom I am protecting them from:

I think it's working well- though I can't fit very many more plants in there (and of course they take up more room since now in individual pots).

cold snap

I always think my garden looks absurd when I do this.

It was a quick scramble last night. I was so happy to plant out all the cold-tolerant seedlings the day before, but still have difficulty with the planning of things and didn't look far ahead enough in the forecast. Last night and tonight, it dips just below freezing. I didn't know if those young plants could withstand that when they were going through transplant shock, so I covered them all up.

Probably the tokyo bekana and tatsoi didn't really need it- but I gave them protection anyways. These jugs with the bottoms cut off have pros and cons- with no caps they get a bit of airflow so I don't worry about the seedlings overheating right away when the sun hits them. But even wedged a bit into the ground they're lightweight- three of these blew over last night (and the plants are fine- so I won't bother to cover them up again).

Tatsoi-

The smaller makeshift plastic cloches I put a small rock on top of each- none of those fell over. This is a baby collard green.

I like the little glass jars best for convenience- just plop one over each plant and they stay in place. But warm up quickly. So I have to keep an eye on them, and the sun's progress and the temperature outside in the morning. And as you can see some are just barely wide enough for the chard seedlings. A few I put trays over several together- ran short of jars and jugs.

In years past I have thrown an old lightweight sheet over the entire bed. It takes less time, but I always need an extra hand to spread it and there's not always someone available to help me.

I only covered half the turnips but they all look okay, so maybe that wasn't necessary either. I didn't shelter the peas at all, and they are fine. Still remembering, trying to re-learn how to do all this... 

Tomatoes, dill, green onions and chives still come in on cold nights:

taking stock

what failed / succeeded from my first sowing: 

• Lettuce romaine/ceasar cross (saved seed) - Ok
• Lettuce, leaf type (saved)
• Chives, garlic (from my sister's garden) - Can't tell / few
• Dill, Mammoth - Can't tell / Ok
• Dill saved from 2023 - Can't tell / Ok
• Dill saved from 2017 - Can't tell / Ok
• Green bunching onions, evergreen hardy (saved)
• Green onions, Nebuka - Ok
• Tokyo bekana (chinese cabbage) saved from 2021 - Good
• Tokyo bekana from Southern Exposure Seed exchange - Good
• Tatsoi saved from 2021 - Good
• Tatsoi from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange - Good
• Lettuce, crisp mint
• Lettuce, Webb's wonder - Ok
• Lettuce, Grand Rapids
• Lettuce, Paris island
• Tomato, Italian heirloom - GREAT
• Tomato, Cherokee purple - Good
• Tomato, sweetie 100 cherry - Can't tell / Good
• Tomato, black cherry - Can't tell / Good
• Tomato, beefsteak - GREAT
• Tomato, brandywine 2011 (bought) - GREAT
• Tomato, brandywine (yellow packet) - GREAT
• Chard, leaf beet - GREAT
• Chard, swiss - Good
• Collards, blue, saved from 2020 - Good
• Collards, blue from 2019 (bought) - Good
• Collards, yellow cabbage - Ok

'GREAT'- all of the seeds germinated

'Good'- most of the seeds germinated, only a few failed or stunted

'Ok'- decent amount, maybe half the seeds germinated

'Can't tell'- I dropped the tray and they got mixed up 

Crossed off- nothing grew

I know that's not very scientific, I don't have actual counts or percentages, but it gives me an idea.

more things growing

Peas are coming up!

and turnips. 

The only thing that hasn't grow yet now is my carrots.

But lovage is resprouting

and my purplish hellebores look nicer than ever

planting out

My biological marker is blooming in the landscape: forsythia. 

So it's time to plant lettuces and the other cold-happy ones. 

As you can see in the photo above, half of my lettuce trays did not germinate. I didn't get any crisp mint, grand rapids, ceasar/romaine cross or 'leaf' lettuce (saved seed from I didn't really know which plant). So those packets will be getting tossed. Most of the other trays grew plenty of each, though my chards have been looking rather sad- collapsing stems- 

I think really they do better planted straight in the ground. I pricked them out first, swiss chard in bed 2

and leaf beet chard in bed 3.

Lettuces (they look so small!)

and tatsoi in bed 6,

collards 

blue 

and yellow, in bed 10.

Then realized I hadn't any spot for the tokyo bekana. I cleared straw out of bed 4 where the tomatoes are going to go, used the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket to mark rough circles where the tomato cages will be, and planted the chinese cabbage around them:

It's a good new start.

warming up

It's going to be 80° today.  My thyme plant is greening up

and the chocolate mint is showing new leaves

Out front the tulips were getting eaten by deer (or rabbits?) but I have been sprinkling cat fur (there's always a fresh supply around my house!) and human hair (likewise from my hairbrush) around the plants, and it seems to have stopped.

They don't touch the alliums growing in nearly the same spot. I have a nice row of those going partway across the front bed now, and hope to remember to divide some of the larger clumps after they bloom, to extend it further.

It's nice to see other things coming back as well- the clary sage and groundcovers-

the smaller lungwort I moved here in the fall- didn't dig up and transplant enough of the 'autumn joy' sedums right next to it though.

Guess I haven't lost that old habit after all, of walking around in the spring taking pictures of the same things over and over, because I'm so pleased to see them again. Still alive and well.

seedling progress

Two days ago my beets started sprouting 

along with something I wish wasn't growing- the sticks of virburnum I used as pea supports. Well, that tells me I could just shove trimmings in the ground to extend the hedge!

Tatsoi and tokyo bekana have grown their first true leaves- I'll probably plant them straight out into the garden (skipping potting up)

My collards,

chard

and lettuces all have first true leaves also. (Lettuces are not doing so well as the others).

Had a few mishaps already- I accidentally dropped two seedling trays facedown on the floor. Rescued these tomato seedlings and they seem okay after a few days- although now I can't tell which are the sweetie 100's and which are the black cherry tomatoes!

The other tray I faceplanted had chives and dill- they didn't fare so well. (But these I can tell apart).

So I made some mistakes, but here's something that's gone well: that patch of grass I sowed in the backyard where there's a sunken spot (in the fall). It's greener than anything! (see the surrounding "lawn").

I am honestly quite surprised. All these years I thought I had done well to mix grass seed with compost and ashes, or to scatter just compost and ashes to feed the lawn. This grew far better, and stayed way greener, and looks much healthier. Forget saving ashes for the lawn anymore. Pro mix and a handful of compost, on top of bare clay soil seemed to work!