The First Planting of the Year

Today's forecasted rain held off until after dark so I was able to get out and do some planting! This year one of my goals was to try some "cool weather crops" in the vegetable bed, before it was time to plant the heat lovers in late May.The first thing that I needed to do was to make some raised beds. I hauled in 5 loads of Natures Best planting mix and created 2 rectangular beds, each about 4" high. I also measured and formed my long thin bed for the onions.

Then it was time to get planting.I decided that one bed would be for radish and one bed would be for lettuce. I planted the follow seed:

• Radish "Pink Punch" - Renee's Garden
• Radish "Plum Purple" - Seed Savers Exchange
• Radish "Rudolf" - Johnny's Selected Seeds
• Lettuce "Australe" Red Butterhead - Johnny's Selected Seed
• Lettuce "Winter Density" Green Romaine/Cos - Johnny's Selected Seed

Then everyone got watered in well. I ran into town to buy the onion plants that I wanted, but Down-to-Earth didn't have the varieties that I had hoped to purchase. So, I will have to wait until Saturday, when I can go to the Farmer's Market, and get my onion plants direct from Hayhurst there.

I also took part of the day to take a walk around the property. The late season daffodils are now blooming. One of our most prolific bloomer of all the varieties that we have planted is "Passional". This reliable daff has pure white petals that frame its soft peach trumpet.

One variety that hasn't done so well for us is "Holland Sensation". I don't know if it is the case that we have it planted in the wrong location or what the issue might be. I do love the combination of white and lemon yellow. Maybe we need to try it somewhere else.

There's no mistaking when the "Golden Ducats" bloom. The shocking yellow blooms open to reveal layers and layers of "torn" trumpets. The only downside is the weight of that many petals causes the plants to fall after a heavy rain. Still, they are worth it!

This little guy is a bit hidden behind the bird-feeder tree. The unique pale yellow, round petals and ruffled orange trumpets on  "Modern Art" make it a really fun variety to grow.

"Flower Record" is another variety that has done super well here. As promised in the catalog, it has reliably come back year after year.