First set-back of the season

You may notice that my vegetable bed is looking a bit different then it did just a week ago. This is why..

This morning I went out to check on my two raised beds that I planted last weekend. I knew, even with the wet, cold weather that we have been experiencing, that something should be germinating by now. And I was right..sort of. Yes, my poor little radish had started sprouting. But..the birds had decided to pluck out every single one that had come up! Grrrr. The top of the raised bed was littered with little green radish heads and their single long tap roots. I knew if I didn't do anything, I wouldn't ever get to harvest a single radish. So, another trip back to Down to Earth where I picked up some remay fabric.

Then I came home and covered the bed with a section of light-weight fence wire. I was lucky because the fencing piece that we had left was just the right length, bent over the bed.

Then I covered the wire with the remay fabric and held down the corners and ends with some earth staples that I had stashed away from an old project. I must say the whole thing doesn't look too bad and my only cost was $2.00 for the remay, half of which I didn't use. So now, in a few days, I will lift up the remay and take a peak. I should still have lots of radish seed left to sprout since I caught the birds early in the act.

After that, I got to the project that I had planned for the day - planting the onions that I purchased yesterday at the Farmer's Market. I was glad at that point that I had already constructed the raised bed row for them. It was quite easy to tuck them into their new home and then just give them a good watering in. I planted two varieties; a yellow storage onion called "Prince" that I planted last year and a red storage onion called "Red Bull" that is new to me. I am hoping that the birds leave the seedlings alone until that are established. They are in the same area where they thrived last year, so I am hopeful. It was amazing, the strong onion smell, that came from the little "Prince" plants as I tugged them away from the 6-pack cell in which they were growing. Even with my eyes closed, there was no doubt what these plants are going to grow up to be!

And on another discouraging note, below is a picture of my big garden that I took this afternoon. After yesterday's 2" of rain, there is standing water everywhere. It's six weeks until Memorial Day Weekend, when I normally try to have this garden all tilled and ready to plant. Unless we really see an increase in the average temperature and have a lot more sunny days, that yearly goal of mine is going to be impossible to reach this year.