And More Rows

After a busy day of work and attending the track meet, I was finally able to spend some time working in the garden tonight. I was so hoping to finish laying out all of the garden stakes. Unfortunately, my achy back had other plans. So I managed to get another 4 additional rows set up tonight. Now I have 14 completed and 4 more to go.The end is in sight.

Sweet Pea Update

Although the first open bloom in my sweet pea tower was scarlet red, I knew that I hadn't purchased this color. Even though I have stupidly misplaced the plant tags from the original 6-packs, I clearly remember picking out maroon as one of the two colors that I brought home. The other color I am a little more foggy on. I am sure it was complimentary to maroon but after that it is a wild guess. Well after tonight, the guessing is over. Six or seven more blooms have opened and they are all either maroon or a soft lilac. And I am glad to have my one red plant too, as a bonus pop of color. No matter the color, they all smell heavenly.

And More Rows

After a very busy Monday at work, I tried to fit in as much garden time as I could tonight. I started by planting my "Poletschka" dry beans. This is the same variety of bean that I planted directly in the kitchen garden last week. The very next day, when I went to check on them, every bean had mysteriously been 'sucked" downward in the row and was gone. My guess is that a vole ate them but that's truly just a guess. So, on to plan B! I pre-soaked another handful the last two days. Tonight I planted each one in a individual 2" pot. I am going to let them sprout and grow just a little bit, before I transfer them into the kitchen garden. Hopefully this technique will foil the vole. 

When this project was completed I headed back down to the big garden. I had hoped to lay out another 6 rows but it was hard, slow going tonight. The middle section of the garden seems to have dried the slowest and definitely has the most clay dirt clods. My leveling with the rake was tiring and I ended up completing just four rows before I called it a night. Still, I now have 10 rows finished, so I am over the halfway point.

It's Time to Make A Plan

I began my day working down in the big garden. I worked raking the ground level and setting out stakes for each row of dahlias. I ending up getting 5 more rows set up, for a total of 6 rows completed.

 

Dorothy's rose by the garden gate is in full bloom. I also have a really nice crop of hairy vetch climbing through the rose. I think the hot pink of the rose and the intense purple of the vetch look so pretty together.

As you can see my potted dahlias are growing well. I took the time this afternoon to check on each potted tuber that hadn't yet poked out of the soil. Most of them were close, but a few tubers just weren't producing any measurable growth.So I tossed those tubers and made a note of the new variety totals. With the garden layout 1/2 complete, it was time- past time really - to make a master map for the big garden.Yikes, 18 rows of dahlias this year! The most ever, even with the tubers that I tossed today. At this point it looks like I will have 242 potted plants to set in.

Beginning the Garden Set-up

I started the day working up at the house. For weeks, I have been meaning to pull out my sweet pea tower and cover it with a fine netting. The plants were having trouble grabbing the tower because it is very open and doesn't have a lot of points on it with which the tendrils can grab hold. As you can see, I waited so long that the sweet pea plants just started climbing up on each other or were flopped on the ground. This morning I took some green twine and pulled them up toward the tower. They should straighten out in a few days and look pretty good. I am so please how they are growing this year. I has literally been over a decade since I have successfully grown sweet peas. Each year in the past, the aphids attacked them and all of the plants died. For whatever reason, I don't have any aphid problems up here and they are growing great.

I also have my first open bloom today. It's a lovely red, but I have to admit I am a bit confused. When I bought my two 6-packs of sweet pea plants at Down to Earth I clearly remember buying 2 different colors. I know without a doubt one of the colors was maroon. I think the other color was pink or lilac. But I know I didn't buy any red plants. So this lovely first bloom is a surprise to say the least.

This one looks like it could be maroon when it fully opens.

After I finished my sweet pea project I transplanted all of my "Minnesota Miget" melons. I am planning on eventually planting these down in the big garden. But it will be a few weeks before it is logistically possible to do that. They were outgrowing the small cells that the seed was first planted in, so I moved them all to roomier quarters.

They are really looking good. All 12 plants are healthy and are just beginning to unfurl their first true leaf. It was the prefect time to transplant them.

Once that project was complete I headed down to the big garden. It had been two days since the final tilling and the soil had dried out nicely. It was time to start laying out the rows and stakes. I began raking the soil as smooth as I could and laid out 2 rows for bush beans and 5 rows for flowers. Then I set the stakes for the first row of dahlias. There is still a lot more to do but it feels good to have started the process.

Garlic Scapes

Just this last weekend, I was watering my garlic and purposefully looked to see if the plants had started sending up their scapes. At that point here was still no sign of them. So you can imagine my surprise when I glanced over at the garden last night and saw that both varieties suddenly had scapes. 

I love the architectural beauty of garlic scapes. They twist and turn and no two grow exactly the same. I am really hoping to harvest my scapes this year and try pickling them. I have found some recipes on the web and am anxious to try one out. Pictured above, a "Russian Red" plant and below, the "Chesnook Red".

Last Tilling of the Year

Tonight, right after work, we headed down to the garden and gave it the 3rd and final tilling of the year. Dad actually tilled the whole garden twice. First it was completely tilled going back on forth vertically, making many short trips. We felt that would help push down some of the "hills" that appear in the garden after multiple tillings. Once that round was finished he then tilled the garden horizontally in long passes as we normally do. The combination of both tillings worked well. The garden ended up as smooth as it has in a number of years. It should make the setting out of my rows go a little easier this year. It was also finally much drier tonight too. The soil was only sticking to the tractor's wheel in just a few spots.

As Dad worked, a couple of clever Robins arrived. They quickly went to work pulling out worms in the freshly tilled soil.

I busied myself cleaning the garden gate. Each year it always get covered with tree pollen and a fine layer of dirt. I washed both sides and gave my glass dragonfly a good cleaning as well. It looks so much better now.

In the hedgerow, between the garden and the road, I noticed that the Indian Plum are slowly turning from yellow to a deep purple. As they ripen, someone has begun eating them too!

Early Moonbeam Watermelon

Tonight I planted my four "Early Moonbeam" watermelon. I started these plants from seed on May 11th. They are just starting to put out their first true leaf and their roots have pushed through the bottom of their peat pot cells. It was the perfect time to transplant them.

Yesterday I had dug two holes in the area that runs between our two sidewalks. It was tough digging, between the all of the gravel and rocks that were in the compacted dirt. Once I finally got two decent sized holes dug, I filled them with Nature's Best and made two nice sized mini-raised beds.

I set two plants in each bed and then covered the beds with a protective framework. I am hoping that they will receive enough sun in this location. I am also hopeful that being surrounded on three sides by concrete might add some additional warmth to the location and benefit the melons once the sun goes down. It will be fun to watch them and see how they do this year.

I had lots of help with my planting project tonight! 

Everywhere I turned there was a cat assisting.

Some more energetically than others.

New Garden Art

This evening I finally found the time to set up my new garden art. I had received some bonus money from work and had some Easter money saved as well. I decided to purchase this lovely leaf wind catcher I had admired at  Down to Earth. It has three different wheels that all spin independently. For now I have it sitting in the kitchen garden, where we can all easily watch it.