Stuff I did yesterday...

...Because it was sunny!  Well, partly sunny.  But with all the rain we've had, that's a big deal!  So Hubbyman mowed, I pulled the radishes and thinned out the lettuce, chard, and spinach.  I also began thinning the kale and broccoli, but didn't go whole hog on it yet.  What else...  Well, I can't remember.  But here are some pictures.  Enjoy!

Okay, I really have no idea what's going on with the sage.  It looks awful.  My best guess is that it's been too wet and too cold.  I think sage likes things on the dry side.  I think.  Anyway, hopefully it will get a little better as things heat up.

Oh yeah!  Gosh, my memory is so bad these days.  I cut the onions down.  Hopefully they will grow back, but if it's been too wet for them, they might just croak.  Who knows.

Gosh, mint is beautiful.

Downside of Baggins is that I keep forgetting about it.  But it seems to be doing okay, even though the dirt is lousy and it's settled a lot, making for a very warm environment.  And here I planted spinach in it.  Hilarious.

Aww, they're holding hands!  So cute!  They are beginning to climb each other, which is what I was expecting.  I'm training some towards the trellis now.  Excited!  I love watching pea vines grow and climb.

Must be love...

Patio spread.

Oh yeah!  The other thing I did!  That memory thing again.  Sheesh.  Anyway, I made a harvesting apron thingy.  Last year I was using a metal bowl, and in the sun, I was kind of cooking the veggies right there as I was picking them.  Ah, the follies of youth...

I made it out of an old, never used tote I bought in DC back in 2000, and the drawstring from a pair of never used jammies.  I think they call that repurposing.  I don't think you could call this upcycling.  It's more like samecycling.  Not a lot of pretty here.  But plenty of function!  I'm all about the function.  Pretty is for losers.  (Haha, kidding.  Pretty is great.)

The end.

What, already?

Yes, I am back already.

One of the reasons I like to keep this journal is that I can use it as reference next year.  It helps me remember where I planted what, and when I did this or that.  It also helps me remember when I planted seeds, to keep track of germination or that sort of thing.  Perhaps if I were a more experienced gardener I wouldn't need to do that, but I still consider myself a beginner, and frankly, my mind is a bit like a colander.

Anyway, I'm posting now, because I planted things.  There I go again!  I can't stop!

What spurred this round of planting was the fact that I pulled one of these and ate it.

A bit small, yes, but delicious!

It was very good.  Sweet and earthy, and quite tender.  They seem immature, but they've been in the ground more than thirty days.  Anyway, the first one was so good that I ended up pulling two more.  The second one my husband ate, and he said it was very yummy (or something along those lines).  I ate the third, and while it was still yummy and tender, it had a hint of spice.  I think they can get spicy if left in the ground too long.  They seem pretty small, but I think that might partly be due to the container they were planted in, which is not very deep.  I'll probably pull the rest before the end of next week.  I'm not sure they all turned out okay--some of them are even smaller.  I may have thinned them too late.  I didn't realize they were supposed to be thinned immediately so that they grow more root and less top.  Anyway, I have that other batch in the foot locker, and they were more carefully thinned, and have deeper soil, so I hope they turn out well.

We're starting to get into the months where weather can be pretty unpredictable.  It could get pretty sunny and warm, but it is just as likely to be a repeat of April, which this year would mean more rain.  Anyway, I decided to go ahead and sow another "batch" of radishes in the big box.  It's just been sitting empty, and I probably won't be using it until the end of May anyway, so I might as well put it to good use.

After planting these, I noticed that my subconscious used the stripes of light shining through the fence boards as row markers.  So between each stripe is a row of radishes.

Planting the final row of radishes.

I'm pretty sure we've established my usual mode of operation--that once I start poking holes in the dirt I can't stop.  So I thought I'd go ahead and try the thing I've been pondering on lately, which is to plant spinach and lettuce in front of the peas.  So I nabbed my seeds and went out to the fence.

Oh.  Right.  The jungle of weeds and crab grass that is my yard.  Oh yeah, moss too.  And some other things I have yet to identify.

This is truly a crime against gardening everywhere.

Yeah.  So I put the seed packets down and pulled a few things.

There, that's better.

Lettuces went in the two bags on the left.

Spinaches... wait, I mean spinach, went in the bags on the right.

And for a random final photo, chard--which I will be thinning soon.

Happy little things.

The end.

So it's the end of April...

...and things are still growing.  New seeds have sprouted, other stuff is still lookin' good...  I'm optimistic for the most part.  I mean, it's still April, so even if stuff croaks, I still have summer to look forward to, right?

Well, shall we do the bad news first?

We have been experiencing some unusually heavy rains and cool weather.  Yes, even for Washington.  For the most part, things seem to be hanging in there just fine.  But the lavender seems to be struggling, and I'm not sure, but I think the green onions are also suffering.  The good news, of course, is that everything else looks good.  I was lame and didn't get pics of the onions, but we all have imaginations here.  Picture green onions with yellowing ends and you're golden.  Here are some pictures of the lavender.  It reminds me a great deal of the famous Scruffy during last year's cold snap.  So I'm thinking it's either too cold or too wet.  Or, who knows, maybe both.

Wind damage?  We do get the breezes periodically...

Aww, perk up, little lady!  It's not all that bad!  ...Is it?

Words go here.

Hey, I know what cheers everybody up!  Pictures of babies!

Cilantro

Have you ever gotten the identity of twins confused?  Well, don't ask me, I forget which is which.  But I do know that one is kale, and one is broccoli.  I confess, I'm not entirely sure what I was going for with these.  Mostly, I think I just wanted to plant something.  That happens with me sometimes.

Kale

Broccoli

I hope these don't get eaten this time.  I relocated them, so I'm hoping they won't be effected by whatever was eating their predecessors.

Now for some pictures of lettuces and radishes!  I admit, words are failing me right now, so I'm mostly letting the pictures speak for themselves.  It's a word fail kind of day.

Lettuce

Still lettuce...

Radishes.  Something thinks these are tasty.  Ugh, I'm so bad with pests.  I really need to do some homework on organic pesticides.  I was always bad about homework, and this is no exception.

Lettuce and radish.

It's getting radish-like!  I'm confused though, because I thought radish greens got bigger than this.  But this doesn't seem much smaller than what you get in the store.  Does that mean the roots are going to block out the sun when they are ripe?

The greens are only this size so far.

Now for some other stuff!  Garlic, spinach, chard, peas...

Little garlic sprouts are kinda cute.

I tried to get an exclusive with the garlic, but all I got was a leaf to the face.

Okay, these dandelions are getting ridiculous.  Someone should tell that lady how to garden.

Swiss chard.  I imagine these will need to be thinned again soon.

Hey!  Stop!  Stoppit!  I am not growing food for the local insects!

I said stop!

We'll end on an herbal note.

Rosemary is happy so far.

Oregano is plotting to take over the world.

Spearmint might be Oregano's cohort... we'll know more as time goes on.  Oh hey, look--there are the onions!  I got a picture of them after all.  I bet that just made your day, didn't it?

The end.

New plants!

So after my last post, I went and nabbed a couple bags of soil and filled all my pots, plus I topped off the big bed where the kale and broccoli should have been.  Anyway, I looked out at all that empty dirt, and just thought dang, this is just wrong.  So today, with Hubbyman's permission, I bought three plants.  Totally made my day.

I went for the perennial herbs first, because I have wanted them anyway, but also because with so many pots, it could prove difficult to fill them with annuals every year.  There is lavender, spearmint, and rosemary.  I'm looking forward to them filling out.  Which, if they're anything like oregano, will happen practically overnight.  But if they're not like oregano... well, then they won't do that, I guess.

Lavender.  And also some crap in my house.  Don't look at that, it's ugly.

Hmm, that other picture kinda sucks.  I like this one better.

Spearmint.

I just love spearmint.  I'm hoping to make a lot of mint tea this summer.  I tried to do that last year, but my seeds were a flop.  So I said screw it and went with an actual plant.  For only about a buck more, I get to skip all that seed stuff!

Rosemary.

I hope I don't kill this one.  Don't die, Rosie!  (I don't have a good track record with Rosemary.)

Hello, what's this, then?

In case you're wondering, that, my friend, is garlic.  Grocery store garlic.  I'm really starting to like this whole grocery store garden thing!  Pretty cool!

The end.