The Gardening Report

Despite last weekend's very unusual weather--heavy rain followed by hail showers followed by snow!!!--my garden survived with very little damage.

A few tulips lost their petals, but that was about it. I went out in the hail to rescue my pea plants, which are in containers, so easily moved. The Chinese pea pods are a couple of inches tall now, the sweetpeas are just barely though the soil.

The only things I'm harvesting in my garden at this point are onions, garlic, and chives, all of which wintered over. There is nothing like a fresh green onion to wake up your taste buds. I have lots of them, interplanted with the peonies--don't ask, it just happened that way.

I have edamame plants that I started from seed that are now about six inches tall. They will go to my vegetable garden in the sky before they get tall enough to need to be staked. And I have greens--lettuce, spinach, and chard--that my friend Laurie started and gave to me (I gave her edamame plants in return).

Some of the seeds I tried to start haven't germinated, so need to try again. And yesterday I started some lettuce (seeds from the Amish store in Ohio) and some small French strawberries.

I still want to start carrots, but those have to go outside, they don't transplant well. And I need to get out and weed and fertilize (with chicken compost--I think that's the best) my strawberry patch--I'm seeing the first blooms, so it's time to do it. But it's been so cold! I haven't wanted to work outside for that long at a stretch.

Oh, and my nashi tree in blooming, so I need to get out there with a paint brush and pollinate, just in case the bees are busy elsewhere. I've been seeing bees this year, so we have some around.

Oh, and my lilac is budding, as are the bleeding hearts. The forget-me-nots are blooming. And the purple iris. I'll try to take a photo.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Comments

[Carver]

Good to hear the storm didn't cause too much damage. I'm glad you have some blooms and buds. Nothing like new growth in the garden. We've been getting rain lately and I am so happy.

[jeanne]

Carver--I'm happy you are getting rain. It's about time, hum. Do you think you can plant a garden, or is it still too iffy?