Garden Update May 15, 2022

Surprise! The whole garden is now planted! Just a week ago we were thinking we weren’t going to be able to do that for another week or two. We were still anticipating a few nights with below, or near freezing temperatures; and then the days of rain made it impossible to even get into the garden. So much difference a week can make! The long-range forecast does not show any below freezing temperatures, so we decided it was safe to plant the things Bert had started in the shop under grow lights.

In the last few days, Bert set up the rain barrels and I didn’t even know it! (See last year’s detailed post about how that is done (https://marykisner.com/setting-up-the-rain-barrels/). It finally stopped raining…and now it probably won’t rain for a week or two!

Yesterday, we got to work. A few things just needed to be moved outside to the patio, like the strawberries:

I put seeds in the raised planter for my lettuce and radishes two weeks ago and all the rain must have really helped get things started.

I bought 6 tiny Swiss Chard plants and a single Cherry Tomato plant at a local greenhouse tent set up near the mall to round out the patio plantings. It felt good to see something already growing, while we wait for seeds to sprout in other areas.

The rest of the planters down near the patio are not quite as interesting, but hope springs eternal in May!

I planted a few seeds each of four different shell beans in one planter…just to see if they will work here. I’m sure I won’t get much, but I should learn something about what I’d like to grow next year.

The Cucumber plants (2 kinds) were small but healthy and the Delicata Squash looks very similar. They are in the second fenced beds so they will have wire to crawl up.

The upper garden looks pretty barren, but hopefully in a week or two we’ll see evidence of all the seeds we planted. I’ll try to document the growth in the same order each time so it makes sense as things grow.

Now the challenge will be to keep up on watering. There is something about the anticipation of sprouting seeds that keeps us going this time of year! I am jealous of all you folks that live in places where you can garden all year. On the other hand, after a long cold winter spring anticipation feels pretty good too! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.