This morning, I harvested the last of my porch lettuce. Temperatures will be in the upper 80s today (and low 90s tomorrow), so I did not want these to bolt. I sadly did not take a picture of the lettuce container before the harvest (it was very pretty), but I immediately planted it with Thai Pepper, Thai basil and nasturtium (those came up in the pot from last year and just moved them). Looks like we are switching from spring to summer …
This morning, I (almost) finished planting my plot. Everything is now in the ground, except the sweet potatoes and okra (I will wait a few more days), and I still have to sow flowers and cilantro. I planted 5 cucamelon plants, 5 pickling cucumbers, 4 slicing cucumbers, 1 zucchini, 4 delicata squash and 3 butternut squash. I also planted two jalapenos, which were a gift. The Sweet Thai basil was planted in between the lettuce seedlings, and the Siam Thai basil along the border of my bed, next to the tomatoes. I also moved some calendulas to different spots in the plot, staked the tomatoes and secured the plants to the stakes with garden velcro. I harvested a handful of strawberries, yay! Usually the slugs, birds or pill bugs get there before I do.
This morning, I planted my tomatoes (11 plants total, 8 varieties). I interplanted them with Italian basil (6 plants) and marigolds (5 plants). I also sowed nasturtium (Alaska Red Shades). I still have to plant the Thai basil, leeks, curcubites and flowers (strawflowers, gomphrena) as well as sow cilantro and flowers (borage, cosmos, zinnias, more nasturtium). I also harvested my two overwintered leeks. The rhubarb is still going strong (three harvests so far), the garlic looks great and the shallots are coming up as well.
I started planting today. Finally! The water in the community garden was turned on a week ago (much later than usual), and we had a Nor’easter a few days ago with the temperatures dropping to the low forties, so I delayed planting until now. This afternoon, I weeded a quarter of my plot and planted lavender, sage (both were seedlings from Neighborhood Farm, all other plants I grew from seed) and parsley, Rainbow Swiss chard, Meadowlark kale, and five types of lettuce: Johnny’s Allstar Gourmet lettuce mix, Johnny’s Salanova green butterhead lettuce, Sandy Hill Preservation Center salad mix, Merlot (leaf) and Black Seeded Simpson (leaf). I then mulched lightly with salt marsh hay and protected the seedlings from the voracious resident rabbits with chicken wire. I plan to put in tomatoes, basil and some flowers later this week. Peppers, cucumbers and squash will go in the week thereafter.
Today, I repotted my ginger. Some of the pieces were moldy (about a third of them), and the healthy stalks have been flopping over as they are now too tall to be supported in a seed flat. The two tallest stalks are now three and a half feet tall! I replanted the healthy pieces that had shoots or roots into a 12 inch-wide shallow plant container. I will need to keep the planter indoors for a few more weeks, at least during the night.
On this sunny and warm Saturday afternoon, I repotted all my 24 tomato plants. I had started them on March 16, and they definitely had outgrown their little cells. Here again are the varieties: I have two each of Scotia (E), Stupice (E), Green Zebra (M), Ailsa Craig (M), Brimmer Pink* (M), Ananas Noire (L), Black Krim (L) and Dr. Wyche’s Yellow (L) plus 4 each of Mountain Magic (M) and Peacevine Cherry tomatoes (M) [E=early, M=mid-season, L=late tomato]. The 8 cherry tomato plants will go in the communal bed outside the community garden for the whole neighborhood to enjoy.
* One of the Brimmer Pink plants is a different variety (the one seen to the right in the front row) as it is a potato leaf-type, and Brimmer Pink has “regular” tomato leaves. We shall see the mystery unfold.
Today, I re-potted my kale, Thai hot peppers and Sweet Thai basil seedlings. They had outgrown their little seedling cells. The kale and peppers were started on February 16, the basil on March 1.
I also started more seedlings: Siam Queen Thai basil (6 cells), Italian basil, Clemson Spineless okra (6) and 6 cells each Merlot lettuce, Allstar Gourmet lettuce mix (Johnny’s), and Salanova green butterhead lettuce (Johnny’s), plus more flowers: Crackerjack mixed marigold (12), Oriental Nights Alyssum (6) and Tall Double Mix strawflower (6). It is my first time growing okra. The okra and flowers are for the communal bed, but I may keep an okra plant or two as they are just so beautiful (even though I am not particularly fond of eating them).
Yesterday, I started my tomatoes. As always, to stagger harvest, I planted a mix of early (E), mid-season (M) and late tomatoes (L): 2 cells each Scotia (E), Stupice (E), Green Zebra (M), Ailsa Craig (M), Brimmer Pink (M), Ananas Noire (L), Black Krim (L) and Dr. Wyche’s Yellow (L). I sowed two seeds per cell to ensure germination as many of my seeds are from previous years. If both seeds germinate, I will pinch off the weaker one.
All of those varieties are meant for my garden plot. I will have too many as I only plan to have ten plants maximum, but this way, I should have a good number to choose from. I also started 4 cells each Mountain Magic and Peacevine Cherry tomatoes, all of those will go in our communal bed for the neighborhood to enjoy.
In addition, I started Swiss chard (8 cells), Black-Seeded Simpson leaf lettuce (4 cells), May Queen butterhead lettuce (4 cells), lettuce mix (6 cells) and Siam Queen Thai basil (6 cells). I sowed more Thai basil as I did not get the germination rate I wanted from the seeds I had started two weeks ago. Siam Queen is a new-to-me variety, and I am excited.
