The Life of A Garden

"Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas." ~ Elizabeth Murray

Oh my goodness, it has been a busy couple of weeks! So many things have happened...For starters, spring is springing and how!

R and I measured out Zone 2 yesterday and today I painted a sign for the newbies. Of course I couldn't just spray paint a sign, I had to do it up. It was a good excuse to be outside, an avocation I've become quite passionate about these past couple of weeks.

and lest we forget the babies have been a growin' and a growin'....

and the Moon Flowers are a foot tall so we've been training them back on themselves (for now)...

Today, I soaked our Amish Sugar Snaps and Green Arrow Peas. After they germinate, they're going right in the dirt! (better late than never).

I have an appointment with my no-till/perennial garden site coordinator tomorrow morning. It seems the last people to garden my plot didn't clean up and I'm going to have to find someone to till it after I haul all the old stuff out of it (brussels sprouts, sunflowers, a pile of whatsit). Not really what I had expected, but I'll be happy when I have leeks till after the first frost, and kale and herbs that I won't have to take out whether they're ready to give up or not.

Last season, I took one of our Italian Flat Leaf Parsley plants and literally shoved it in a big pot with some soil. I set it on our glassed in but unheated porch and barely watered it, yet it  remained mostly green and edible until almost December, still had some green on it as late as March although it finally looked too weary to be appetizing. I'll definitely try that again next season despite that I'll be leaving the herb garden intact until nature kills her herself.

Which is as it should be.
XXKHT

"The Garden Keeps Growing Whether I Have Time to Write About it Or Not.." KHT

Gosh, I can't believe it's been a full week since I last posted and my oh my! How much things have changed since then! I apologize to any subscribers who have been left to wonder what has been happening. In a word: LOTS!

For starters, the Moon Flowers are HUGE:

I did not try to start new peppers because I thought it was too late even after doing all that research (which will come in handy next season), but to my delighted surprise, as soon as I gave up they went ahead and germinated themselves.

I think I over watered them. I hadn't quite gotten the wicking system of the APS working correctly (for whatever reason - the wicks may have been upside down?). Anyway, I was watering the heck out of them and as soon as I let them dry out, the little guys poked their heads up.

We now have six Jimmy Nardello's Sweet Italian Frying Peppers growing as twin companions ala TOFA and the Chocolate twins are doing great...

And there is even some hope reserved for this tiny little King of the North who showed up late and weak but at least he showed up so we're giving him some TLC and we'll see what happens.

And OMG the tomatoes! Yesterday we transplanted the do-over seedlings and they're standing up tall and beginning to grow their secondary leaves:

We're up to twenty-three heirloom varieties that I'll list on a separate post so I can give them their due. I can almost taste them already and am desperately trying to figure out a cheap, preferably recycled way to stake them so that we can maximize their yields, as I plan to go restaurant to restaurant to sell them as they come in.

As a former chef, I personally can't imagine refusing a local, organic gardener with her arms full of heirloom tomatoes still warm from the sun....can you?

XXKHT

"So I sing to my seeds. What about it?" ~ Leslie Gaydos

Even though it's April Fools, the following is real...

To all you old seasoned gardeners out there, what follows is not likely to astonish you. But, to us new gardeners, you won't believe this...

Late this morning I noticed the Moon Flowers had broken the surface and around 1:00 pm took this pic:

Then, I went out for a couple of hours and came back to...

Around 3ish, they'd unfurled further...

By about 6:00...

about a half hour later...a new baby arrives!

and then...and by 7:30...

If I hadn't been there to witness it, I might not believe it.

AMAZING!

XXKHT

By the way...those are large yogurt tubs.

It's like Cabbage Patch Kids Only Much...Much Better!

I've been so busy blogging, studying, signing up for the garden, looking for a job and myriad other things to distract me from it, that I have let three days of green go by without a show and tell!

The baby pictures are in.....

Here are the alliums..the front runners and run away stars so far are the Primor Leeks..an early variety meant to be eaten young...I tasted a tiny piece and they've already a nice flavor. If they weren't so expensive, they'd make gorgeous sprouts for a salad or sandwich.

Embryonic Sage...one defected into the Valencia Tomatoes and I thought we had a super tomato on our hands until I noticed the tell tale black seed case and put two and two together...

First up are the Eskimo (white) Marigolds, going strong!

Baby Johnnys....so many! I can't wait to see their lively, expectant faces...

For someone with such a nice camera and all this photography experience, I am ashamed that my macros aren't better, but proud mother that I am, I'm showing them off anyway. It's not about me...it's about them.

Aren't they adorable? Yes. Yes they are.
XXKHT