Garden Update – May 2024

The garden is growing.

Well, some of it! I know I’m using old seeds in order to use up what we have in the house, so I’m attributing that to some things just not doing anything!

First up are the peas, spinach, thyme and chives next to the house. There were 3 different packets of peas planted, but only 2 came up. Even after a second planting of the 3rd packet, there are still no peas in one section. Oh well, so be it. And the spinach is growing, but seems VERY slow. Maybe that’s just how spinach rolls.

Next up is around the corner to where we have a couple of blueberry bushes and a couple of rhubarb plants. The rhubarb is PROLIFIC!!! Recipes are needed, please share! I did see some raspberry rhubarb jam in a shop last weekend, so I’ll make a batch of that. (I still have strawberry rhubarb jam left from last year). The blueberry bushes are blossoming and I’m seeing bees flying about. Let’s hope they’re easily finding their way into those wonderful, pollen-filled blossoms!

Across from there is the raspberry patch. I trimmed back quite a bit this spring once I could see what was no longer growing. I discovered last year that our raspberries are everbearing. That means that we get 2 harvests (spring and autumn) and the canes will fruit year 1 and year 2 and then are done.

Around the fence line to the ‘mound’ are the strawberries. This area is partially shaded, so I have chosen to have a feature strawberry here rather than something that will produce a huge crop. I have planted alpine strawberries last year and this year. They are coming along well and I assume they will continue to expand in the area I have them planted.

(They are covered in chicken wire because we have bunnies “Henry” in the backyard and they are able to hop around in this area)

Now to the main garden! I planted spinach, beets and radishes in the first third awhile ago. The radishes are coming along well and I thinned a few the other day. The beets seemed to start, but have stopped growing. I keep planting more in hopes that some will do something! And the spinach is coming along (about the same as the spinach in the other part of the yard).

We also have asparagus in that section of the garden but thought I had killed them last year. Thankfully, we have a few spears that came up. I will not pick these and leave them to go to seed. Allowing asparagus to go to seed will feed the roots below the ground which will make for better crops in future years. (I knew that and had a momentary brain glitch last year and picked them all which is why I thought I had killed them)

Two of the three apple trees are blossoming. The one not flowered was pruned a LOT this winter. We’ll wait to see what happens with that one. It may need a year to recover.

In the middle section of the garden, I planted potatoes, kale and carrots. NOTHING is coming up….yet. After letting that area go for a few weeks with nothing popping up, I have now added broccoli and cauliflower seeds to the edge of where I put the potatoes. I planted peas where the kale was (hence the tomato cages for them to climb). I planted more carrot seeds and some onion seeds along the front edge of where I had put the carrot seeds. We’ll see what happens.

When it’s time to put the pepper starts in the ground, I will put them in the carrot area. One will grow up, the other will grow down. They can share the space! 🙂

Next up around the circle of the yard is the berry patch. We have more blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries, honey berries (haskaps) and red and black currents.

The blueberries, honey berries and currants are all blossoming. The other berries should start blooming soon.

I also planted potatoes in a pot as well as a spot in the garden. Those are coming along well and have started growing above the ground. I’ll let these leaves get about 4-5 inches tall and then I’ll put more soil in the pot to get more to keep growing.

I’m excited for the potatoes to blossom. Have you ever smelled a potato blossom???

And finally, I have a little bay laurel waiting to get planted. I’m excited to be able to have bay leaves on hand for future soups!

Other garden activities have included transplanting pepper, tomato and cabbage starts into bigger pots. They’re pretty puny looking, but hoping that they get bigger and stronger with more room. By the end of the month, I’ll start moving them outside to start the hardening off process.